Kim Trinder shares some memories:
It seems hard to remember a time as I was growing up when we didn’t have an egg hunt on Easter Day.
After a delicious roast dinner, usually leg of lamb, we would spread out in the garden determined to find more eggs than anyone else! Often there would be relatives from our extended family visiting which made it even more fun. Mum would wrap the eggs up in brown paper so that they were less visible. We have hunted for eggs in the rain, snow, frost and even in brilliant sunshine. Last year, of course, wasn’t like any other year and, because of the lockdown, there was no family Easter get-together and no egg hunt.
So, why do we have eggs at Easter? Eggs have long been associated with Spring and new life.
Some folk today speak of the ‘Easter Bunny’ bringing chocolate eggs wrapped in shiny paper, a tradition made popular by the Germans, but the egg has a significance as far back as Jesus and the last Passover meal, or last supper, that he had with his disciples.
The Passover meal has many foods with symbolic meaning associated with the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt, where they were held in slavery. Among the dishes is a roasted egg, a symbol of mourning that formal sacrifice is not possible because the Holy Temple no longer stands.
Today the hollow chocolate Easter egg reminds us of the empty tomb left by Jesus who sacrificed his life to make a personal relationship with God possible again.
We are very hopeful that this year our Egg Hunting will happen again as we gather as a family to take part in our Easter tradition. The mantle has now passed to my twin sister, Paula, to hide the eggs and I believe she has started buying little eggs already!