SPRING, FULLMOON, AND EASTER

Many of us Africans were introduced to Christianity by our parents, and have always celebrated Easter as the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And for years I believed it, everything the Church told me I swallowed, hook, line, and sinker.

Questioning the church is a taboo subject in our deeply religious communities. For Africans, it is not unusual, we are taught not to question authority. Our whole culture is based on that to the detriment of building progressive societies. Yet the Church is not original to us. 99% of us do not even know the history of Christianity and the church. It is an alien religion introduced to Africa by European missionaries. The Church in Africa has however evolved and there are many offshoots. 

I was first baptized in the Methodist Church as a child. Methodist, because that's apparently the popular church in my ancestral hometown of Umuahia. This means, that Methodist missionaries invaded my little patch of Africa. My father attended a Missionary college —Methodist Boys' College Uzuakoli. My mother on the other hand was Anglican. Her own patch of Africa was invaded by Anglican missionaries. 

While in university, I was confirmed in the Anglican church, I don't know why, I think like many young adults I was seeking answers to many questions about life. Years later, I was again baptized in a Pentecostal church (The Redeemed Church). Again, don't ask me why?  they believed the older churches were not worth much in salvaging my soul. This time, they immersed me in flowing water. And swore it was exactly like Jesus decreed. In Nigeria, it is a competition to win new converts. So, I indulged them. 

As years passed, I still was unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and plagued with inconsistencies in the teachings and explanations. Too many unanswered questions sometimes kept me up at night. You see, I am naturally introspective, and when something does not make sense, I like to question it. How did Jesus ascend into heaven with an earthly body? How did Mary have a baby without having sex? For a baby to be born there has to be the meeting of a sperm and egg. It is a natural course and God is perfect. So, things cannot be done one way sometimes, then another way other times.

 I remember at one fellowship, you know those meetings, someone quoted from the bible verbatim and interpreted it from their limited knowledge.  There were never robust debates involved, but telling you what should be done. In other words, one man's interpretation of the bible.

As an educated woman, this did not sit well with me. And we were often told you do not question God, which literally meant we did not question the pastor, or whoever he had designated to teach a topic. I was unsatisfied. The question of creation, sex, marriage, hell, heaven, and the afterlife was not robustly taught or debated. So, I started doing my own research and reading other books.

Then, I stumbled upon the book "In Light of the Truth, The Grail Message" I read all volumes, It expanded my horizon and encouraged me to read more books on all other prophets or Truth bringers, or as I personally see them—religious philosophers; Budha, Jesus, Mohammed, Krisha, Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, I read about their lives. I read Texts on the history of the Church, about the First Protestant— Martin Luther who disagreed with the Catholic Church. Then things started making sense to me.

I read about the European missionaries who introduced Christianity to Africa. And European history which was not taught in our Nigerian schools. Researching the details of the Transatlantic slave/human trade opened my eyes to a whole new world, and how religion has been used to manipulate Africans for centuries.

 Finally, I relocated to the new world and was able to travel extensively in the Americas—North, Central, and South America, and The Caribbean. Then I understood much better through experiences. And saw how ancient civilizations of Native Americans: Sioux, Apache, Aztecs, Zapotecs, Mayan, Inca, Arawaks, and Inuits all looked to nature to pattern their lives like many ancient African civilizations before they were subdued through Christianity. Looking through a new lens, I noticed that the brand of Christianity thriving in much of Africa looked like the enslavement of the soul and spirit of the people.

One important aspect of Christianity missing in Africa is— History.

 History is an important factor that shapes our worldview. A wise woman once said that— to know where you are going, you have to know where you have been. Something that is lacking in the Africans' relationship with Christianity.

In all of the Christian teachings in Africa, a major part was never emphasized—Nature. Which has been with us from the beginning and will be until the end. Nature is our commonality as humans in the cosmos. And before the advent of religions, Our relationship with nature guided us. Nature is part of our lives, and we are part of it. Our ancestors observed it and tried to be in harmony with it.

 In pre-historic times, we learned from it and it shaped our life patterns by observing the changes in the universe, whether it be the Sun, Moon, or the billion Stars. Nature guided us in understanding weather patterns. The Sun guided us in telling time. The Winter Solstice, Equinox, Spring Solstice.

Renowned Scientists proposed theories and made calculations with the help of nature. Isaac Newton, Galileo. Nature is a constant. Over the years, however, we stopped paying attention to what is around us. The answers have always been in nature.

Last week I ran into someone who wanted to invite me to a talk about the death of Jesus, yes, you guessed right. It was a Jehovah's Witness person. I told her, "I am not a Christian., I do not subscribe to organized religion". She said to come anyway. "No" I replied. "I agree with you Jesus was murdered for his beliefs". Christians commemorate his death on Good Friday. Although on Sunday, they say he rose from the dead. It's what they believe, good for them, whatever makes them happy. Other folks believe otherwise. To each his own.

However, the Easter Sunday Christians celebrate is always on the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox (a day where the amount of dark and amount of daylight is identical). You can tell you are emerging from winter because the dark and daylight have come into balance. 

This year 2022, the full moon falls on Saturday, April 16. It is an actual happening in the cosmos. Everything in nature comes alive in the Northern Hemisphere. This was always celebrated by humans since prehistoric times. In 325AD the first major church council of Nicaea determined that Easter should fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. So, Easter Sunday is determined by the movements of the planets and the Sun.

In many European cultures, it was associated with renewal, and new life, hence the symbols of the rabbit/bunny and eggs. That's what your easter eggs and easter bunny signify. It was also associated with the goddess of Spring Eostre in Anglo-Saxon England.

So don't forget to look up on Saturday for the full moon. It is the pink moon, but it is not actually pink. According to NASA, it will appear full from early Friday to Monday morning. And will reach its peak fullness on Saturday, the 16 at 2:55 p.m., ET. The pink moon is associated with the springtime blossoming of the Phlox subulata, a pink wildflower native to eastern North America.