Some Easter Thoughts

I have always had a problem with the eggs and bunnies and chicks at Easter. We let our children hunt for eggs on Saturday before Easter but I really didn't do much decorating for it. I wanted, but couldn't find, decorations that commemorated Christ's atonement for us, his willingness to suffer for our sins and the great miracle of his resurrection. (But I didn't want crucifixes.) All the cutesy little baskets just don't symbolize Christ for me.

So here are some beautiful quotes which help me to remember my Savior at Easter:

And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people. Mosiah 3:7, Book of Mormon

For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit---and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink---
Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it." Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 121.

"I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels...But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ." Gordon B. Hinckley

"I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children. I do not think he intends to shut any of us off...
...I believe that in his justice and mercy he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose."
J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, Oct. 1953, p. 84.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He loves me and he loves us all. Happy Easter!