Vesak Day

Today (or tomorrow - the date varies a little by country) is Vesak Day, when Buddhists celebrate the birth of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha). Artisan Bricks notes the day with this Buddhist Flag. The flag has vertical stripes representing loving kindess (blue), the Middle Path (yellow), various blessings (red), purity (white), and the wisdom of the Buddha's teachings (orange). A sixth stripe is made up of all of the other colors, representing the essenced of light, since the spectrum of light is made up of all of the colors. There are variations in different countries where one or more of the colors is changed.

LEGO Easter story

Video by BW Animations.

He is risen!

He is risen indeed. MOC by Jsnyder002.

Crucifixion

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. and at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. - Mark 15:33-37
Crucifixion by John Denno.

Via Dolorosa

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. - John 19:16-18
Here is LEGO by Justin M.

Thingyan

In addition to Passover in Judaism and Holy Week in Christianity, this week also notes Thingyan, the Burmese New Year Festival (and variants in nearby countries), running from today until Sunday. Buddhists practice a number of rituals ushering in the new year, including fasting, ritual washing, and offerings at shrines. The more solemn rites then turn to fun with feasting and ultimately a very wet water festival, closely related to the Songkran Festival in nearby countries, depicted here in LEGO form. Xin Yaw wishes everyone a Happy Myanmar New Year!!!.

Sedar

The Sedar is the meal shared last night on the first evening of Passover. Joel Sawady built LEGO Sedar and matzah plates, that sit in the middle of the table. The Sedar plate (here in red), holds six items that point to the Exodus account. The matza, or unleavened bread, sits on a separate plate (here in blue).

Pesach

Pesach, or Passover, begins this evening at sundown, when Jews around the world remember how God led them forth from Egypt in the days of Moses. The celebration lasts a week, but tonight is when most families gather for the traditional sedar meal. Max-to-the-well wrote Pesach in LEGO form. Pesach Sameach!

Palm Sunday

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

Today Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, illustrated here by John Denno. So sad that this morning's news was marred by the bombing in Egypt.

Saint Patrick

I arise today, through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

Saint Patrick wasn't just a leprechaun who could drink you under the table, he was also the figure largely credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. The lines above are the opening of the "Breastplate of Saint Patrick", a prayer attributed to him, emphasizing the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. He supposedly illustrated this doctrine using a shamrock as an analogy. This would really be an illustration of the non-Christian doctrine of partialism, but it makes for a nice story and a good national symbol. Here is a scene of Patrick preaching by David FNJ, and shamrocks by Kreativ Snail and Plucky Duck.

Purim

This last weekend was the holiday of Purim, remembering when the Jewish people were saved from destruction, as recorded in the biblical book of Esther. Here are some video versions of that story by Stephanie Englander, the Cohen family, AishVideo, and the Jewish Outreach Initiative.

Mardi Gras

Christians are currently in the season of Lent, a period of reflection leading up to Good Friday and Easter. Lent typically involves prayer, repentance, and fasting (or other self-denial). Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday", which fell on February 28 this year, is the day before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, time for one last big party before the more austere season. A few years ago the Krewe of Brickbaron, a group of LEGO builders, came up with this scene based on the festivities in New Orleans, Mardi Gras Madness.

Holi

If you use Google, you probably know that today is the Hindu festival of Holi. This is a spring festival celebrated in India and Nepal, noting the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil, when Vishnu defeated Holika to save Prahlada from being burned. It's a time of renewal, of repaying and forgiving debts, and prayers for destruction of inner darkness. It's become known in the west, though, because after these rituals the people take to the streets to party, and a big part of the celebration is an explosion of color, with people throwing colored powder on each other, or dowsing others with squirt-guns full of colorful dyes, creating great pictures or video that get splashed (see what I did there) across the news around the world. Here we see this depicted in LEGO form by Youmi, Itzlar Chamorro Jorganes, and Marquess Kilian Beck.

Epiphany

Today is Epiphany, from the Greek word for revelation, where the church celebrates Christ being revealed to the world. In different traditions, this day either focuses on remembering the visit of the Magi (the first revelation of Christ to gentiles), the baptism of Christ by John (where the voice of the Father reveals Christ's identity, the starting point of his earthly ministry), or even the turning of water into wine at Cana (Christ's first miracle). Since I'm here in the west, I'll focus on this as the Feast of the Three Kings, with Monsterbricks' Givers of Gifts.

Advent

If I may be cynical for a bit, Christmas in America is an orgy of consumerism. We begin on Black Friday (the holiest day on the consumerist calendar) and continue shopping till we drop, culminating in a pile of crumpled up wrapping paper on the morning of December 25. After that, we have to quick get those decorations down and put away before the new year rolls around. By contrast, Christmas in the church actually begins on December 25 and leads on for twelve days commemorating the birth of Christ, followed by Epiphany in which Christ is revealed to the world. The days leading up to Christmas are actually a time of prayer, fasting, and self denial (the opposite of consumerism) as we repent and prepare for the coming of Christ (both remembering that first Christmas day but also looking ahead to his return). I know we stand with a foot in each of these worlds, especially as a dad I'm trying to figure out gifts for my kids, but please, try to pause for a moment and remember joy. Yesterday, the third Sunday of Advent, the Joy candle (the pink one - I know, for years I assumed the one that was a different color must be the one right before Christmas) was lit in advent wreaths around the world, and in this LEGO wreath by CJ. Joy to the world, our Lord is coming.

Hanukkah

Here's a much smaller menorah that a first grader named Maxwell built as a gift for his parents last year. I hope all of my Jewish readers have had a wonderful holiday this year.

Hanukkah

Here's a giant LEGO menorah build that the Vancouver LEGO club held last year.

I have a little dreidel, I made it out of LEGO

Jim DeVona gives instructions to build your own dreidel - a top used in a game traditionally played at Hanukkah. In addition to being fun, the game helps remind children that "A great miracle happened there".

Happy Hanukkah

This evening the first candle will light on menorahs around the world, celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. This 14 foot menorah was erected this year outside a synagogue in northern Washington DC. That's not actual LEGO, instead it's EverBlock, a LEGO-like building material. The Rabbi wanted to build something like LEGO, just much larger, and partnered up with the president of EverBlock.

Sukkot

Last night at sundown Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, began. This is part a harvest festival but also a remembrance of the Exodus, the years of traveling in the wilderness and depending only on God. During this time Jews build Sukkot, or booths - temporary structures remembering the tent-like homes the people of Israel built during their travels from Egypt to the promised land. These also resemble makeshift shelters built by farmers during the harvest, linking in the harvest-celebration aspect of this holiday. During the week of this celebration families eat their meals and even sleep in these structures built outside their homes. Last year Joanna Brichetto of Bible Belt Balabusta built LEGO Sukkot with grade-school age kids at her local school. Read her article for all of the details on how you can hold your own LEGO event to teach kids about their heritage.