By now we can’t help but notice the Halloween displays and piles of candy for sale that have been up since July, although we were too busy to take much note of them previously. Today, as we take a break from our pumpkin spiced lattes, we can scarcely look around without seeing jack-o-lanterns and candy corn. Halloween has clearly become one of the most commercialized holidays, perhaps second only to Christmas (in terms of marketing and store space, not dollars spent). While the “traditional” Halloween of my childhood has never excited me, I’ve found new appreciation for it in adulthood.
That appreciation has come from remembering some of the long-held traditions and origins of our modern Halloween. My traditional childhood Halloween is still very much a modern phenomenon. Like most holidays (short for holy days), there is a religious origin to a lot of the things we do now, made up of a mixture of pagan, Christian, and other religious practices. For example, trick or treating has two historical roots (at least) that get us to what we know today. Celtic pagans would go house to house dressed as souls of the departed, seeking “blessings” for the souls. Some in costume would threaten a curse from the soul if it was not blessed. There was also the Christian soul cake practice of going door to door, offering to pray for the souls of the departed in exchange for tasty soul cakes.
Halloween
Clearly, there are religious and spiritual roots abundant in Halloween’s traditions. In fact, the name of the holiday itself is merely a contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Hallows’ Day, or All Saints’ Day, which is November first. I love to remind the kids in my congregation that without All Saints’ Day, which is a major feast day for us, there would be no Halloween! To understand why All Hallows’ Day involved all this business with souls and spirits, we have to know that All Saints’ Day was a day in the church year to do just that. In fact, it ended up being, and still is, a three-day event in the church’s life. All Saints’ Day is about remembering all those souls who have gone before us. Not just the capital “S” saints, like Saint Francis, Saint Paul, or even St. Nicholas (Yes, Virginia, Santa was a real person!), but the normal everyday people who touched our lives.
One of the least understood beliefs of the Christian Church is that saints are all around us every day. A popular hymn in our tradition reminds us that we can find them just about anywhere, in the places we go throughout our day. The hymns admit that, “the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too.” It is a wonderful thought, and an encouragement for each of us to feel motivated to be better people, who help where we can and do whatever we can to care for others. And it’s an excellent mindset to re-attach to Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve.
I have been blessed with countless saints in my own life. I think of my grandparents chief among them, incredible human beings who gave so freely that it was truly sacrificial giving. There were the people in my life who kept an eye on me and supported me even though they were not related to me; people who genuinely cared for me and helped me along as I grew up and matured: coaches, teachers, and even an anonymous benefactor in my church when I was paying my way through college. More recently I have been blessed with saints surrounding me right here in the Golden Isles.
For the second year in a row, we faced an evacuation and a destructive tropical storm, first from Matthew and this year from Irma. In both instances, I was blown away (pun intended), not by the power of the storm, but by the power of community and love in the run up to the storm and clean up afterward. Neighbors helped neighbors secure their homes and evacuate. Strangers went out of their way to help evacuees that were displaced. Legions of men and women worked tirelessly, apart from their own homes and families to maintain order and rebuild after the storm. Citizens wielded chainsaws and tow straps to clear roads so that first responders could get through easier and faster for rebuilding. Restaurants served up food to volunteers and workers. People cleared their neighbor’s driveway or fed a stranger’s cat. The saints surrounding us are literally innumerable.
So here’s my prescription for Halloween, and how I have brought back a bit more meaning to a holiday that, for me, has become more soulless over the decades, despite the souls running around in costume: remember the saints in our lives, and thank them. What’s more, find a way to be like them. While we need to buy candy, especially those of us in neighborhoods overrun with hundreds of trick-or-treaters, we might also give thanks for the saints in our life as we hand that candy out. We don’t have to ask the kids to pray for them, as people did many years ago - we can do it ourselves. Give thanks for the saints that surround us this season, and always. God helping, we can be one too.
