Loading...One of the things I anticipate most in the Spring is the return of Peeps, the neon-colored marshmallows in the shapes of chicks and rabbits. I’m not sure if they’re edible (and I couldn’t in good conscience recommend making the experiment), but that’s not why I like them anyway. Instead, it’s their artistic potential that appeals to me.
No one seems to know who first had the idea of arranging Peeps (and other things) in dramatic tableaux, but to paraphrase Voltaire, if Peep dioramas did not exist, we should be obliged to invent them.
The Washington Post runs a contest every year, which draws predictably high-brow political and ironic themes. Others – schools, libraries, arts organizations – round out the field with local interest, topical themes, and pop culture references.
I find it intriguing that these symbols (however remote) of the new life and new possibilities of Easter should be pressed into service as icons of modern life.
In the 21st Century, we are conditioned to imagine that what goes on in church and in our souls is, and should be, kept carefully separate from what goes on in “real life.” Recasting the “non-God” parts of our lives in Easter colors is a reminder that the soul’s desire and longing for God is never completely out of the picture.
Best wishes for Easter, and may all your dreams of new life, however neon-colored they may be, come to fulfillment through God’s infinite goodness.
Blessings
Howie+
