On my way to work one day last week and listening to a comedian on the radio, he was talking about how a bunny laying colored eggs got associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After the crucifixion, Jesus' body was hastily placed in a tomb on Friday afternoon. There was no time to properly prepare the body for burial with spices and ointments according to Jewish customs. No work could be done on the Sabbath, so that task had to wait until Sunday. Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and several women went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared.

When they arrived, they found the tomb had been opened already. When they went in, they did not find Jesus' body, and they wondered what had happened. Suddenly, two angels in dazzling white clothes appeared.

The women were terrified, but the angels said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He (Jesus) is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you that He would be turned over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise again on the third day!”

Easter Sunday is the Christian celebration of the resurrection. The Bible makes no mention of a long-eared, short-tailed creature who delivers decorated eggs to well-behaved children on Easter Sunday. Nevertheless, the Easter bunny has become a prominent symbol of Christianity's most important holiday.

The exact origins of this mythical mammal are unclear, but rabbits, known to be prolific procreaters, are an ancient symbol of fertility and new life, like the resurrection. According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Oschter Haws” (literally “Easter Hare”). Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs.

Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S. and the fabled rabbit's Easter morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced nests. Another legend of the Easter Bunny seems to stem from early pagan celebrations around the vernal equinox, which just happened to occur around the same time as the Christian celebration of Christ's resurrection.

The pagan traditions celebrated the springtime renewal of life and fertility as well as the goddess of dawn and spring, Eastre. Eastre was associated with newborns, both human and animal, during the spring, and since rabbits are known to be rapid breeders, the concept of the Easter Bunny began to form.

The legend is that the goddess Eastre came “late” one year, causing a long winter, and saw a bird frozen in the snow. Eastre took pity on the bird and turned him into a snow hare who could lay multi-colored eggs on one day each year, and that is the day that the “Festival of Eastre” was celebrated.

So many traditions have come together over the centuries to turn into the Easter celebrations that we acknowledge today. And as we creep closer to the vernal equinox, as our days are getting longer, it is time to start planning for the season ahead. And planning for spring is an inspiring way to deal with mornings that are only in the single digits.