Crucified bunny.
Each year around Christmas and Easter I get a little nostalgic.
Am I religious? Hell no. Do I miss my parents? Nope. Do I miss Poland?
It's almost impossible to answer 'no'. But the feelings are very mixed. I guess that when it comes to holidays it's only natural for me to feel a little torn inside. For 21 years of my life I have been spending each and every smaller or bigger holiday together with my family and friends. Poland, as a so- called Catholic country, does a great job celebrating whatever there is to be celebrated that involves God, Jesus, Holy Mary or any other saint. We fast, we wait, we pray, we cook, we eat, we drink, we come together, we fight, we eat, we drink.. etc. At some point though, you start to wonder whether all those rituals come straight from your heart or is it a trandition which somehow turned into an annual habit.
'Do I celebrate Easter because I am deeply moved by the crucifiction and death of J.C. or do I celebrate it for the party that comes after the resurection? Do I believe in the miracle of Jesus's birth or do I wait for Santa to get me a new scarf?'
What is it, friends? Do you go to church every Sunday and get on your knees to confess your sins? Or are you simply waiting for the food to arrive at the table so you can sit and eat the whole day, watching reruns of your favorite TV shows?
Don't get me wrong, I was actively taking part in whatever it was that my mother decided is necessary in order to celebrate Catholic holidays. Only later in my life did it occur to me that buying gifts and cooking loads of food is not a domain of holy figures but people who apparently got bored with things the way they were and who thus decided to spice things up.
Station 1. Jesus is condemned do death.
Let's go to the mall and get chocolate eggs for the kids.
Station 2. Jesus carries his cross.
Let's buy a new dress to impress the rest of the family during Easter breakfast.
Station 3. Jesus falls the first time.
Let's buy the cake instead of baking it, we all know none of us has any baking skills.
Station 4. Jesus meets his mother.
Let's not give any alcohol to aunt Mary. We all remember how did that end up last year.
Station 5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.
Let's buy an iPhone for the youngest one, her friends will be so jealous!
Station 6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
Let's gossip about the nieghbors, they got a new car, the hell did they get the money for that?
Etc.
Am I trying to moralize? Well, probably a bit. I somehow can see how celebrating church holidays became a common thing among everyone, whether they are religious or not. It's nice when the whole family comes together, it's nice to exchange gifts and wish each other well, it's nice to share a meal in a peaceful atmopshere. But why do we need Christmas or Easter for that? There are plenty of other occasions and honestly speaking, who needs to have an excuse to have a dinner with loved ones? Who needs a proper reason for buying a scarf for their mother? Why do you need to wait the whole freaking year to pay your grandparents a visit?
I simply don't believe in God as the father of Jesus Christ. I do aknowledge Jesus Christ as a man who did exist on this planet way back. But somewhere along the way, over the years, together with hundreds of versions of Bible translations- we got to think that whatever you do, there is an almighty power looking over you and you will be punished for the bad behavior and awarded for all the good that you have done. And we sell it to the kids as 'if you're going to be naughty Santa won't bring you the new Fifa this year'. When the kids grow up they need to face the awful truth that Santa ain't even real. Why couldn't you tell them to be nice, as in the bigger picture instead of threatening them with lack of gifts under the Christmas tree?
What has it come down to?
Am I religious? Hell no. Do I miss my parents? Nope. Do I miss Poland?
It's almost impossible to answer 'no'. But the feelings are very mixed. I guess that when it comes to holidays it's only natural for me to feel a little torn inside. For 21 years of my life I have been spending each and every smaller or bigger holiday together with my family and friends. Poland, as a so- called Catholic country, does a great job celebrating whatever there is to be celebrated that involves God, Jesus, Holy Mary or any other saint. We fast, we wait, we pray, we cook, we eat, we drink, we come together, we fight, we eat, we drink.. etc. At some point though, you start to wonder whether all those rituals come straight from your heart or is it a trandition which somehow turned into an annual habit.
'Do I celebrate Easter because I am deeply moved by the crucifiction and death of J.C. or do I celebrate it for the party that comes after the resurection? Do I believe in the miracle of Jesus's birth or do I wait for Santa to get me a new scarf?'
What is it, friends? Do you go to church every Sunday and get on your knees to confess your sins? Or are you simply waiting for the food to arrive at the table so you can sit and eat the whole day, watching reruns of your favorite TV shows?
Don't get me wrong, I was actively taking part in whatever it was that my mother decided is necessary in order to celebrate Catholic holidays. Only later in my life did it occur to me that buying gifts and cooking loads of food is not a domain of holy figures but people who apparently got bored with things the way they were and who thus decided to spice things up.
Station 1. Jesus is condemned do death.
Let's go to the mall and get chocolate eggs for the kids.
Station 2. Jesus carries his cross.
Let's buy a new dress to impress the rest of the family during Easter breakfast.
Station 3. Jesus falls the first time.
Let's buy the cake instead of baking it, we all know none of us has any baking skills.
Station 4. Jesus meets his mother.
Let's not give any alcohol to aunt Mary. We all remember how did that end up last year.
Station 5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.
Let's buy an iPhone for the youngest one, her friends will be so jealous!
Station 6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
Let's gossip about the nieghbors, they got a new car, the hell did they get the money for that?
Etc.
Am I trying to moralize? Well, probably a bit. I somehow can see how celebrating church holidays became a common thing among everyone, whether they are religious or not. It's nice when the whole family comes together, it's nice to exchange gifts and wish each other well, it's nice to share a meal in a peaceful atmopshere. But why do we need Christmas or Easter for that? There are plenty of other occasions and honestly speaking, who needs to have an excuse to have a dinner with loved ones? Who needs a proper reason for buying a scarf for their mother? Why do you need to wait the whole freaking year to pay your grandparents a visit?
I simply don't believe in God as the father of Jesus Christ. I do aknowledge Jesus Christ as a man who did exist on this planet way back. But somewhere along the way, over the years, together with hundreds of versions of Bible translations- we got to think that whatever you do, there is an almighty power looking over you and you will be punished for the bad behavior and awarded for all the good that you have done. And we sell it to the kids as 'if you're going to be naughty Santa won't bring you the new Fifa this year'. When the kids grow up they need to face the awful truth that Santa ain't even real. Why couldn't you tell them to be nice, as in the bigger picture instead of threatening them with lack of gifts under the Christmas tree?
What has it come down to?
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