It’s certainly the time to have a bit of a break and maybe in that time consider some of life’s big issues.

Spiritual celebrations this time of year have their roots in the spring equinox for the pagans. An equinox is when the crosses the celestial equator and when day and night in the western hemisphere are roughly at equal life.  

For pagans, this makes this time of year traditionally sacred.

About 300 years after the death of Christ, a Roman governing group known as the Council of Nicaea decided that Easter’s celebration should all on the first full moon of the spring equinox. 

The celebration of nature’s rebirth and renewal merged with the notion of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Easter in Coonamble sees the 'rise' of Jesus over the main street. The tradition, organised by parishioners of the Catholic Church, is to remind locals and visitors of the 'real meaning' of Easter.

Cobar’s resident Anglican Minister Reverend James Daymond told the Western Plains App that “The Easter message is central to the Christian faith. What we know is that God has shown his love for us by sending his son to die on the cross. The resurrection shows us that everything that Jesus says is true. It assures that there is life after death for all of us who trust in Jesus”.

“The New Testament shows we have a loving god not a harsh and punitive God. We know he is a loving God, but also not a God to be messed with”.

“Jesus died for our sins – our greed, our envy, our thieving” he said.

Image: Australian Imans Council

This time of year is also Ramadan - which for Muslims started on the 22 March and ends on April 21. 

During Ramadan, Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset, often finishing each day with a celebratory dinner between friends.

“In Ramadan, we show a collective act of worship in the presence of Allah as we wait for the divine invitation to the table of blessings at the time of breaking the fast” Keysar Trad from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils told the Western Plains App.

Ramadan a period where Muhammed is thought to have receive his first messages from an angel which led to him to write the Quran.

“It shows us that there is more to life than the physical body. It tells us that we our spiritual beings” Trad said.

He echoed Reverend Daymond’s suggestion that “we have a loving God” but added Ramadan is a time to reflect on the fact “God has certain expectations of us, including treating other human beings with kindness”.

Maybe if there is one more link that draws those together it’s the tradition of lent.

Lent is a religious observance in the liturgical year commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan.

“Lent season is a chance to grow closer to God and to think about Jesus’ sacrifices for us,” a spokesperson from the St Augustine Catholic Church in Narromine told the Western Plains App “It’s a chance to focus on God and less on ourselves.”