Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. – Exodus 13:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 1, 2012): Exodus 13

Rituals change from season to season. In my family, on Christmas Eve finally all of the presents are placed under the tree and the stockings are filled and placed by the fireplace. It is not a ritual that is repeated at any other time of the year. In fact, it is the only time of year that a tree stands inside of the house. Looking back at pictures from the past it is easy to find the ones that were taken around Christmas –the green decorated tree in the background is the only clue that you need.

Easter has different traditions of its own. Again, during my growing up years it was about chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, and anything else made out of chocolate. A Chocolate bunny in a picture probably means that the photo was taken during Easter. While chocolate might have been an all year commodity, in that form it was only available at Easter.

Sometimes we complain about the secularization of our religious holidays. But the truth might be actually something very different. Our traditions just set the day apart from the ordinary times of the year. Santa Clause and Christmas Trees or the Easter Bunny with all of his chocolate are really nothing more than markers that we place on the day to remind us of that the day itself is something special.

There really is absolutely no religious significance about making bread without yeast. We can infuse it with meaning, but it does not come with meaning attached. One of the meanings we have attached to the idea of yeast is that it takes on the role of sin in the Passover celebrations. The act of lighting a lamp and checking the corners of the house to make sure that all the yeast has been thrown out is an image of our sweeping the sin out of our lives. But yeast is not sin, it is just an illustration that is attached to a meaning. The unleavened bread of Passover is only holy because we have given it a particular meaning. The actual God action of Passover is God stepping into history to save Israel from annihilation in Egypt. Unleavened bread just became the symbol of what God had done.

Markers are important, but it is equally important to recognize that we are the ones that give meaning to the symbols. Any symbol can be good just as any symbol can be bad – and the meaning that any symbol has is essentially up to us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 14