While looking for new and unusual ways to decorate Easter eggs, I came across an article about NASA hiding Easter eggs on the Mars Perseverance rover.
How interesting, I thought, considering the rover is unmanned.
Just how far I have drifted away from the world of technology quickly became evident as I discovered the term Easter egg also refers to an intentional secret message or feature in a video, movie, computer program, or it seems, spacecraft.
In the case of the article I was reading, engineers, using binary code, hid the phrase “Dare Mighty Things'' on the parachute of Perseverance. The code was visible in a striking red and white pattern when the parachute opened. All that was needed was for some brilliant mind to decode it.
But why “Easter Egg?”
When I thought of the elaborately decorated Easter egg music box on my desk, and the angel hidden inside until the egg is opened, it made sense. My little porcelain egg has always reminded me of the intricately jeweled Fabergé eggs commissioned by Tsar Alexander III as annual gifts to his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna. Each ornate egg contained a hidden surprise.
The much-loved Christian tradition of dying or painting Easter eggs, and sharing them with family and friends, may not be one of hidden messages but it is one filled with symbolism.
The eggs themselves are symbolic of new life, particularly at Easter, the new life of Christians made possible through the Resurrection of Jesus.
When I was young I would watch my Syrian grandmother dye eggs with red onion skins to symbolize the color of Jesus’ blood, shed for us on the cross. At that time, we were not allowed to eat eggs during Lent so the dyed eggs were placed on the Easter table as a reminder of why we celebrated with an Easter feast.
We played games to see who could crack the other’s egg first, hitting one egg against another. I am certain, as children, we didn’t realize the symbolism of the eggshell as the tomb and breaking open the egg as Christ breaking open the tomb (though the tombstone was really rolled away).
I believe it says a lot about our capacity for God when we find in the ordinary things of life a sign of the extraordinary and allow it to move us into a deeper relationship with God.
As we approach Easter, may our celebrations be filled with the richness of our traditions, and may our hearts be filled with the promise of new life.
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.