EDITORIAL: Easter In Cayman 2019

I’m not sure about anyone else but, it seems like just a few days ago that we were getting celebrating Easter 2018. They say time moves faster as we get older and it seems that way to me more and more. Perhaps, it is that we are all busier than we were ten years ago. We have become a split-second society where everything moves in high gear and the norm is immediate gratification. Now, that doesn’t mean, necessarily, that we are more productive; just busier. This fact is more reason why we need to take a break from time to time and smell the roses. The upcoming Easter weekend affords us the perfect opportunity to do so.

In generations past, Easter brought special traditions and customs. It was a time for families to spend together; a time for reflection; and a time for getting right with God. The holy days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, especially, were respected. People made their way to the church of their choice; at times, filling the pews to overflowing. Children were there; parents were there; grandparents were there; aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors were there. It was a glorious atmosphere.

Now, don’t get me wrong. By no means should it be inferred that the customs and traditions of old are not in practice anymore. Nowadays, the big rage on Easter weekend is the camping scene, where families and friends camp out on the beach and cook and relax and revel together. Literally dozens of camp sites across the three islands, filled with hundreds of campers and a multitude of tents, are to be seen beginning from as early as the Wednesday before Good Friday. However, when the church doors are opened, there is still a great number of individuals who make it a point to attend. People still dress up in their Sunday best, and celebrate the reason for the holiday in the first place, Jesus dying for our salvation and rising again for our eternal life.

When I was a boy, Easter meant church on Friday and Sunday, time spent with family, Sunday dinner, and Easter egg hunt on Monday. We were all taught the reason why Easter exists in the first place. Were there people in our community that did not partake like the rest of us? Sure. However, those were a minority few. Easter had a way of bringing families together, even estranged ones. It was a time of reconciling and healing old wounds and building bridges. Nowadays, it behooves to remember that and to make it a point to practice the same. You see, regardless of one’s own religious persuasion, Easter is a time that can be productive for community harmony. If we take the time to consider our own shortcomings and failings, and to consider that new starts are possible through forgiveness for one another, we will reap benefits galore. Perhaps, this Easter weekend, as we look up at the starlight sky from our campsite, or our yard, we will consider this for at least a moment.