Easter Reflections

Jesus, bunnies, and veggies

In the Christian tradition of merging the miracle of Jesus Christ with pagan practices, the holiday many of us celebrate as the resurrection of the most powerful example of living love is celebrated with bunnies.

In ancient pre-Christian traditions, rabbits and hares symbolize fertility, rebirth, and renewal. The Easter Bunny’s origins most likely stem from the pagan festival of Eoestre — a Germanic goddess whose symbol is a hare.

At Indraloka, we have two rescued bunnies, Grover and Morris. They are two little sweethearts who live in an area with outdoor and indoor space, all of which is protected with fencing to keep them safe and prevent them from hopping into danger. But they are curious little buggers, and they can hear all the antics going on at the sanctuary around them. And, by golly, they want to join in. Recently, we discovered that they dug a tunnel under their bunny enclosure and into the neighboring bird village. Bunnies are smart.

Grover

I celebrated this Easter at Indraloka, with Sarah Thornton, Indraloka’s education director, handing out treats to all the beloved animals. We started with the piglets and sheep. Sheep are so polite and at four months old, the piglets are still babyish enough to be in awe of the bounty, rather than ravenously attacking it.

We moved on to the big pigs and the two larger piglets who are about eight months old. We tossed their treats over the fence because getting between a fifteen-hundred-pound pig and his apples is dangerous. Sarah and I went to each of the pastures and barns. We handed out treats to the cows, mules, mini goats, mini pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, alpacas, and Soul, one of our large goats who, because of his manners and reliability, receives special privileges. Soul is kind of like a farm dog, except he’s goat and Indraloka is a sanctuary. He follows us around and “helps” us with our chores.

I think Christ would approve of how I celebrated Easter, caring for and loving God’s precious creations. I’m convinced Jesus was vegan. The original story of Jesus feeding the masses refers only to bread. Later editions of the bible added fish. Read a lengthy, researched piece on the historical context for concluding Jesus was vegan here.

A new film, Christspiracy, also explores Christ’s veganism.

I was raised Catholic and never fully bought in for reasons too numerous for a quick Happy Easter post. After fifty-plus years of seeking God, exploring New Age thought, Kabbalah, Buddhism, Hinduism, shamanism, Wicca, and a few other paths I’ve forgotten about, I found myself in a metaphorical foxhole a few years ago. And in that dark, terrifying place, I prayed. I prayed hard. To my surprise, I found myself praying to Jesus. But to accept that I believe Jesus works miracles I had to find a way to reconcile all the biblical references to slaughter and fishing — murder. The Jesus I believe in would never have condoned that. (Just as the Jesus I believe in would not abide by most of what I learned in my early childhood religious studies.)

I know I’m on this earth to continue my imperfect path to veganism and animal welfare advocacy. I hope it’s okay with you, dear readers, that I’ve voiced this opinion. I generally keep the religious stuff to myself. But it is Easter Sunday, and I wish you all a beautiful spring season of renewal, rebirth, and reinvigoration.

Happy Easter.