It is a good day to face reality, Easter. The celebration of Christ’s Resurrection has coincidentally, over time, tied itself to the vow of poverty otherwise known as tax time. It’s not actually until April 15, but it behooves one to approach that date with caution, lest one leave oneself insufficient time to prepare the annual rendering to Caesar that which is Caesar’s.

I got a good start on mine on Saturday, and my mother’s, now two years my duty, is filed. On the other hand, my lawn is freshly mowed, and hers awaits the next sunny day, which is likely to be Monday.

 

Two paragraphs. Two persons. Third in the first. First in the second. No award winner, this blog.

Meanwhile, in relation to the honoring of Jesus, “Alpha and Omega be.” It’s not the best I can do. It’s just what I can humbly muster. I’ll ask forgiveness shortly after my next recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, which is generally how my personal prayers begin. It’s like the Preamble to the Constitution.

Of course, Easter is not just about Jesus. All our religious holidays cultivate, over time, a certain commercial levity because, sad to concede, there is only so much sales value in a Savior suspended from a cross. The lord of free enterprise must also be honored. Praise Jesus. Now who’s up for hiding some Easter eggs? A chocolate bunny won’t make anyone fat on this day. A merciful Jesus, Who died for our sins, won’t allow it. Not this day.

This day I read the Bible a little, just to remind me how little the Jesus there has in common with what is regularly passed along in His Precious Name.

 

 

I also wonder how many kids know the words to “Here Comes Peter Cottontail,” which, even though I can’t remember the name of the woman I saw at the supermarket on Friday, even though we went to school together, I still know these silly words:

 

Here comes Peter Cottontail / Hoppin’ down the bunny trail / Hippity, hoppity, Easter’s on its way / Bringin’ all the girls and boys / Baskets full of Easter joys / Hippity, hoppity, Happy Easter Day!

Alas, I doubt singing about a bunny who inexplicably lays colored eggs probably will, alone, get me through the Pearly Gates.

I’ll have to muster many additional good works and deeds.

 

                My new novel, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, is available for advance order now and for immediate download on March 29: http://www.amazon.com/Forgive-Our-Trespasses-Monte-Dutton-ebook/dp/B0192I3Q1K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458228862&sr=1-1&keywords=Monte+Dutton+Forgive+Us+Our+Trespasses

Forgive Us Our Trespasses is a crime novel about corruption and patronage in a small town. The tale unfolds across two generations at the same time.

 

As you may have noticed, I use these blogs as a promotional tool for my novels. One, Crazy of Natural Causes, has been out since late July of 2015. If you haven’t read it, I’d appreciate you considering it. It’s a freewheeling fable on the absurdity of life.

 

Crazy and Trespasses are my third and fourth novels. The Audacity of Dope, which is about a pot-smoking folksinger who becomes a national hero, was published in 2011. The Intangibles, published in 2013, is an historical novel about desegregation in the South, circa 1968. I’m working on a fifth, Cowboys Come Home. Most of my books can be examined and purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Monte-Dutton/e/B005H3B144/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1416767492&sr=8-1

 

My nonfiction, much of which involves sports, is on display here: http://montedutton.com/

Follow me on Twitter @montedutton, @hmdutton (about writing) and @wastedpilgrim (more humor and opinion). I’m on Facebook at Monte.Dutton and Instagram at Tug50. Look for me by name at Google+.