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Happy Easter! — 35 Comments

  1. John Venlet..
    “holiday” is just a version of “holy day”. The common term used when people actually observed holy days, which in that time were known as “holy days of obligation” which meant you were expected to go to church. Which meant a day you didn’t work, which then became “holidays”.

    I have no idea when the change came about…

  2. SueK, you’re correct. I guess the point I’m driving at is the continual degradation of language. Referring to Easter as a holiday, as is often done today, is similar to the referring to homosexuals as being gay. It not only degrades the language, but obfuscates.

  3. Joyeuses Pâques!
    _________________________

    The French word “Pâques” derives from the Latin “pascha”, meaning “Passover”, which comes from the Hebrew “Pesah” meaning “passing way” (hence the word “passage”) and is the Jewish name for the Passover celebration, which remembers the Exodus out of Egypt.
    _________________________

    Interesting that the French say, “Happy Passover!”

  4. John V

    “I guess the point I’m driving at is the continual degradation of language.”

    On that score, we’re in complete and total agreement!

  5. Jonathon Turley makes a fool of himself. I appreciate that he is trying to be objective at a time when almost no one connected to the MSM does. But his latest makes an error that I think demonstrates really poor thinking.

    He cites polls about what Americans think about Jan 6. What a tool. He KNOWS that the Democrats and the news media have lied and slandered relentlessly. What people think, in view of the dishonest and hopelessly inaccurate portrayal, is hardly a worthwhile determinant of what they would think if they actually knew the truth.

    I would expect a lawyer and law professor to understand the importance of both sides getting to present their case and the importance of honesty.

  6. Blessed Easter indeed!

    But for something unrelated, help Falconry in Scotland. Sign a petiton to rectify bureaucratic bumbling.

    The Eagle’s Lament | Can we save the future of Upland Falconry in Scotland? -Falconry and Me

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7_D3zGNrOo&t=303s

    The petition:

    PE1859: Retain falconer’s rights to practise upland falconry in Scotland
    https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE1859

    You don’t have to be Scottish to sign the petition.

  7. Thanks for your blog, Neo!

    I ran into something this week I have not seen much of. On a debate online I ran into someone who claims to only believe in the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis thru Deuteronomy. He rejects everything after that, including the Psalms and prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. I know that the ancient Samaritan’s rejected parts of the Old Testament that the Jews ( and Christians , now) accept. But this may be only the second time I have run into someone like this. I have challenged him to answer who Moses was talking about as another prophet that would come after Moses, since he rejects the idea of any prophet after Moses. Still waiting for a reply.

  8. There were more vehicles in the church parking lot today than I have seen any time since Covid started.
    That being said, I missed the last message when the outgoing pastor of several decades semi retired a year and a half ago, and I suspect that was well attended. And then there was an adjustment period after the new pastor took over when some people went to a different congregation – not unusual when there is a leadership change and this or that, such as music styles change.
    That being said, it was encouraging to see such numbers.

  9. Sad message on Easter: an Indiana court ruled that transgender students’ feelings are more important than a Christian teacher’s faith:

    “An Indiana high school broke no law by allegedly pushing a music teacher to resign for refusing to use transgender students’ new names and pronouns, a federal appeals court determined. The rights of Brownsburg High School’s orchestra teacher, John Kluge, were outweighed by the potential disruption of the school’s learning environment, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.”

    https://nypost.com/2023/04/09/court-backs-teachers-firing-over-transgender-students-name-policy/

  10. Here’s a surprise. Steve Winwood, of Traffic fame, playing on solo acoustic guitar a traditional English Easter hymn:
    _____________________________

    1 Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
    Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
    Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
    Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

    2 In the grave they laid Him, Love who men had slain,
    Thinking that He never would awake again,
    Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
    Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

    3 Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain,
    He who for three days in the grave had lain;
    Quick from the dead my Risen Lord is seen:
    Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

    4 When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
    Thy touch can call us back to life again,
    Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
    Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

    –Steve Winwood, “Now The Green Blade Riseth” (2020)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpU01KQIUJM

    _____________________________

    I wonder if there is a story behind this choice.

    He’s still got that melting tenor voice.

  11. Of course, it’s basically the Christian version of Traffic’s classic, “John Barleycorn Must Die.” I dug this up:
    ____________________________

    According to Steve Winwood: “Of course, the title track of ‘John Barleycorn’ was an English folk song which was sometimes called ‘The Passion of the Corn.’ And it’s a parallel with the passion of Christ and the rural cycle. The winter, the land being dormant, and then the corn growing, rising, being cut off, being ground between stones, and being mistreated, eventually rising again in the form of alcohol or bread. And it was called historically ‘The Passion of the Corn.'”
    [BBC Four Documentary, “Steve Winwood: English Soul”

    https://www.songfacts.com/facts/traffic/john-barleycorn

  12. It is wonderful, at Easter, to see how many of us here are Christians. Alleluia!

  13. Owen – Thank you so much for the link to Roger Scrutton’s essay. Such a wonderful read. Miss his presence in the world.

  14. huxley, no surprise that French refers to Pascha. It comes from 1 Corinthians 5:7-8: “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.”

    It’s the English language which is out of step in not using some version of the Hebrew.

  15. As Xylourgos’ linked article point out, Jesus is often referenced as the “Paschal lamb” or “Paschal sacrifice” in Christianity. The latter reference is stated in every Catholic Mass.

  16. @ huxley > “Steve Winwood, of Traffic fame, playing on solo acoustic guitar a traditional English Easter hymn:”

    That was lovely – I did not know the text, but the tune was very familiar.
    The two settings make “book ends” for the life of Christ.

    Sing We Now of Christmas – random selection from YouTube, but nicely done.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4nOajdpnhUmu
    Tune: NOEL NOUVELET

    If you want to see (or buy) the score, this is a great site. I use it a lot for research.
    https://hymnary.org/text/sing_we_now_of_christmas

    YouTube directed me to several more renditions of the Easter hymn, including a BBC youth choir, and this choir & congregation singing with a soloist.

    Laura Wright – Now The Green Blade Rises
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-5Bi2jM40E

    Then there is this idiosyncratic American ensemble.
    Now the Green Blade Riseth by Errant Thieves
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiJ_nl6Xp4E

    Joyeuses Pâques!

  17. Kate:

    As a Catholic I often heard of Christ as the Paschal Lamb around Easter time.

    Interesting in that France with the French Revolution attempted to overthrow the past thoroughly — such as replacing traditional measurements with the “scientific” metric system. Not to mention the anti-clerical and anti-Semitic strains of French history.

    I’m surprised they didn’t move to a neutral springtime exclamation. We know how leftists like to rename things to their liking!

    However, I’ve got a lot to learn about French history.

    Here’s a list of “Happy Easter” in several other languages:
    https://app2brain.com/learn-languages/words-phrases/happy-easter/

  18. AesopFran:

    I hadn’t connected the melody to “Sing We Now of Christmas” but you’re correct.

    The Laura Wright version was quite beautiful. I like the balance between the professional singer and congregation.

    Sometimes I have trouble finding hymn versions on YouTube I like because the renditions are emotionally overwrought.

  19. @ huxley – it is indeed hard to find exactly the ambience one wants when just surfing the internet randomly. I suppose that is one reason people stick with the groups that hit the perfect emotional spot for them.

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