This year, April 4-6 was a weekend of remembrance, a weekend of hope, a weekend of celebration. April 4-6 was Spring Sing weekend. Wait, wasn’t there something else that was important that weekend, something that also had to do with rejoicing and devotion? Oh, that’s right, April 4-6 was Easter weekend.
I entered the spring semester of my freshman year with high hopes and raw talent … OK, maybe not so much talent, but definitely high hopes. I had heard all throughout the fall semester about Spring Sing and could not wait to be on that stage with a club that I had my heart set on joining. As most people who have ever performed in Spring Sing know, the rehearsals were awful. It becomes the best experience that you never want to have again. The weeks and practices drudged on and finally, show week happened. I choreographed, sang and smiled my little heart out. I loved every minute of it, but there was something about that weekend that bothered me, something that I still have never been able to get over: Spring Sing outshines Easter.
I’ve thought a lot about this over my four years here and even decided not to participate in Spring Sing my sophomore and junior year as my own personal boycott. This year, however, I agreed to play a small part in my club’s show. I thought maybe it was my own problem, maybe I was the one that let Easter fall to the back burner, but after this year’s show, I can’t help but believe that I might not be the only one on campus that struggles with this.
For me, the first and most obvious reason for this struggle is the not-so-friendly rivalries between the social clubs. Check Twitter, Yik Yak and any other form of social media and you will see the nasty comments and the obvious subtweets that I am referring to. Spring Sing breeds a certain level of disrespect and borderline hatred towards clubs that are not our own. On a weekend where we should be coming together to rejoice as a community of sinners who have been redeemed under the same cross and the same resurrection, we are instead separating ourselves by jersey colors.
Separation from family lands number two on my list of complaints. There was an estimated 1,000 students that participated in this year’s Spring Sing show. Sure, many of those students had family come to Harding to see the show and spend the weekend with them, but for those that did not, the option to go home and spend time with their families was not available. Being so far from family on any weekend can be hard, but it can be especially depressing on a holiday weekend.
While division of social clubs and separation from families bothers me, there is still a bigger reason that bothers me even more. When it is all said and done, when we know how well our club’s show did, when we finally get a chance to breathe, it seems that we have forgotten to celebrate the victory. I don’t mean the victory of a seven minute show, but the victory of the resurrection. Easter is the day that we set aside to reflect and give praise to our Savior who bled and died, but has given us hope through rising again. Are we really thankful for that or are we more thankful for the fact that we no longer have to show up for practices and that Super Saturday is a thing of the past? All of our energy is drained and Easter becomes an after-thought. We attend a university that places its entire mission on the Christian faith, yet we seem to fill the holiday that is the entire basis of our faith with trivial and meaningless things.
Spring Sing is a fun tradition and one that I would love to share with future generations. I love reconnecting with alumni who return to campus and participating in the activities. I just hope that we start understanding the implications of having it on Easter weekend. Are we worshiping God or are we worshiping Harding?
