For many at Easter, the lure of the great outdoors will always trump religious observance
On this, the holiest day in the Christian calendar, the vast majority of Britons will be trading a pew for a deckchair (weather allowing) and worshipping an altogether more pagan god. Whether lolling in back gardens, baring almost all on tiny high-rise balconies, or lying like sardines on the nearest beach, we will pay homage as one to the sun. And who could blame us? It's been too hot for hot cross buns and across most of the country, forecasters are promising record-breaking, Easter egg-melting highs. But the intensity of our worship also reminds us of what we're missing.
Nothing unites this drizzly nation like fair weather, certainly not the impending royal nuptials. As statistics for road closure requests revealed last week, those have us divided. Richmond-upon-Thames is set to throw 85 street parties, Glasgow not one. And it isn't as if we're a cohesive whole south of the border, either. Who else forgot it was St George's Day yesterday?
A splash of sunshine, on the other hand, will see the Welsh, the Irish, the Scots and the English stampeding in unison from their desks, shedding layers and generally acting like sunstroke has already struck. Not even sport has quite the rallying effect. No visitor from abroad can truly comprehend these isles without first visiting the seaside on a rare day of blue skies and glittering waves.
And, yes, there is something faintly idolatrous about it all. You needn't go picking your way through the smouldering barbecues and flushed revellers on Brighton beach ? close to my home ? to feel the boozy heathen vibe. At the moment, it seems heightened. Though the thermometer reads summer, it's still spring and spring is a time of year when you can't help but feel connected to the rhythms of the earth.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that Easter, unlike Christmas, is a movable feast, set according to the lunar calendar. Its narrative offers exactly what the spirit yearns for ? a chance to pay homage for the extra hours of daylight, the renewed lushness, the optimism of rebirth. Even for those who don't go to church, it's there in the Easter egg.
Eggs also feature in Passover, which I've been celebrating this past week. As well as eating matzo instead of bread, the festival entails enacting an obligation, renewed by successive generations, to retell the story of the Exodus. Though my Jewish identity is largely cultural, I value that narrative for many reasons, not least the humbling way it connects me to an epic story.
Whatever your faith or lack thereof, Christianity plays an essential role in the story of this country. And it's not all history, either. As the 1ast census showed, this remains a nominally Christian country, with 71.6% of respondents claiming Christianity as their religion. Though church attendance figures for today will doubtless suggest otherwise, the urge for some form of religious identity clearly persists.
It may nourish plants, but sun worship leaves humans with no reserves to fall back on in gloomier times. While we'll likely spend today putting off until tomorrow grey-cloud thoughts about climate change, water shortages and sunburn, we Brits know better than anyone that fair weather is just that ? it doesn't last.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/24/easter-sun-worship-religion
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