By Cynthia Walker Burton

When I was a very young girl with natural blonde curls, Easter meant: shopping for a fancy new Easter dress, participating in the town Easter egg hunt carrying my tin Easter bucket, hand-dying hard boiled eggs, anticipating jelly beans and a chocolate rabbit in my wicker Easter basket, attending church as a family, and savoring a homemade meal of ham with delicious sides. My family’s Easter emphasis was on the Resurrection of Christ. Alleluia!

My goodness gracious how Easter has changed! Nowadays, the emphasis is blatantly skewed toward commercialization versus Christ. The emphasis is on dollars and not our Deliverer. The emphasis is on indulgence rather than reverence. The emphasis is on gift fixation and not the gift of the Crucifixion. The emphasis is on the bling and not the risen King. The emphasis is on how to please us, but not on Jesus.

The emphasis on Easter has devolved disappointingly over the past several decades to include: Easter blowout sales, the trendiest Easter trends (pastel palettes or jewel tones), specialized clothing ($3.5 billion), elaborate gift giving ($23.6 billion), specialized candies ($5 billion), branded super hero or Disney themed Easter baskets, Easter vacays and getaways, decorating indoors, outdoors, and all doors with fanciful bunnies and ubiquitous gnomes in homes, and indulging in an extravagant expensive Easter brunch. The average American in 2026 will spend $195.59 on Easter. Emphasis: DOLLARS.

I pray for the emphasis on Easter to evolve from commercialization to realization. Realization: Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Emphasis: JESUS. Alleluia!