*. What does "Easter" mean? .*

Last night I couldn't sleep. I had some things on my mind and so I pulled out my journal and began to free write. My mind went a million miles an hour and my pen struggled to keep up, so I began to draw instead of writing. I drew a whip, a crown of thorns, and a wooden cross. I was thinking of today - 1,976 years ago. The day that Christ would be judged by an earthly tribune and sentenced to a most brutal and trialing death. My pen wrote the word "Easter" next to the cross, then I drew a slash and wrote Atonement. I began to think of the betrayal of God's Only Begotten Son and the pain that he must have felt from loosing a friend.
My mind reverted back to the Atonement and I wondered what Christ felt as my image or my name passed through his mind. I remembered these words from the song, "This is the Christ":

I read his words, the words he prayed while bearing sorrow in Gethsemane. I feel his love, the price he paid. How many drops of blood were spilled for me? With saints of old in joyful cry, I, too, can testify, “This is the Christ!”

Then I wrote the word "Easter" on my page and wondered where the name came from. I understood the significance of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but I had no idea where the name "Easter" came from. So I googled it and got this response (ironically from ChaCha.com):

The name "easter" comes from the ancient German goddess Ostara "The Teutonic Goddess of Spring" (called Eostre in Anglo-Saxon).

After more online research, this answer was confirmed. So there it is. The day of Christ's resurrection got it's name from a German goddess and the world has turned the day into a celebration of the death of winter and the beginning of spring and summer. We know better. We know that we are not celebrating the death of anything. Yes, we are grateful and ever indebted to the Messiah for "suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind" ( Alma 7:11) and we know that "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isa. 53:5) But we do not celebrate the Saviors death. We celebrate the Saviors life and ressurrection. That is why we don't have the cross as a religious symbol. We celebrate the emtpy tomb because it means that "He is not here, but is risen!" (Luke 24:3-6). Christ triumphed over death making it possible for us to do the same. Our atoning brother bridged the gap between life and death and gives all the free gift of immortality and offers eternal life as a conditional gift. What a glorious and exciting week! I would encourage everyone to take some time and remember what happend on this weekend 1,976 years ago. I love the testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him.” (D&C 76: 22-23)

Ezra Taft Benson gave said:

As one of His latter-day witnesses, I testify that He lives today. He is a resurrected Being. He is our Savior, our Lord, the very Son of God. I testify that He will come again as our glorified, resurrected Lord. That day is not far distant. To all who accept Him as Savior and Lord, His literal resurrection means that life does not end at death, for He promised: “Because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19)

Christ lives again. That is what we celebrate. That is what Easter is all about.