Halloween
is Coming
“The
witches fly,
Across
the sky.
The
owls go Who? Who? Who?
The
black cats yowl.
The
green ghosts howl.
Scary
Halloween to you!”
Nina
Willis Walter
“There
is no metaphysics on earth like chocolates.” Fernando Pessoa
I
loved Halloween as a child, not because we got candy for free, but
because I got to dress up as somebody else and be free of my shyness
for one whole night. There was, of course, no going to the store and
buying a costume for the occasion, so we had to make one up. I got
over the ghost-sheet pretty early, and moved on to things like Rama
of the Jungle, with an aluminum bowl on my head for a safari hat.
Being a hobo was popular and easy, and being a hayseed, with a
blacked out front tooth, raggedy clothes and messy hair was a cinch.
My sister and I liked to go across town to the 'rich-kids' houses,
which we were never invited to and yearned to see. In costume no one
would know who we were and they handed out better candy. One
Halloween, when I was about ten, we were running down West Union with
full sacks of goodies when a big, high-school-aged boy stepped out of
the shadows, knocked me down and stole my candy. I sat on the
sidewalk and cried until my sister threatened to leave me there
alone. She didn't promise to share her candy though—we weren't that
close!
My
own kids loved Halloween, too. I had to tell the older one, “If you
are old enough to drive a car, you're too old to trick or treat!”
One of the many down-sides of coming of age. The most popular house
in our neighborhood when they were young, was one where the dad spent
weeks making a box-maze in the basement. It was dark and creepy, and
you could touch and be touched without knowing who or what was in
there with you. It took an act of congress to drag them out.
For
All Saints Sunday this year, we will have a prayer wall at
Pilgrim—one wall in our sanctuary is made from stacked stone. We
will write prayers of gratitude for our ancestors and roll them into
little scrolls that fit into the cracks between the rocks. It is one
way to celebrate, not only chocolate, but all those souls who came before you, and paved the way for you to become who you are. All
Saints is a good time to remember, bless them, and give thanks for
their influence.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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