Yesterday, after we carved our family’s pumpkins for Halloween, our almost-3-year-old son wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood to look at Halloween decorations.
There is one house, not far from our own, that has a lot of decorations: scary scarecrows, a wild looking zombie dire wolf, and the skeleton of a mermaid doing yoga (yes, it’s actually something that you, too, could buy!), to name a few. When we got down to this particular house with all the decorations, my son wanted to look at them but he also didn’t want to look at them. They were both fascinating and scary.
This morning, as I said in the chair at my dentist’s office – over the sound of the drill and the suction machine – I heard her say, “I don’t really know what the beliefs are behind Halloween, in terms of religion. . .” In between the drill and the dentist’s gloved hands in my mouth, I was able to say that Halloween is tied to the Christian observance of “All Saints Day” on November 1. With my numb mouth, there really wasn’t time to get into a deep theological or historical discussion.
Over the centuries, Halloween has kind of become its own thing (not unlike Christmas) when it comes to the religious connections. Because of the focus on death and dying, Halloween – or “All Hallows Eve” – became linked with a celebration of the macabre – things that were scary, but also downright strange. In Ireland, Scotland, and England, instead of carving pumpkins, people would carve faces in turnips and put candles in them. Try carving a turnip, sometime! People say that it’s way harder than carving a pumpkin.
The idea of treats on Halloween likely stemmed from the baking and sharing of cakes, the day before All Saints Day. People would pray for the souls of the dead and collect these cakes throughout the community and often lay the cakes on the graves of those who had died. As centuries passed, this practice morphed into the yearly practice of trick or treating.
This Sunday – after all the trick or treating – we will mark All Saints Sunday – the day that we remember the members of our church family who have died since November 1, last year. As part of the worship service, we will read the names of those who have died and will ring a bell, leaving a moment of silent reflection and remembrance.
After the worship service, we are inviting everyone to meet at the end of the church’s parking lot, at the Pergola that overlooks the back yard of the church. We will be giving thanks for the life of Ralph Hayles – who died this past February – and will be dedicating a tree that has been planted in his honor.
In the Apostle’s Creed, we say that we believe in “the communion of the saints.” This Sunday’s sermon will focus on this idea and one of the things that we hold to be true about the communion of the saints is that those who have died and those who are still living are mysteriously and miraculously connected to God. Just as nothing separates us from the love of Christ – not even death, itself – nothing can fully separate us from the communion of the saints. We are, as we read in the Letter to the Hebrews, “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1)
Thanks be to God for this great cloud of witnesses – this communion of the saints – to which we belong. . .
See you in church!
Grace and Peace,
John
Preparing for Worship
This Week: “The Communion of the Saints – And Be Thankful – Week 3”
Read Colossians 3:15-17
Read Luke 19:1-10 – The Story of Zacchaeus
Read or sing Hymn # 326 – “A Grateful Heart”
Attachments area
Preview YouTube video A Grateful Heart (Psalm 111). TUNE: ROCKINGHAM. -by Edward Miller: Words by David Gambrell