All Hallows Eve

This morning, as I'm thinking about getting out the Halloween candy for trick or treaters and carving my pumpkin, it dawned on me that I really don't know much about the history of Halloween.

I've always enjoyed seeing the little children in their costumes as they come to the door for treats and I had plenty of fun when my own kids were small. I know that it falls on the eve of All Saints Day and is supposed to be a time when the ghouls roam or something like that, but I admit, the details are a little fuzzy.

So, I did a little research and found out it really has a fascinating history. Halloween comes from an ancient Celtic festival called "Samhein" meaning summer's end, when they believed the dead could walk among the living. Christianity eventually adopted this tradition, as it did many pagan ideas. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory lll established November 1 as All Saints Day and the night before became "Hallow" or holy, hence Halloween.  Rather than being a time when ghosts and ghouls roamed loose, it was meant to be a time to honor and pay respects to the dead. It is believed that the tradition of trick or treating began in the United Kingdom when people went from house to house asking for small loaves of bread in exchange for prayer as a way to celebrate this holy day.

It seems to have made its way to America in the 1800's, when Scottish and Irish communities brought the tradition of "souling" and "guising" (the practice of dressing in costume and begging for treats) and made it a tradition that has been popular ever since.

I guess I now have a new perspective on Halloween after learning all that history. I like the idea of honoring those who've passed on, spending some time in prayer and then just having some good old-fashioned fun!

 

The Gifts Within

 The qualities we most desire to express in our lives are very often those that we already have within us, but have not yet realized. Sometimes it takes a particular life experience to dig deep, pray for help and find our internal storehouse of strength.

One of my all time favorite movies is "The Wizard Of Oz". In fact, I had the entire collection of Frank L. Baum books about the Land of Oz as a child and have watched the movie countless times throughout my life. Dorothy's journey through Oz, her battles with evil and struggles with her own fears as well as the friends she finds along the way to help her in her quest to return home, all seem to be a metaphor for our own personal journeys here on earth.

At the beginning of the movie, Dorothy, feeling trapped and unhappy with her life, sings the well-loved song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", yearning for freedom and adventure:

"Somewhere over the rainbow... way up high
There's a land that i heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow... skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."

She gets the adventure she dreamed of as a result of a head injury suffered during a tornado, after which she has an amazing dream, which becomes a personal quest  to find "home".  She meets colorful characters and experiences all kinds of amazing, beautiful and dangerous things on her journey to find the mysterious "Wizard of Oz, who she believes can show her the way home. In the end, Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion all find, when they pull back the curtain, that the seemingly menacing, intimidating, all powerful "Oz" is really a kindhearted gentleman who helps each one of them to realize that what they most desired to be, they already were. They just had to open their eyes and hearts to find their gifts within.

There is just so much to unpack in this story: Dorothy's adventures in Oz as a metaphor for life; The Wizard as a metaphor for God; the personal quest to find home as a metaphor for our own personal search for life's purpose and "our own heart's desire".

 Everything we need in life is revealed as we trust God and ourselves. The gifts within us are greater than we can possibly imagine, but we have to find them for ourselves as we faithfully journey along life's sometimes perilous path. 

As Glinda the Good Witch assures Dorothy in the end: " You've always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself ".

 

 

October's Winds of Change

 I've always loved October. It's my birth month, when nature "changes her gown" and displays some of my favorite colors, and the air has that tiny nip that tells us change is coming.

This morning, I'd like to repost a message that I wrote last October, called "The Winds of Change", because it reflects my thoughts and mood today:

  I love the crunch of autumn leaves under my feet as I walk through the woods and their earthy, pungent scent in the air.

On a morning like this one, when the sky is slate gray and the wind blows cool, seeming to blow away the last of summer's heat as it tosses those beautiful leaves around, my thoughts turn to change,

Autumn, more than any other season, ushers in dramatic change...a new school year, new clothes, new jobs, new elections, new perspectives.  

Even while our day-to-day life stays much the same, things are changing around us. Some are predictable and expected, like the leaves changing color and falling to the ground, or the holidays we celebrate every year.  Others can take us by surprise, like the changes that Covid has brought, or technological advances that leave us a little confused if we're not continually learning new ways of doing things. Sometimes, change can be devastating, like the loss of a relationship or job, the illness of a loved one or the death of a friend.  

Change can be difficult if we remain stuck in the past, or it can foster spiritual growth if we are willing to let go of what is presenting itself to be released and move on.  Like the tree that I'm watching out my front window, bending and giving up its leaves to the wind, I can offer my pain, my regrets, my stagnant habits of mind...whatever hinders me from the fullest expression of the person that God created me to be. 

So, on this beautiful autumn morning, I breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for what is and release whatever no longer serves my highest expression.  I breathe in forgiveness and love, breathe out pain, sadness and regret, giving them up like leaves on my tree...all is well in this moment.               

Are You There God?

 

 When I was growing up, there was a popular book by Judy Blume called Are You There God?  It's Me, Margaret.  in which the main character, a sixth grader named Margaret, narrates her search for God and answers about life in general. At the time that the book came out, in 1970, it strongly resonated with me, because I was about the same age, searching for the same answers.

I believe that very same question; "Are you there God?", is something that even the most faithful among us ask ourselves from time to time.  In fact, in spite of our most heartfelt proclamations of faith, those existential questions, "Where/who are you God?"; "What is the meaning of life"; "Why do bad things happen?; "Why me God?",  will still pop up from time to time, because, in essence, life is a mystery. Even faith itself, is an intangible thing. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that  "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen". It is belief in a Presence and a Power that seems, by the evidence of our five senses, to not be there at all.

When I am having doubts, there are two bible passages that I bring to mind and meditate on. Romans 1:20 tells us: "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse...". In other words, the evidence for the Creator is in the creation.  Look around and you'll see his beauty everywhere.  The intricacies of nature are far too ordered and complex to have come about by random chance. There must be a God, right?

The next question gets to the heart of the matter, though: "Is He/She accessible to me, personally?  Can I know God or is the Divine up/out there somewhere?" The second bible passage that I like to meditate on is Psalm 46:10. I'll share a journal entry that I wrote recently:

"Be still and know that I am God".  This verse, from Psalm 46:10, always comes to mind whenever I have lost God. Sometimes, I feel adrift on a boat in a vast ocean and find myself wondering if God even exists and if so, where is He?  Then I remember, yes, just breathe and be still and I will know in my heart that He Is.  I go outside and breathe the early morning freshness. listen to the breeze and the sounds of stirring creatures and I sense a Presence filling me, buoying me safely to shore.

 

The answers to our questions are, I believe, that we cannot ever know God intellectually, no matter how much theological knowledge we acquire. We can only experience him/her in our hearts and in the evidence of answered prayer.  I believe that The Divine is everywhere and we are part of everything. This morning, I will Be Still, find the portal in my heart and enter the flow...