The Host of Easter (and Commentary on- Separate Excitement- in Poetry)
By Dennis Siluk Ed.D.

The Host of Easter

Easter, the flower of the season, pleases me
I hear the tweeting of the birds, in the condensed city
from the rooftop of my house, I see the city’s meadows
boroughs, sections, districts and all; houses like

tents, and buildings like pavilions, not much

green, but a great season of joy.
It pleases me to see it coming
With host of heaven.

It pleases me to think and see
The Lord of Lords, the Host of Heaven, on His
Horse, fearless, armed heroic vassalage of God,
Subordinate to nobody but his being;
My eyes follow him exultingly,
From the grave
To victory!

Ah, yes, there I stand, battle axe and sword
A-battering shield, entering melee, by the

Lord of Lords; I tell you, He, delights
In putting to sleep the feudal kings
That torments the souls
Afflict disastrously

His show!

No man has known such bitter despair
Nor any place with such horror
Than to be smitten by the
Hand of The
Lord!…of
Lords.

#1720 3-6-2007

Note (commentary: Separate Excitement): if you are looking for the poet inside the poem, look for the undercurrent he has left, the continuous undercurrent of feeling, it should be everywhere, but seldom does anyone look for it, it is called separate excitement; or poetic art, Yeats uses it. If you missed the fountain and the beauty, and the exact riming in the poem, which is sometimes called ‘duty,’ I didn’t put it in for various reasons, I do not take pleasure in the corresponding banalities (or ordinariness), as much as I used to. Yet I have not gone too fare to the other extreme either, allowance can be made for the unfriendliness of our times, I do believe. Today we do not ride the didactic horse to death, as they did a millennium ago, nor can anyone stand the verbosity of that era.

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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Get Creative and Ditch the Tired, Expected Easter Basket Gifts
By James Guitard

Easter is a time of rebirth and celebration, and there are few better holidays to give gift baskets. Whether you are planning a traditional celebration, based on religious traditions, or you are just ready for winter to end and spring to begin, this is a great time to bring family and friends together and share in the warming weather, and hope for the future. Designing baskets for your loved ones is a creative and fun way to let them know you are thinking of them this holiday season.

A lot of people do not think of Easter as being a gift giving holiday. While this may be true, it is a great time to fill baskets with traditional items like candy and chocolate and share those with your friends and family. It is a great excuse to get creative, too, and not just create the same, stale baskets of your childhood. If you are looking for a way to surprise loved ones this spring, consider putting together some great baskets for their celebration.

You can fill your basket with the customary items like candy and chocolate, colored eggs and stuffed bunnies. You can also get creative and specialize your basket to be suited to the recipient. Add one or two things to each person’s Easter basket that they will know is just for them. If you have several children or family members to shop for, create similar baskets, and then throw in something that is something that reminds you of only them. This can be books, music, toys, movies, or even a specific food item that you know they love.

It is important not to create the same basket year after year. Whether you are making it yourself, or you are ordering it from a professional, you want to mix things up from year to year. Even if there are items you know they love, you can get creative and change things up a bit. Consider a milk chocolate rooster this year, instead of a bunny or chick. There are billions of ways to add creativity and uniqueness to the basket you are creating.

For Easter this year, decide to be creative and put together baskets that will delight your recipients, and keep them guessing next year what their basket might be filled with. While traditional can be nice, exciting and new is a lot of fun, especially when it comes to celebrating with baskets. Toss all of your old, tired ideas, and design some new ones. That way, your gift baskets will be remembered for a long time to come.

GrenvilleStation.com delivers delicious and affordable gift baskets across Canada. Holidays are special times of year at GrenvilleStation.com and easter gift baskets are no exception. Regardless of the holiday or special event, your gift will be a memorable alternative to flowers.

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The Meaning of Easter - Miracles Still Happen
By Kimberly Tinker

What is Easter?

It’s that time of year again when little children start painting boiled eggs and gluing cotton balls on little bunny rabbits all in celebration of … Easter?

I’m not really sure how a bunny and a bunch of colored eggs fit into the whole resurrection thing but that is what we do. We run around buying candy and plastic grass to fill bright plastic woven baskets that we, as parents, stay up late on Easter-eve to hide somewhere in the house. Little children wake up Easter morning excited to find their baskets and wonder what kind of candy they got this year or what neat new toy is in there.

When I was younger my basket was always in the bathtub and always had lots of jelly-beans, peeps, and chocolate bunnies that you just had to bite the ears off of first. And of course there was always some type of toy usually designed for playing outside with after a long cold winter stuck inside. Baskets weren’t overly expensive but they rarely had any thing to do with our Lord Jesus Christ and his Resurrection. The closest we came to Jesus on Easter was to get dressed up in our “Easter Best” and to attend Mass and receive communion. Then it was off to Grandma’s house for a big Easter Dinner and one of the few times we prayed before our meal.

Now that I am older and have embraced the Lord with all of my heart and soul, I wanted to know what the true meaning of Easter is. I mean I have a basic idea of the whole “Crucified, Died and Rose again” thing but I felt that it was much deeper than that. So after much research and, of course, many prayers I think I finally have a better understanding of the meaning of Easter.

Obviously, Easter is the Christian holiday celebration commemorating the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Easter Sunday or Resurrection Day is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches.

But, to put the matter directly, Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus and his appearances to his disciples shortly thereafter. There are those who disagree that this was an historical event, but the evidence is pretty convincing. The gospels tell us that the inner circle of disciples denied, betrayed, and deserted Jesus in his hour of greatest need. They tell us that his death was basically witnessed by a few female disciples, and that it was these women who first went to the tomb and encountered the risen Jesus.

Several things must be said about this: 1) According to all accounts, Jesus died by crucifixion–the most shameful and public way to die back then. In an honor-and-shame culture, Jesus’ death by crucifixion should have put an end to his following and stopped any trumpeting about Jesus being the messiah or savior (see Luke 24.19-21: “We had hoped [past tense] he would be the one to redeem Israel”). It is very difficult for historians to explain the transformation of the inner circle of Jesus from cowards to some of the most courageous people of their time if Jesus did not arise and appear to them. 2) No evangelistic religion in its right mind, operating in a highly male dominated world, would make up the idea that the chief witnesses to the heart of their creed (death, burial, empty tomb, risen Lord) were women. The witness of women was considered suspect throughout the Greco-Roman world, including Judea. 3) In the context of early Judaism, resurrection meant something that happened to a body. It was not seen as a purely spiritual or visionary matter, which is one reason why the Gospel accounts stress that the risen Jesus could be touched and could eat. These accounts, which were written with such detail, were obviously not intended to be symbolic. They are a record of a world-changing physical miracle: the return to life of a previously-dead man.

When Christ was resurrected His body became immortal, never to die again. He still lives and is with our Eternal Father in Heaven.

Easter, in the Christian world, represents the resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate every year in the Spring. Because of the Atonement death is not the end. We may not be resurrected after three days, like Jesus was, but someday we will all be resurrected and have a perfect body.

Easter is an especially important holiday to celebrate because remembering Christ’s atonement and resurrection brings hope and faith. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He suffered and died for each of us. I know He was resurrected and lives. Easter is a beautiful holiday when we can remember Jesus Christ and worship Him as the Son of God and as our Savior and Redeemer.

Jesus’ resurrection was a true miracle that changed the world and set it on a course that we still see being played out today. In my view, the death and resurrection of Jesus is the fulcrum of human history and the key to its interpretation.

The Easter miracle transformed women and men from doubters to believers 2,000 years ago, and has continued to do so ever since.

To me Easter is all about the fact that God’s “yes” to life is louder than death’s “no,” and the ultimate proof of this is that God raised his Son from the dead. Easter is not just about an isolated miracle 2,000 years ago that chiefly affected one person. Easter is all about the fact that miracles do still happen. Christ’s story is the Christian’s destiny. In 1 Cor. 15, Paul calls Jesus’ resurrection the first fruits of the resurrection, and he speaks of a day when, upon Jesus’ return, the dead in Christ will be raised.

In an age of realism and practicality, the resurrection of Jesus challenges modern assumptions that miracles are impossible. I increasingly look forward to my own physical existence coming up for renewal when Jesus returns. Because the Son rose, this daughter will also one day rise.

Author: Kimberly A. Tinker Currently own/Edit 2 newsletters with plans on adding 3 more in the very near future. Also own/manage 2 websites with plans to add 2 more in the near future. Also starting 2 or more blogs. Link coming soon! Please drop me an email anytime.

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Dippity Do - Fun With Easter Eggs
By Christine Steendahl

Easter is right around the corner and one of the great activities to participate in this and every Easter season is to color Easter eggs. Easter eggs are simple and fun to color; you just need to take note of the following tricks.

Easter eggs most often start with hard boiled eggs, so purchase a dozen or two for coloring. Gently lower them in boiling water for about 10 minutes. The eggs will cook and become hard boiled. Now just let them dry.

The easiest way to color your Easter eggs is to acquire an Easter egg coloring kit. These kits most often include dyes to paint your Easter eggs several colors, templates or stickers to adorn and design them, and an Easter egg holder to easily allow them to dry. Most kits only cost a few dollars and are very practical.

You can also prepare your own colored dye. You can blend about 1 tablespoon of food coloring with a half teaspoon of vinegar, then add about 1/2 cup to a third cup of water. Now just dip your Easter egg into the colored cup of water. The longer your egg sits in the water, usually the deeper and darker the color.

Moreover you can hand paint your Easter eggs. You can find many water color paints or other types of paints to design and decorate your eggs. Even undiluted food coloring generally works. It is important to note that you shouldn’t eat any eggs that you have used paint on.

Creating or adorning your egg is fun and simple as well. Once the eggs are hard boiled, you can adhere stickers to the egg, use a brush to finely coat a creative design, or paste construction paper cut outs to your egg. Many people even dress their Easter eggs up with doll or handmade clothing made from cotton or other types of fabrics.

For a festive free Easter coloring sheet visit http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/easterbunny.pdf For crafty healthful Easter Basket Ideas take a look at http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/article-easter-basket-idea.htm

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Easter Gifts From Israel Are a Sign of Hope
By Cathy Raff

Every year hundreds of dollars, pounds, and other currencies are spent on purchasing Easter gifts for the many members of our family. They range from religious gifts such as bibles and crosses to fun gifts such as springtime toys for the children and baskets stuffed with candy and other trinkets. Like many of the other holidays we celebrate throughout the year, Easter is also becoming a commercial event and possibly losing the focus of what the holiday is supposed to be all about.

However, if you want to truly remind your friends and family what Easter is about, then consider some special Easter gifts from Israel in the form of The Jerusalem Stone. This small piece of history comes wrapped in its own carrying pouch that can be personalized with the recipient’s name and costs $20. It is a highly religious gift that represents the soul, beauty and spirituality of the Holy Land which it came from and it is a sign of hope for people when things get rough or they get down.

This unusual religious gift is a piece of the very same stone that is quarried in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Stone is taken from the dolomite limestone that is quarried from the hills of the Holy City. This stone has been used for over 3,000 years to build the entire city, and even today it is still used on every building that arises since the city building codes require the use of this Jerusalem stone for construction projects. Each Jerusalem Stone is hand-carved by a professional artisan from the Holy City herself. Just like each stone used on the buildings is carved by a team of artisans before it can be placed on the structures that will be its final home.

Imagine owning a piece of stone that could have been touched by Jesus Christ or his disciples themselves. These Easter gifts from Israel are a wonderful way to help your loved ones remember what this time of year means. If you give out Easter baskets, consider nestling one of these Easter gifts from Israel in the middle as a nice change of pace from the normal items given at this time.

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