And by ya-ya, I guess I am referring to the Lolita Ya-Ya song, from the Kubrick film of Lolita. And also to that incredibly great live Stones album from 1969, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (If you like the Stones at all and don't have or even know that album, trust me: it is incredibly good.)

Easter was great. And it was great to hear from friends, to have a dinner with mom, to basically take it easy all day and to finally even see a little bit of sun for awhile around 4 PM.

Even though I am not a monotheist anymore and haven't been one for about 25 years or so, I still love the symbolism of Easter; that there is no death. Actually, I am quite fascinated by Christianity, in general -- specifically by the history of Christianity, its teachings, its changing beliefs over the changing centuries. I love the whole pageantry of Christianity. I just don't believe in One True God anymore. I don't or can't believe that reality is that simple. I believe that there is a distinct, unique, source to each of us that thinks us into Being, and that each of those sources are ultimately springing from the same source -- so, in that regard, you could say I believe in a single Source, or God. But I don't believe in it in the Scriptural sense.

The early Gnostic Christians had beliefs that are astoundingly similar to what I believe -- and the Gnostic Christians believed that there were several hundred Gods -- and yet they were still Christians. Their teachings didn't make it into the canon of the New Testament, however, so their teachings are officially considered heresies. But for a couple hundred years, the Gnostics were not official heretics; they were a faction of early Christianity. It's probably no surprise that the Gnostics did not believe in the story of Easter. They didn't worship the Resurrection of Christ. Instead, they "worshiped" Christ's message, what he taught while he was alive on Earth and physical; most importantly, Christ's imperative to "Know Thyself" -- because in knowing yourself, you will learn who you really are, where you came from and how to get back there. And until you really knew yourself, learned the lesson of who you really are, you would keep coming back to this realm.

Very different teaching from what Christianity believes in modern times. But I still love the story of Easter, I really do. For a day, or even a weekend out of every year, I let myself believe all of it. And for some reason, it makes me feel really happy.

[The Ventures version of "Lolita Ya-Ya". I love playing this song while I'm driving around!!]