April 7, 2019 I dreamed that a group of children was on a bus. An adult chaperone lied to one child in order to get him to calm down. The adult appeared to take lying to the child lightly. Another adult who was in a higher position, speaking with the chaperone by phone expressed disapproval after finding out she did not tell the child being disciplined the truth. While rebuking the chaperone, the senior adult spoke about the importance of telling children the truth .
Various passages of scripture teach us to tell the truth. Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6 mention teaching children in the ways of the Lord. This time of the year some people tell children about the “Easter bunny, Easter eggs, etc.” Just as the chaperone in the dream used lying to accomplish her goal, these adults have a goal in mind when they tell lies about “Easter.” Bunnies do not lay eggs but it seems like fun. It is more important that children know the truth than that they have fun. Besides, it is a lie that you have to tell a lie in order to have fun. There can be lots of fun celebrating the truth. We are not commanded in scripture to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, nor are we commanded not to celebrate it. We are free to celebrate anything we want to celebrate about the truth. This Sunday, while many Christians remember that Jesus got up from the grave, some have chosen to label it “Resurrection Sunday” because the truth is the word “Easter” has nothing to do with Jesus. “Easter” comes from the name of a pagan goddess. However, it should not be a contentious point. Many are accustomed to saying “Easter” like we all were before being enlightened. Let those who have chosen to rename the day do so humbly and respect those who use the traditional terminology. The main thing is that we operate in truth as we learn it and pass on the truth to our children.