I hope all of you had an enjoyable Easter holiday. With that in mind I thought I’d offer up a little religious history and trivia. While I’m not all that religious I certainly enjoy anything concerning history whether it be mythological or factual. Enjoy.

• The egg has become the symbol for Easter because it began as an ancient symbol of new life and considered a fitting symbol for the Resurrection.

• A Bible published in London in 1632 became known as the Wicked Bible. It was called that because the word “not” was missing from the seventh commandment, making it “Thou shalt commit adultery.”

• Few people know that one of the most famous structures in Greek mythology was built by a man named Epeius. It was the Trojan horse.

• A bird was credited with saving Rome from attack by the Gauls in 390 B.C. The bird was a goose and according to legend its honking alerted the Romans to a night raid by the Gauls.

• The political-religious movement, Rastafarianism, is named after former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie who at his coronation was titled Ras Tafari.

• The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel was named after Pope Sixtus IV who had it built as a private papal chapel.

• When the American Foundation for the Blind recorded the entire 774,000-word King James version of the Bible in 1944, it took 84 1/2 hours.

• The King James version of the Bible was the common source for a number of clichés; “Salt of the earth”, “Feet of clay”, and “Apple of my eye”.

• The seven cardinal virtues are prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, faith, love, and hope.

• The seven deadly sins are pride, covetousness, lust, gluttony, anger, envy and sloth.

And here is a bit of bonus trivia concerning Pope John Paul II. His talents extended beyond the realm of his calling. He was also a gifted writer and musician. His 1979 record album, “At the Festival of the Sacro Song” sold over 1 million copies.

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IT’S EASIER TO PREACH TEN SERMONS THAN TO LIVE JUST ONE