Where did the story of the Easter Bunny come from? What does Easter, the Day on which Jesus was raised from the dead that Christians celebrate every year with great joy, have to do with a rabbit that brings joy to children?
Did it ever occur to you that there might have been a family of rabbits in the Garden outside Jerusalem where Jesus was laid in the tomb on that sad, amazing day we call Good Friday? Well, if there were rabbits in that garden, maybe one of them saw the Risen Lord even before the faithful women went to the tomb and encountered the Angel telling the news of His Resurrection.
Maybe she was a little bunny named Rebekah, who was curious about the strange rumbling she felt early, early that Sunday morning, and the beautiful light that came with the dawn, so out she hopped into the garden, all alone, while her brothers and sisters slept. And there she met the most wonderful person in the world - and somehow she knew Him and He knew her!!
And then maybe that little bunny was able to say something without words to those women - and they included her in their story to the others. But then, over the centuries, the part about the rabbit and the first Easter day got forgotten -mostly.
Fantasy can be a wonderful way to connect with the truths taught by the Christian faith. Based on the Gospel of Matthew, "The Tale of Rebekah Rabbit" is for children and adults with a heart for what may have happened if, as old legends tell us, animals can talk among themselves and, like humans, can recognize the voice of their Maker!
Jean Alden McCurdy Meade, an Episcopal priest since 2002, is the Rector of Mount Olivet Episcopal Church, New Orleans. She is the mother of four, step-mother of one, and grandmother of four - so far. A pianist, organist, singer, and lover of reading and good conversation, her special calling is teaching the Bible to young and old. For 19 years she served as the lay chaplain of St. Andrew's Episcopal School where she used impromptu drama and music to bring the Bible stories to life. She has broadcast a Bible study, "Light unto my Path," on New Orleans public access television for years and has been the speaker for many conferences and retreats, especially on "Women of the Bible" and "Male and Female in the Image of God."
A graduate of Agnes Scott College and Duke University, she taught English in high schools and college before "retiring" for a while to bring up her children. In 1988 she was the first non-Roman Catholic graduate of Notre Dame Roman Catholic Seminary of New Orleans and then earned a PhD in Philosophy from Tulane University in 2000. She has taught Religious Studies and Philosophy at Loyola, Notre Dame Seminary, and Tulane in recent years. She is dedicated to fostering ecumenical work and understanding, serving as a Chaplain in the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem and in the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple in Jerusalem, and she has been an oblate of St. Joseph Abbey, Order of Saint Benedict, in Covington, Louisiana, for many years. Ever since the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase in 2003, Jean has led an ecumenical service of Vespers in French at Mount Olivet Church to celebrate the French heritage of Louisiana.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, she has four sisters and one brother, many nieces and nephews, and is married to Louis R Koerner, Jr, a lawyer. Jean and Louis live in New Orleans in a big old Garden District house built in 1893. They grow their own vegetables and herbs in the garden and love to cook and to travel, especially to France.
Illustrator Barbara Hosterman Clark is a mother and grandmother who lives in Grapeland, Texas. A locally well-known artist, she is also an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Crockett, Texas.