Holiday’s pagan roots LETTERS
Easter is the observance of a pagan holiday. The word Easter is derived from Eostre, Saxon spring goddess. The date is set every year exactly as the day of observance for the goddess of fertility, Astarte, was celebrated, the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. That is why chickens, chicken eggs and rabbits are used in the celebration. They produce fast and abundantly.
HATTIE PARSLEY
Fayetteville
Choirs working hard
Holy Week and Easter are always a busy time for church choirs, no matter their denominations. Holy or Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Last Supper, with bittersweet music; Good Friday, the crucifixion and death of our Lord, with decidedly sorrowful sounds; and, especially in the Catholic Church, Holy Saturday, which is the night we welcome new members to our congregation, with joyful music and the promise of salvation.
Then, of course, Easter Sunday brings crowds to celebrate the Resurrection, with the most stirring music of all.
All choirs devote extra time in preparation for this important week, from the humblest group to the full-on cathedral choir. Please show your appreciation to your musicians this year for providing their spiritual contributions to your Holy Week experience. And, yes, I’m a choir member.
KATHY POWERS
Little Rock
We must bear witness
The two UA graduate students and former teachers’ recent guest essay on teaching American students about the Holocaust was inspirational.
I taught for DODDS (Department of Defense Dependent Schools) in West Germany in the early part of the 1980s. It was during this time period that the West German government allowed the airing of the American miniseries The Holocaust. In many cases it was the very first time young Germans were learning of the atrocities committed by their countrymen during WWII. It had taken them almost four decades to just begin to start the “educational process” needed to help their youth come to terms with this stain upon their history. I have often wondered if they ever learned to trust their country afterward.
Especially for the living, we who are the living must bear witness.
GAYLE BURNS
Jonesboro