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Trying to Explain Easter to My ChildrenI don't know how to explain Easter to my children, but perhaps that because it's a mystery I'm still trying to figure out myself.

I don't know how to explain Easter to my children. I've tried two approaches so far. I've talked about it directly: "Some people killed Jesus and he died and God made him alive again."

When I said that, William asked, "What does died mean?" I tried to explain death as something that takes people away forever. Penny asked, "Where is Jesus now?" and when I said, "Jesus is in heaven and all around us," she responded, "But where is Jesus now?"

Then Penny went to Sunday school last week, where her teachers decided to reenact the Passion of Jesus. I was sitting in church when, halfway through the sermon, one of the teachers brought Penny to me. She sat by my side, coloring, for the rest of the service. Her teacher later explained that when Penny had seen Jesus nailed to the cross, she stood up to leave.

I asked Penny later, "What happened in Sunday school? Did you learn something about Jesus?"

Without looking at me she said, "He died. I needed to see you, Mom."

"Do you know what happened when he died?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

The direct route didn't get us far.

To continue reading, go to How Do I Explain Easter to My Kids? a post I wrote for her.menuetics (two years ago, but which still rings true as we enter this holy weekend).

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