Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1901-04-11
EAsTFR SUNDAY.

EASTER SUNDAY
What the Day is and What it's
Growing Observance Sig
mites.
Daily Argus. Saturday.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.
The glad feast this year falls fea.
sonably late, at a season that en-.
tirely comedies with the reawak-
ening Of the earth. Tt is interest
ing to observe how the English
speaking people have carried
over the world the name which
POLITICALLY associates the part of
the Resurrection with the pre-
Christian festival Of spring. In
every other language the day res
tains the name Of it's type, in the
Old Testament-Paschs, Pasach,
the Passover-the feast of the
Lamb that was slain, and there is
no more distinct illustration than
this Of the historic continuity Of
the faith.
The Greek equivalent Of the
Hebrew word passed into the
Latin and thence over a large
part of Christendom, but among
distant peoples that had never
heard OF the Jewish Church. but
that retained some shadowy ira
ditions Of q primitive religion,
the new faith brought a realiza-
ton Of the obscure types figured
in their own mythology, and their
recognition of the recurring mys-
terry Of the renewal of life attain.
ed O new significance in the ami
versary Of Christ's resurrection.
"Whom then ye ignorantly wor-
ship" the Christian missionaries
said to them as st. Paul said to
the Athenians, Him declare ]
unto YOU" The bursting buds,
the return of the flowers, the
chick breaking from the shell and
the butterfly from the chrysalis,
the power of life after death
which they had tried to personi-
fy in a goddess of spring, became
at once the symbols Of great
spiritual revelation, and the part
of Easter was identified with the
Paschal trump Oh.
A walk through the beautiful
streets Of Goldsboro at this sea-
son suggeats a barking back te
the primitive mythology, as though
the festival of flowers was cele.
brated for it's own sake, with little
reference to it's spiritual signif'
canoe. It is hard to tell how fal
this ia true. Perhaps there is 1
tendency among us to a recur'
renee to Paganism, though in IA
miliar symbolism of any kind it il
always easy to lose sight in time
of the thing symbolized. But there
is on the other hand the unques'
tionable fact that the observance
Of Easter, that formerly was pure
ly ecclesiastical, has grown Of late
go nearly universal among us, and
its meaning is SO emphasized by
every agency of art, as well as Of
religion, that it stands out as o
potent influence in the whole life
of the community.
Much of this observance il
doubtless insincere and superficial,
as must be the case in any such
observance, be it religious or secs
ular. There is no small proportion
Of pretense even in cur patriotic
holidays, Yet no one would say
that they did not express an in
tense popular feeling. No more is
it necessary to analyze the depth
of religious sentiment that may be
in the crowds that will fill the
churches tomorrow morning and
throng the streets afterwards, il
the weather permit. To some al
least it is the greatest day of all
the year, the day of highest hope
and deepest devotion, and to all il
is a day of gladness that cannot be
without some root down in their
consciousness or without some up.
lifting influence in their lives.