If Eggs Are Delivered, Shouldn't it be an Easter Chicken?

There are things about Easter that I don't understand.

I get the religious part of it. For Christians, after 40 days of subdued contemplation (Lent) and a particularly mournful Holy Week, Easter is a colorful celebration of new life. In my church, the lights literally go on and the music suddenly turns from hushed understated vocals to joyful full throttled organ and bells. It makes sense this holiday occurs during spring, when grass turns from brown to green and flowers start to pop out of the ground.

But outside of church, when American culture tries to jump on the Easter bandwagon, I get a little confused.

Secular Christmas, I get. I understand traditions around the winter solstice. I know where Santa originated and how the ancient pagan and Roman celebrations echo through our late December celebrations.

But what does a bunny delivering eggs have to do with Easter? In point of fact, why would a bunny be bringing eggs anyway? If something is supposed to deliver eggs, wouldn't an Easter chicken make more sense?

I suppose someone thought that since Christmas had Santa, Easter had to have some magical character who mysteriously visits in the dark of night, leaving things for children. It's like the Easter bunny evolved to make Christmas's lame holiday cousin more fun.

Yes, I said it. Easter is lame compared to Christmas.

Sure, Easter is liturgically more important, and actually more central to the Christian faith. For most of Christian history, Christmas wasn't even celebrated, or if it was, it was a drunken festival for hoodlums and troublemakers.

But these days, Christmas is the big one. That's when we pull out the stops, decorate our houses, and travel across the country to be with our families.

We try to work up some enthusiasm for Easter, but conjuring a bunny and decorating eggs doesn't quite do it. Even those disgusting marshmallow peeps don't add much more than a stomachache to the party.

Most of us don't get extra time off work. We might make an effort to go to church. Some of us might have Sunday dinner with the extended family. There may be leftover ham and cheesy potatoes during the following week. But Easter ain't no Christmas.

Don't get me wrong. I like Easter. I like spring and watching children hunt for eggs. I like looking at the ladies' hats in church. I like eating ham and cheesy potatoes.

But I don't understand the bunny. If some people enjoy it, that's ok. Maybe someone can explain it to me.