I was driving one of my high schoolers home on Sunday. He’s new in my class so I got to know him a little better. He came over from HK about a year and a half ago. He seems to be quite sharp. We were talking about a lot of different things when all of a sudden, he asked me, “how do you know what day Easter is during the year?” Enter the awkward silence.
“Hmm…,” I said. “That’s a good question.”
I didn’t know. I’ve lived in the U.S. for most of my life, supposedly being a “good Christian,” observing one of the most important dates in the Christian calendar celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and yet I knew nothing about how the date of Easter is determined. I wanted to shrink into a little hole, ashamed of my lack of knowledge.
So, as a good fellowship leader would do, I tried doing some research. I found this, which talked about how the date of Easter is determined. It’s not as simple as it is figuring out when Thanksgiving is. Now I don’t feel so bad. All I have to do now, is find a way to explain it clearly.
The article mentioned above is taken from a site that deals more with astronomy. I wonder if there are sites that talk about these things from a Christian point of view. I’d like to find a site that explains how to determine Easter dates or when Lent actually begins and ends for us “Western Christians.”
Unrelated note: Happy landmark birthday to Melissa.