[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5796-5797]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       EASTER--A TIME OF REBIRTH

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, when many people contemplate Easter, 
thoughts of chocolate bunnies, Easter egg hunts, and family gatherings 
come to mind. Little girls dream of a new frilly lace-bedecked frock, 
shiny new patent leather shoes, and a festive bonnet adorned with 
ribbons and flowers to top it all off. It is hard not to feel an 
excitement in the air as the daylight hours increase, the winter coats 
are put away, and the sweet smell of the season's first roses fill the 
air. The landscape is freshly decorated with a pallet of azaleas, 
tulips, jonquils, and pink and white flowers of the dogwood. Overnight, 
it seems, the silhouettes of the tree branches disappear, replaced by 
the first green buds of spring. Neighbors, who seemed almost strangers 
during the long dark winter, suddenly greet you from their front 
porches, and passersby out for an afternoon stroll stop to offer that 
much-needed gardening advice, or they admire your latest planting. The 
first aroma of charcoal fills the air as grills are fired up after a 
long rest. Children play outside after dinner, trying to squeeze in 
every bit of the daylight into their playtime. Everything seems new, 
everything seems exciting, everything seems reborn. But during this 
season of rebirth, how many stop to ponder the true meaning of this 
most holiest of seasons of the Christian calendar?
  Easter, Jesus' resurrection from the dead, was the key belief of the 
earliest Christians. In fact, that truly miraculous event has made an 
imprint on other religions and inspired to thought and deed individuals 
who do not practice the Christian faith. Mohandas K. Gandhi said simply 
and eloquently:

       Jesus, a man who was completely innocent, offered himself 
     as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, 
     and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.

  The Bible says a great deal about Easter, that central mystery of the 
Christian faith. That Jesus was crucified and miraculously raised from 
the dead is hard for many to accept. It was hard for the early 
Christians to comprehend also, but the faith in the risen Christ spread 
like a wildfire on a dry and windy summer day!
  Easter arrives late this year, on April 23, almost as late as it can 
possibly be. It is celebrated on a Sunday on varying dates between 
March 22 and April 25, and is, therefore, called a movable feast. 
Easter embodies many pre-Christian traditions. The origin of its name 
is unknown; however, many scholars have accepted the derivation 
proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede--that it probably 
comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring 
and fertility, whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal 
equinox. The Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and colored Easter 
eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight 
of spring, and used in egg-rolling contests, are traditions that have 
survived. According to the New Testament, Christ was crucified on the 
eve of Passover and soon rose from the dead. The Easter festival 
commemorated Christ's resurrection. Over time, there were serious 
differences between the early Christians over the date of the Easter 
festival. Those of Jewish origin celebrated Easter immediately after 
Passover, which fell on the evening of the full moon. Therefore, 
Easter, from year to year, fell on different days of the week. 
Christians of Gentile origin, on the other hand, wished to commemorate 
the resurrection on Sunday, the first day of the week. It was on the 
same day of the week each year, but fell on different dates from year 
to year. In 325 A.D. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who, early in 
his reign, issued a document allowing Christians to practice their 
religion within the empire, convoked the Council of Nicaea. The council 
unanimously ruled that the Easter festival should be celebrated 
throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon 
following the vernal equinox.
  At Easter, we receive again God's greatest gift of love: Jesus. 
Spring is a time to remember that gift. Death and resurrection are 
entwined not only in the death and resurrection of our Lord, but also 
in spring's final struggle with winter's strong grasp. There is a 
struggle in both dying and in birth and it is logical to think that 
something must be born in order to die. However, from Jesus' words in 
John's Gospel, Chapter 12, verses 23 and 24, as Jesus foresees his own 
death, the Bible tells us something different--it tells us that 
something must die in order to be born. Jesus says:

       The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 
     Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall 
     into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it 
     bringeth forth much fruit.

  Easter is the time of year that finds many churches overflowing. 
Parking attendants direct traffic caused by the overflow of cars on 
this special day. Pews are packed tight. Extra chairs line the aisles, 
and much of this crowd only sees the inside of a church once a year, 
and Easter is the day. It is nice to see new faces. Those who attend 
church every Sunday look around at all the new faces, hoping they will 
become familiar, and struggle to find their regular seats. The struggle 
is worth it, however, because some of these same people will come back 
and join with the community that has worshiped together all year. They 
will become members of a church family like those who have risen in the 
darkness to watch the youth group tell the Easter story at sunrise--
there is nothing like it, telling it at sunrise--or who are praising 
God with their voices in the choir, or who cooked the pancake breakfast 
for Palm Sunday, or who decorated the Sanctuary with Easter Lilies. 
Perhaps they will be like those who teach the children the meaning of 
God's love and grace in Sunday school classes. They will find a church 
home. They will find God. They will be awakened. They will be reborn!
  During our lives, we all experience the loss of a loved one. Have you 
ever thought about the resurrection story in a way that brought you 
comfort in your time of grief? A little boy recently lost his 
grandfather, and one day, when he was remembering his grandfather, he 
said to his mother, ``Mom, Easter will be extra special this year. We 
will have two reasons to celebrate! Granddad and Jesus have both 
risen!'' If a 6-year-old can understand

[[Page 5797]]

the beauty of the Easter story on this level, think of the hope that 
this celebration can bring to others who are grieving. I talked with 
one of my constituents on yesterday who lost his wife. I said: Come 
Eastertime, your wife knows your grief. She knows about your sorrow. 
And the beauty of the story is, you can see her again. Every year at 
this time I remember my beloved grandson, Michael, who died in a tragic 
accident in 1982. I know that he is in a better place, and my faith in 
the Lord carries me through my sorrow. I can visualize Michael stepping 
out of the tomb with Christ, and I know that he, too, is ``alive.'' 
Hear these words of Trappist monk Henri Nouwen:

       Easter does not make death less painful or our own grief 
     less heavy. It does not make the loss less real, but Easter 
     makes us see and feel that death is part of a much greater 
     and much deeper event, the fullness of which we cannot 
     comprehend, but which we know is a life-bringing event.

  He goes on to say:

       The best way I can express to you the meaning death 
     receives in the light of the resurrection of Jesus is to say 
     that the love that causes us so much grief and makes us feel 
     so fully the absurdity of death is stronger than death 
     itself. Love is stronger than death. The same love that makes 
     us mourn and protest against death will now free us to live 
     in hope.

  So, Mr. President, let Easter be the time to remember that the tomb 
is empty, that those who have passed before us have been reborn and 
will live eternal life. Let us rejoice at this miracle and the miracle 
of God's love. As we hide Easter eggs for our children, our 
grandchildren, or even our great grandchildren, and help them search 
through the green and purple Easter grass for the last sticky 
marshmallow chick and a handful of jelly beans, let us not forget the 
gift that God gave us. As Jesus said in the third chapter of the Gospel 
of John, verse 16:

       For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
     Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
     have everlasting life.

  These are powerful words, and they are often used as words of 
persuasion, to bring others to Christ. God gave His only begotten Son . 
. . for us! What a powerful love that is!
  While the Senate is in recess and the schools are closed for ``spring 
break,'' I hope that those who are listening will take this time to 
recall this miracle of Easter. I continue to believe that the warp and 
woof of this great Nation are the deeply rooted religious beliefs of 
its people. Our religious beliefs, though diverse, our common faith in 
the Creator, remind all of us to look for the greater good, the higher, 
better part of ourselves and of others. The lessons differ, but the 
message is the same. Let us love one another. The resurrection of Jesus 
is the basis for the Christian belief that not only Jesus, but all 
Christians, will triumph over death. In closing, I recall the words of 
William Jennings Bryan and his thoughts concerning Proof of 
Immortality:

       If the Father deigns to touch with divine power the cold 
     and pulseless heart of the buried acorn and to make it burst 
     forth from its prison walls, will He leave neglected in the 
     earth the soul of man, made in the image of his Creator? If 
     He stoops to give to the rosebush, whose withered blossoms 
     float upon the autumn breeze, the sweet assurance of another 
     springtime, will He refuse the words of hope to the sons of 
     men when the frosts of winter come? If matter, mute and 
     inanimate, though changed by the forces of nature into a 
     multitude of forms, can never be destroyed, will the imperial 
     spirit of man suffer annihilation when it has paid a brief 
     visit like a royal guest to this tenement of clay? No, I am 
     sure that He who, notwithstanding His apparent prodigality, 
     created nothing without a purpose, and wasted not a single 
     atom in all His creation, has made provision for a future 
     life in which man's universal longing for immortality will 
     find its realization. I am as sure that we live again as I am 
     sure that we live today.

  Mr. President, let us celebrate these words of hope this Easter 
season. The tomb is empty and the soul of man will never, never die.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. L. Chafee). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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