The True Meaning Of Easter..

Sharing With Family & Friends

Table of Contents
1. Easter Eggs. 2. 'And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' (Matthew 6:28) Easter Lilly, 2011 3. New England's cottontail rabbits face extinction... if you love them, help save them. 4. 'The air which you breathe/ At last I breathe.' If Christ came to Cambridge. What would you do?

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends

Easter Eggs.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant The older I get, the less current holidays mean to me... and the more those from years, even decades ago. I see the vivid Easter displays; (these days pharmacies seem to have the most and largest.) But these festive aisles and windows, the bags of candy, and, of course, the seasonal cuddlies do not speak to me. They merely mark the calendar as just another day. That was not always the case, but years and unrelenting death have so thinned the ranks of the significant players in these annual rites that the dead now significantly outnumber the living, of whom, graying, I am yet one. I do not mind giving up this present holiday; there is little enough to lose. But I would mind relinquishing my memories of Easter Days gone by, for there are my beloved ghosts, each and every one as vital in my mind's eye as quick, not long defunct. And because these folks are even more precious to me now than then, I wish this Easter to remember them through the medium of eggs, colored eggs, hidden eggs, Easter eggs. My mother's Easter eggs. Without any effort whatsoever, I see her in the way the narrator in Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" (1938) saw his characters and Granite state denizens. She was young and beautiful then, far, far younger than I am now. She worried, as so many women before and since, about whether she was a "good mother" because she had outside work responsibilities. When I was much older, she would ask me if I minded her being away when I came home from school. I was too young to know just what I should have said. .So, I stumbled through an answer I hope gave comfort, but must doubt. Perhaps it was some scintilla of this guilt (I cannot be sure) that drove the yearly Easter Egg Project, or perhaps it was simply that this messy business was sure to make her laugh. I was there but perceived little; today I see much more, all impressions secure in my mind's eye. I quite recall we'd go to Woolworths, first, and then our local general store and post office, run by Mr. and Mrs. Mackey (I never called them anything other); folks who knew all, but were most times (gratefully) discrete. Both places would have had the Eastern egg coloring kit (by PAAS?) that was de rigueur for this annual kitchen table rite. This kit had the necessary color pellets, special "swirl" colors, too, for advanced egg coloring.... and a host of decals with seasonal themes. We only used the secular ones. Some of these were certain to be later found in my brother's hair and clothes; he tried to do as much to me, but I was older and wise to his tactics. He can hardly laugh about it even now... At first. there was strict order and efficiency. Uncolored eggs here; table spoons for these eggs for dipping. Hot water (mind it needed vinegar) on the stove... pellets here... decals there. This sensible ordering of the event was gone in an instant, submerged in uncouth behaviors, reachings around and over, and of course clever sibling sabotages. And always and again, laughter that firmly established more than any query ever could, that yes she was the best of mothers, how could she even wonder? And so, some telltale signs of the battle still table top, the now colored eggs packed up (except a few) and driven purposefully to Grammie's house, where we rambunctious and much loved, visited most every day. Grammie had a task for these eggs... and we knew partly what it was, for these rituals were yearly done. Each year, Grammie and Grampie, their four adult children and their spouses, would mastermind the http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012 3 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends family Easter Egg Hunt. There was never any question where it would be held. And while it was not so grand as the nation's Egg Rolling at the White House, it was as meticulously arranged and punctiliously celebrated. All aunts contributed the necessary elements -- colored eggs of course (always the subject of high scrutiny and devastating comments sotto voce); home-made cookies (the honor of their sex ensured we never had others); and mountains of Easter candy that started with chocolate rabbits and ended with jelly beans. Then circled back to chocolate again. Excess was the order of the day. Children were encouraged to play outside. Important doings were underway... in the kitchen and in the "rec" room below where the men had the task of determining the hiding places in and out... and carefully writing each location down. These men might grumble... but they never missed this crucial aspect of the affair. They would have been there anyway; we all ended each day in Grammie's house and kitchen perforce, no invitation ever needed. At the appointed hour Easter Day, after church and a heavy, formal luncheon which lost nothing of our solid living Hanoverian ancestors, the grandchildren (and that meant every last one of us) were gathered at the starting point in the garage, where on ordinary days Grampie was not above showing off his latest Oldsmobile and his automated garage door. His children, as yet, had neither. The grandchildren's Easter eggs. Grampie and his two sons and two sons-in-law including my father were in charge of Order and Efficiency. This year would surely not be a repeat of what happened last year. But it always was... The children were all sternly and solemnly admonished to put what they found in their Easter basket and, Above All Else, to let one of the hovering adults know Where They Had Found It. As always, the organizing theory was excellent... but the reality ensured the customary mass chaos (and much laughter). The youngest grandchildren could never recall where they had found that chocolate bunny, which was already absent an ear. The oldest grandchildren (inspired by me, the oldest of all) were practised predators. We knew all the best hiding places and went to them like a bat from hell, erasing all order as we went. Such perhaps was the truest indication that we were a family, each and every one of us. Unwilling to end this giant game of hide and seek, the grandchildren hid and re-hid the eggs (now mostly broken and inedible) and candies, too. There were only to be found when one of the uncles was sure to find in humid July in the toe of his winter boots, a very jaundiced and pungent Easter egg artifact. So, that's where that one went.... No Easter, however, would have been complete without my father taking us to the feed store and reviewing the new colored chicks and ducks (red, blue, purple, green). We were allowed a half a dozen or so; before we left Grammie's we got to show our less fortunate cousins What We Got... pets all, none ever to be eaten. Now all this exists only in my mind's eye... but, because I've summoned this story, it is all quite clear, so many fond details not lost, but here after all and after all these years. And so I say to every parent, grandparent and distant aunts and uncles, too: this day, live this day and hug every memory close. Each one is yours... and precious, too; not one to lose. It all starts with a colored egg, my privilege too long forgot, to do this day, in remembrance of all , each one alive in me as I in them.

http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com

Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012

4 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends

'And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' (Matthew 6:28) Easter Lilly, 2011
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant It is today Easter Sunday. Easter came late this year, April 24. And it came into a world that was dismayed by our elusive springtime; temperatures low, hints of snow and even some late flakes, and the bone chilling winds that convince you January has never left, though in fact it is 55 degrees in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My house is awash with flowers, many more than usual. I saw some lovely orchids at Shaw's market in Porter Square; they were reasonably priced, too. And so then having nothing blooming inside, I brought them home. It is now two weeks and a couple days since I acquired them; they are faded now, of course. But they still have traces, and proudly too, of the tasteful colors that made me snatch them up. Doyle Taylor, a perceptive friend, saw that I was preoccupied one recent day and tended to be more caustic than usual. Doyle is a man who not merely believes in saying it with flowers but doing so promptly with a most thoughtful card signed by him and his new wife Casey. They were high school sweethearts who lost touch, married others... then after fate had dealt with them, rediscovered and married each other. They are charming, intelligent, delightful. One can never know too many such but life delivers them sparingly. Then there is my most recent floral acquisition, the mandatory (for some) Easter Lily. I got it only yesterday (when I inquired a week ago I was told they came in only a few days before the holiday. It has one flower open and many buds promising good value and good looks, too. It is of this plant and its Easter Lily -- Lilium longiflorum -- that I wish to speak for it is, verily, the symbol of the day and its world-changing events. Many Easter lilies, not just one. We speak in common parlance, as people do, of an "Easter lily," but in fact there are several such. First, of course, lilium longiflorum, the clear winner of the name by its indisputable commercial prowess. Following far behind in popularity, use, and commercial value is Zantedeschia aethoipca, not a true lily at all, commonly called Lily of the Nile, Calla lily or Arum lily, native to southern Africa. Then Lilium candidum, commonly called the Madonna Lily, native to the Balkans and West Asia. Zephyranthes atamasco, commonly called Atamasco Lily or Rain Lily, native to the southwestern United States... then (you never guessed) daffodils, the daffs we love being lilies after all. Where did Easter lilies come from? Ever hear of the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan? That's where today's Easter lilies originate. And therein lies an important fact about why this industry was once dominated by Japan... and why today it is almost completely American. World War II was the transforming event. Prior to 1941, the majority of Easter lily bulbs were exported to the United States from Japan. World War II changed everything. Today 95% of all bulbs grown for the potted Easter lily market are not only produced in the United States, but more surprisingly within a narrow coastal region straddling the California-Oregon border, from Smith River, California up to Brookings, Oregon. It gets even more interesting; just 10 farms in this area produce almost all Easter lily bulbs in the US of A. http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012 5 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends Unsurprisingly these farms have dubbed themselves collectively the "Easter Lily Capital of the World." An industry completely changed by one man and one bulb. One man made a huge difference to this US dominance of the Easter Lily and how it looks today. That man was Louis Houghton who brought a suitcase full of hybrid lily bulbs to the south coast of Oregon in 1919. These he freely distributed certain that the weather and environment were perfect for the cultivation of a superior bulb to that grown by the Japanese. When WW II cut off Americans from the Easter lilies which were an integral part of religious services, Houghton was given his big chance on a silver platter. He was successful beyond his wildest imaginings. By 1945 there were about 1,200 growers producing bulbs up and down the Pacific Coast, from Vancouver, Canada to Long Beach, California. The early comers profited for a time as the price of lily bulbs skyrocketed. It reminded some of the Dutch "tulip mania" of the 17th century, where a single tulip bulb cost the annual wages of 10 skilled crafts people. Were Easter lily bulbs next? A small army of lily farmers bet the ranch on it... and failed. The number of Easter lily producing farms steadily dropped; today there are just 10... comfortably dividing up the proceeds. The Nellie White. James White was one of the successful Easter lily producers. However, he thought the elimination of Japan (and its too small lilies) opened the door for other improvements, too. He wanted to end the dominance of the "White Gold" bulb... and significantly improve the look of Easter lilies with an entirely new bulb... in due course named after White's wife, Nellie. Today the "Nellie White" dominates the U.S. market and thus the entire Easter lily business. One crucial thing in season can completely change any industry, and no one in business should ever forget that. More about the Easter lily business. One major reason why so many Easter lily producers closed was the considerable difficulty in growing and managing the plants themselves. First, Easter lily bulbs must be cultivated in the fields for three, sometimes four, years, before they are ready to be shipped to commercial greenhouse growers. During these years the bulbs are never dormant and require constant care and attention to assure superior quality and cleanliness. Each bulb is handled up to 40 times before it is ready to be shipped. And remember the commercial selling season is just two weeks annually at the time of Easter (the date for which changes annually)... and all Easter lilies must be ready and should ideally have at least one flower open, the better to showcase the thing that matters most of all to everyone who sees this stately, evocative plant: the Easter lily itself. It is astonishingly elegant, dramatic, the very essence of purity. As such Jesus saw fit to use this favored plant as a means of quieting nervous Christians. The Sermon on the Mount. Of the many seminal moments in the brief ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, the Sermon on the Mount needs special attention. It was given in about AD 30 and contains one essential element of the Christian religion after another, including this reassuring sentiment to believers: "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." And so Jesus turned a glorious flower into a symbol of God's love for and protection of even erring people. Thus, when you attend Easter services today or any day and see the unforgettable white trumpet-like flowers of the Easter lily, you are seeing an apt symbol and manifestation of a love that http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012 6 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends can be ours and eternal.

http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com

Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012

7 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends

New England's cottontail rabbits face extinction... if you love them, help save them.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant I had the most extraordinary experience recently when I took my nephew Kyle out to see the Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts. Built in 1770 for patriot minister William Emerson, the residents of this handsome clapboard house literally heard the shot heard round the world on April 19, 1775. Later, that revolution won, residents welcomed one celebrated guest after another... Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller. Two of the most celebrated of all -- Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne both lived there for a time and both were fertile with the seminal ideas that shaped the new nation. Emerson wrote his famous essay "Nature" in a stuffy upstairs bedroom. Hawthorne wrote a tribute to the house itself, "Mosses from an Old Manse." Both he and his wife Sophia chiseled poems for each other on the window glass using a diamond that surely symbolized a love so great it could take in its stride the massive discomfort of their chamber on the second floor, frigid in winter, insufferable in summer. One more guest came, or rather a stream of them... and it is these guests who so startled us the other day. The Old Manse was closing for the day and the sun was dipping in the western sky. I was walking away from the house when I turned for a last look and saw an overpowering luminescence... a spectrum of colors bathed in a light that could only be called celestial. It was a benediction... overwhelming... perplexing... ... until I realized that the epicenter of this luminescence was the heirloom vegetable garden originally planted by Thoreau in honor of the Hawthornes' wedding. Kyle and I were being ushered off the property in high style, grandly so... by the rabbits who entered the garden as its visitors left; their ears catching the light to produce this astonishing effect... It was unexpected but no less welcome for that. It was good to see so many of them.... and so well, though I can imagine the gardeners felt quite differently. Sadly, this brave show may well have been a swan song... especially if these rabbits were of the New England cottontail variety. New England cottontails and their plight. The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) is a species of cottontail rabbit represented by fragmented populations in areas of New England, specifically from southern Maine to southern New York. This species bears a close resemblance (so close you must analyze their fecal droppings to tell the difference) to the Eastern cottontail. It is important to know that the Eastern cottontail has done the better job of adapting to its often harsh environment; the New England cottontail, for instance, retains its brown color during the winter, the better to be seen and enjoyed by hungry coyotes and owls. This is but one of the several pressing reasons which together may presage the end of these uniquely New England residents. Here is the full litany of the woes which assail them... Item: Its population is in sharp decline. As recently as 1960, New England cottontails were found east of the Hudson River in New York, across all of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, north to southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and into southern Maine. Today, this rabbit's range has shrunk by more than 75 percent. Its numbers are so greatly diminished that it cannot be found in Vermont and has been reduced, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, to only five smaller populations throughout its historic range. http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012 8 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends Item: Drastically reduced habitat. The New England cottontail prefers early successional forests, often called thickets, with thick and tangled vegetation. These young forests are generally less than 25 years old. Once large trees grow in a stand, the shrub layer tends to shrink, creating habitat that the cottontails no longer find suitable. New England cottontails need a certain amount of territory to flourish. They do best on patches of habitat larger than 12 acres. Rabbits on smaller patches of habitat deplete their food supply sooner and have to eat lower quality food, or may need to search for food in areas where there is more risk (especially in winter) of being killed by a predator. Item: The introduction of exotic invasive species, such as multiflora rose, honeysuckle bush and autumn olive, in the last century has changed the type of habitat available to New England cottontails. These plants form the major component of many patches where cottontails can be found, and the rabbits don't like them at all. Item: Today white-tailed deer are found in extremely high densities throughout the range of New England cottontails. Deer not only eat many of the same plants but may affect the density of many understory plants that provide thicket habitat for New England cottontails. And so the woes pile up, one on top of the other until catastrophe looms... and swiftly so. Even their well-known prolific breeding habits, known to all, cannot save them... without our immediate assistance. Thankfully a measure of that assistance is now at hand... Under an agreement announced in April, 2011, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department will work with private landowners in Cheshire, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham and Strafford counties to help restore the thickets during the next 50 years. The goal is to enroll 3,000 to 5,000 acres to be managed as cottontail habitat. The agreement in New Hampshire allows the Fish and Game Department to provide assurance to volunteering landowners that their conservation work "won't jeopardize the future use or value of the land if the species is eventually federally listed," said Steve Weber, chief of the department's wildlife division. Such federal listing as an endangered species is probable since the cottontail was listed in 2006 as a candidate under the Endangered Species Act. Now the good people of New Hampshire can make a start at preserving the cottontails by cutting vegetation to promote shrub development, planting seeds, controlling invasive plants, and transferring some rabbits to the newly created habitats. It is good... but is it enough... and in time? A candid conclusion. For thousands of years, New England cottontails were self-sufficient, thank you very much. Then we, homo sapiens, descended, spreading dislocation, disaster, death. Now the future of these silky creatures is in our hands. Surely a great nation that can put members of our species on the moon can make a few bucks available to save them and give them the little they need to survive. But will we? That is the open question that demands the right answer, for really what do a few rabbits matter in the scheme of things? Here is the righteous answer: if we will not protect the small and meek like the cottontails, how can we be expected to do what's necessary to protect ourselves and the planet? We are all, you see, endangered together. When will we finally come to understand?

http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com

Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012

9 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends

'The air which you breathe/ At last I breathe.' If Christ came to Cambridge. What would you do?
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant We know now that history is a tricky business, that it is easy to forget times and dates and confuse and muddle what actually happened. Suzy tells everyone she must have been the first person he spoke to, but Suzy is an unreliable source... and besides was a confirmed addict who often disappeared into her own world where she heard voices and saw people who didn't really exist but frightened her anyway.... still when she tells this story she gets a far away look in her eyes... and she looks younger, calmer and she's almost beautiful again. What drug, I wondered, has that quality? Here's what we do know. One day the man who called himself Jesus wasn't here in Harvard Square.... then the next day he was. That isn't unusual. When the first mild spring days arrive run-aways, addicts, the homeless and down and out spread out from the Pit at the main subway entrance, in the stretch along Massachusetts Avenue from the Coop to the bus stop at the corner of Mass and Garden St. It's all hospitable territory for the panhandling down-and-out. That's why no one took much notice of Jesus; he was just another loser blown in, to stay for a while, then go on his tangled way. Still, the man wasn't what we usually saw hereabouts. He didn't seem to be strung out on drugs, wasn't up to snuff on where to find drugs, which drugs you could mix to intensify the high... and which ones you must never mix if you want to wake up again. He didn't talk to you or even seem to listen to the conversations about where to find drugs, who had them, who you needed to conciliate, who was a good guy and who wasn't. But then there was that incident with Ben... Ben was Suzie's... what? Lover? Boy toy? Child? One minute you'd see Ben up and pan handling; the next moment his head would be in Suzie's lap, a pieta' not quite blocking the way into the CVS store. she coddled him, held him, tolerated his infidelities. One day, and it must have been the first such day, Ben started vomiting, screaming, moaning. Suzie was hysterical. She kept saying "Help us! Help us! Help us!" But no one wanted to hear, much less help... ... except Jesus. And as it happened, I saw the entire episode myself. Jesus appeared as if from nowhere. But it was his eyes which were so arresting. His eyes... and his hands. He looked first at Suzie; she stopped screaming. I can tell you that Jesus didn't say a single word... then he placed his hands on Ben's head, as if to comfort and reassure. First Ben stopped moaning... then he sat up and smiled, "Thanks, man," he said. "I'm better now." With his hands still on Ben's head, Jesus said these words, his eyes were infinite and kind: "Don't think about tomorrow. Think about today for tomorrow will take care of itself. Remember, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." "Cool", said Ben. I thought, he's one of these new street healers popping up in the Square. But they always ask for something; Jesus didn't. Maybe there's some kind of free offer. I didn't see Jesus again for a few weeks. that, too, was completely normal. I was immersed in my business...until one springtime Sunday in the late afternoon I saw about 40 people gathered around http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012 10 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends the Lincoln Memorial. Jesus was standing on one of the concrete benches. He hadn't yet started to speak. It was a lovely afternoon and the people were happy and, at the margins, a bit obstreperous and boisterous, too. Drugs of course, or liquor. Raising his hands in an embracing gesture, arms outstretched, palms up, he commenced, without welcoming word or introduction. It was almost a chant, simple, moving; I reached into my pocket for my pen and found not paper but a used napkin for my notes: "The poor in spirit are blessed.The kingdom of heaven is theirs." There was no commentary, no explanation, just one declarative sentence like this after another, the words delivered softly, his voice never raised. "Are you mourning for someone you loved? You shall be comforted. Are you meek of temperament? Then you'll be blessed. You shall inherit the earth Are you merciful? Then you are blessed, for you will get mercy. Are you working hard to find the righteous way? You will get what you seek." As a public speaker myself, I was fascinated by his delivery.The words were simple, the delivery free of artifice even emphasis. Nothing seemed radical or revolutionary about Jesus... but nothing seemed very important about him either. However, in retrospect two items do stand out. First, as the obstreperous part of the crowd grew even more restive, he simply looked at them with his fathomless eyes. He bid them to come forward... and after being asked again by Jesus and coaxed by the crowd, some did. And I do not think I am wrong in saying that there was a touch of fire and heightened tone in what he said: "You will be blessed when men shall attack and prosecute you. You will be even more blessed when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." This was the first time anyone had heard Jesus say such a thing for the words "for my sake" clearly indicated he saw himself as a person of consequence. Most people in the crowd missed this. But I didn't. At just that moment, Ben ran into the Common and shouted, "Jesus, your friend Lazarus has died and his sisters are upset. Can you come at once?" "Are you sure he is dead?", he said. "Oh, yes," said Ben. And so Jesus walked to Huron Avenue... and into history. I don't have to remember what happened next; it's all over the Internet... Jesus' arrival at Lazarus'; the determination he was dead... and the call he made to Lazarus to get up, get up and walk... even the awe of the crowd when he did, changing the life of everyone there and the people worldwide who were willing to trust what they saw. For the moment these video clips went online and viral, the whole thing became a zoo... these reaffirming what they saw and advocating for him.... those proclaiming their acute disbelief in what could only be a hoax. To help sort out the matter, Jesus accepted an invitation from Rush Limbaugh; in retrospect a terrible mistake for Limbaugh lacerated Jesus up and down, calling him a fake, an impostor, a charlatan, out for money, a man who lied, scammed, and deceived. Jesus didn't retaliate, didn't raise his voice, and simply said, "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they will see God." And as Limbaugh continued his stream of unending venom, rousing his listeners to http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012 11 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends hate and frenzy, a man named Judas who lived near the studio grabbed his gun. He shot Jesus three times as he walked out the door. In terrible pain, he said just before he died, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." But now we do. Starting with Judas, who immediately shot himself mingling the blood of ignominy with the most precious blood on earth. Note: The title for this article comes from a sublime 1770 aria by C.W. von Gluck entitled "Of my sweet ardor" (O del mio dolce ardor). Go now to any search engine and play it. "I seek you, I call you, I hope, and I sigh." It will comfort you.

http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com

Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012

12 of 13

The True Meaning Of Easter..Sharing With Family & Friends

Resource
About The Author Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Dale Thomson http://HomeBizGroup5000.com.

http://www.HomeBizGroup5000.com

Copyright Dale Thomson - 2012

13 of 13