Trick or treat?

I have vivid memories of one Halloween party which I attended as a child. This involved hearing a scary story interspersed with opportunities to reach into bags and boxes containing jelly, cabbages and the like which were tactile props for an unsettling tale. It’s probably done me no lasting damage but it has certainly stayed with me for many years.

Last night, together with the Kingswood Estate Tenants Association, myself and members of the youth club ran an alternative Halloween party at Langbourne school. This tried to offer a different take on All Hallows Eve with a fancy dress competition themed around saints, angels and superheroes. As well as saving the estate from marauding bands of ‘trick or treaters’, it also tried to offer a more positive way of celebrating this ancient autumn festival.

Its roots can be found in the pagan rite of ‘Samhein’ in which Farmers sought to placate evil spirits so that their crops could be safely gathered in for the winter ahead. In a shrewd piece of missionary one-upmanship, the Church took over this date for the celebration of All Saints and the commemoration of All Souls. These offer us important opportunities to remember the faithful departed and to gain a deeper understanding of the heavenly glory to which we are called.

Indeed, the truth that underlies both of these services is that death is not the end because ours is a resurrection faith in which our Heavenly Father is both our beginning and our end.

No comments:

Post a Comment