Volume 33

To find these Easter eggs, you have to be a hard boiled investigator. They’re virtual Easter eggs: extra features or novelties hidden in software, movies and TV shows.

According to eeggs.com., some eggs act as a signature. When software companies release new products, programmers often include an Easter egg listing those who worked on the software. It’s their way of saying, “We made this!”

Some Easter eggs are an inside joke put in place by people who’ve worked together a long time. Even when they’re relatively easy to spot, they go unnoticed or they’re misunderstood by those outside that community who don’t have the inside insight. Few know, for example, that George Lucas’ first movie was called THX-1138. But he pays tribute to it in all his films, such as on a license plate reading 1T1H3X8 in American Graffiti, or in Star Wars when Luke Skywalker rescues Prince Leia from Cell Block 1138.

Other Easter eggs offer glimpses of the creator. Movie directors take bit parts in their own films, or give them to friends of the cast. Only those who know the director understand what’s going on. Alfred Hitchcock made a cameo in each of his movies. In The Matrix, directors Andy and Larry Wachowski are the window washers when Neo is getting dressed down for being late for work.

Similarly, an Easter egg can act as a tribute of sorts. In the movie Erin Brockovich, in which Julia Roberts plays a real life anti-corporate crusader, there’s a scene in which Roberts is in a restaurant with friends. Their server is the real Erin Brockovich, who’s wearing a name tag that reads “Julia.”

Lastly, some eggs are there just to add a personal touch by the creator. In Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld hid a Superman reference in every episode. Musician Weird Al Yancovic loves the number 27 and hides it in almost all his videos and album covers (on Running With Scissors, he’s runner 27.)

In much the same way, there are Easter eggs scattered throughout the Bible and, indeed, our very lives — extras noticed and understood only by those who know the Director and his previous work. That’s not to say the Scriptures are cloaked in mystery or understood only by the spiritual elite. The message of the Gospel is clear to anyone who reads it: sin separates us from God; He loved us so much He sent his Son to take our punishment by dying on the cross; Jesus rose from the dead on the third day; and Christ offers pardon and reunion with God to all who will accept his free offer of forgiveness and live a life of love, sacrifice and service.

But as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we begin to see him in circumstances others don’t, simply because we know him and recognize him at work in our lives, even when He chooses to stay in the background. We twig to spiritual principles understood only by the community of faith that’s aware of the work God has done among his people from the very beginning.

As Christians, we catch glimpses of our Director all the time. More than that, here we are, trying to act like Jesus, and the real Jesus serves us. It’s amazing how God pays tribute to the creatures He loves by giving us a role in his work, and it’s far from a bit part. Besides, the Creator’s personal touches are all over your life, so keep your eyes peeled. Happy hunting.

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at rgamble@bfree.on.ca