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Like any other holiday, Easter has different meanings for different people. In my childhood, that meant Sunday morning services at First Baptist Church. The resounding voice of Pastor Fred Thorne reminded us of the Savior’s death and resurrection and the importance of living righteous lives. He would have made Cotton Mather proud.
In between sermons, the congregation shouted out the resurrection of Christ and how great you are. Easter meant baskets filled with colorful eggs, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps, and jelly beans. Dinner includes freshly baked ham, scallop taters (yum!), carrots, and homemade apple pie with crème fraîche (yep!). hot cross buns.Longhorn lily, and if the date is late, my favorite “flower”-Purple lilacs are in full bloom. I am grateful that my memories still allow me to reminisce about those halcyon days.
Easter also brings to mind the 1916 riots in Dublin, Ireland. I learned about this riot for the first time. “Rising” After listening to a song performed by the late great Irish balladeer Vince Colgan, and then reading the works of Nobel Prize-winning poet William Butler Yeats,“Easter, 1916.” Doomed from the start, the rebellion lasted less than a week (April 24th to 29th), with a group of men willing to die for the cause of ending centuries of British rule over the Emerald Isle. Instigated by a handful of patriots. And someday you will die. The 15 martyrs included warrior and poet Padrick Pearce and Labor leader James Connolly.
Mr. Yates described the incident as follows: “Terrifying beauty.” It was terrible because of the death alluded to above “beautiful” It sparked a nationwide movement that culminated in the emergence of the Irish Free State. In retrospect, this phrase, along with sun and shadow, can be used to adequately describe the history of Ireland from the 17th century to his 20th century.
“Terrible and shadowy” Examples include the massacre of over 3,000 Irish Catholics at Drogheda by Cromwell’s Parliamentary forces in 1649, and the infamous 18th century criminal laws (including prohibitions on Catholic church worship and religion). “Wearin’ O the Green”) or the potato famine of the 1840s, which claimed the lives of 1.5 million and a half people, including hundreds of thousands of children. Additionally, he said, one million Irish immigrants and future generations will live in the Mohawk Valley and the shores of Old Lake Erie.
“Beauty and sunshine” It belongs to a land where the countryside is highlighted by unique shades of green and breathtaking rose bushes. A country with a rich literary (Pearse, O’Casey, Yeats) and musical (Colgan, McDermott, Irish Tenors, Clancy Brothers) tradition. This country is inhabited by a friendly and humane people with a seemingly unquenchable thirst and an unwavering faith that has allowed them to endure centuries of trials and tribulations.
Finally, whenever I think of Easter, I think of Mary Thorne, a pastor’s wife who exemplified the qualities of kindness and generosity. Those of us who were lucky enough to have her as our Sunday School teacher have kept her lessons alive with pride. I have been asked many times why I am a community activist and why I have spent 30 years instilling that special quality in the students of Herkimer County Community College. The answer is, and always will be, Mary Thorne. Take it easy on Peeps and Chocolate Bunnies and remember the words of Pastor Fred. “Live your faith and our world will be a better place.”
happy easter!
Ray Lenarcic is a graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia and lives in Herkimer.
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