The Satanization of All Hallows Eve

Next Saturday is All Hallows Eve. On a Christian calendar, it's the eve of All Saints Day on November 1. On a Wiccan calendar it's Samhain. On anyone else's calendar, it's Halloween, a word that in the past 30 years has lost much of its former appeal. I suspect someone somewhere will find a way to purge it from the calendar altogether in the next century, though I sincerely hope they don't. It evolved as a festival for dressing up as ghouls & ghosties with the sole purpose of scaring away the evil ones in advance of the next day's celebration of those who have been beatified by the church. Therefore, in my mind it's a somewhat offbeat Christian fete.

Halloween was a big deal when I was a kid. My grandmother helped us plot "theme" costumes so we could dress up as a complementary group. One year my siblings & I dressed as an angel, a devil, & St. Peter, then visited the rectory while out trick or treating. Our priest wasn't in, so we left a note signed by "Gabriel, Beelzebub, & St. Peter." Obviously, in my southern New England hometown, everyone participated. There was no such thing as "don't knock, the porch light isn't on." We ended our trolling for candy with hot chocolate at my grandmother's house. When Halloween was on a weekend, my parents, grandmother, & aunt even got into the fun by dressing up as a Chinese dragon & running around a friend's yard, causing everyone to howl with laughter.

But the creepy started crawling in. Rumors of razor blades in candy led to us tossing all unwrapped goodies upon arrival at home. (So much for apples from the local dentist!) The accidental poisoning of people who took cyanide-laced Tylenol in the '80s led to more rumors that this was applicable to Halloween handouts. People stopped putting jack o'lanterns out & turned off porch lights to avoid the children, rudely dismissing any who ignored these vital clues. Churches & schools began offering "trunk or treats," as well as "autumn," "fall," or "harvest" festivals in an effort to dodge being tarnished by the label of "the Satanic holiday." (Remind me: what ever happened to "When The Saints Come Marching In" the next morning?)

Sadly, last year an event occurred that has forever dimmed my vigor for Halloween...NOT a rumor. A schoolmate of my older daughter paused on his way home from a church party last 10/31 with his family to knock on doors in a neighborhood they were familiar with. Tragically, a paranoid individual suffering from a bad trip (allegedly a drug dealer in fear for his life) greeted their knock with gunshots rather than opening his door. The 12 year old was killed almost instantly; the father was hospitalized for treatment of his injuries. One younger brother was unharmed physically, but witnessed this senseless act of violence. My daughters no longer have much heart for trick or treating; in light of that incident, who could blame them?

Sunshine & Frost

Our morning lows have been around freezing, with afternoon highs around 70 degrees plus. To put it succinctly, ideal weather conditions for a flu epidemic because nobody's too sure HOW to dress each morning!

With any luck the cooler temperatures will prevail so winter will feel near soon...I'm sick of mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and other pests. Late yesterday afternoon a small lizard got into my house and I was more concerned about evicting it for its own safety than my own. (We have two cats, one of whom has only three paws & readily demolishes crickets, leaving leaves bits and bobs of them all over the house when she's successfully killed one.)

Colorful leaves next, I hope!

Stewards? Of EVERYTHING? Hmm...

Today was the first day of our church's annual stewardship campaign. Lest you think otherwise, this is NOT my favorite season in the parish year. It usually features parishioners giving homilies from their experiences for several Sundays, besides "homework" of reading related Biblical passages on the topic, in advance of the Sunday when pledge cards are turned in, leading in turn to everyone receiving their annual supply of envelopes.

Sounds pretty simplistic & shallow, doesn't it? I agree; in fact, I challenge anyone to make the annual "shake down" (I've heard it called worse!) more an entertainment than a guilt-ridden exercise in balancing one's budget to include their house of worship.

While en route home from my brief visit with my eldest yesterday, I considered various forms of stewardship--not just in that "Ugh! Tithing time again!" context, but in the context of life in general. "Stewardship" is defined in the New Webster's Dictionary as "management," which pretty much sums up what our so-called "ownership" of all we have really is. Our spouses, our children, our pets, our bodies, our homes, our vehicles, our time, our talents, our treasure--all are to be managed carefully by us. Some do really well in all areas, others not so much in any given area. Some of us do better than others in certain areas. That's where I appreciate hubby, for some of his fiscal caution has rubbed off on me over our 22 years of marriage. I pray that over time I get myself back into the habits of watching my figure & regularly exercising ( "body stewardship," for the purpose of this article!) to the point that I start rubbing off on him in return in the name of improved health & increased longevity.

Beats thinking of stewardship as only the fiscal obligation to the church, doesn't it?

What A Week!

The swim meet last week went very well, and this week I was asked to PLEASE visit by my eldest, so that's where I went as soon as I was able on Friday. I am relieved to note the visit probably reduced his self-induced stress a great deal, though he is still planning to follow a course of action he outlined to me earlier in the week. To her credit, our youngest swimmer went with me and VOLUNTEERED to do some household chores for her big brother!

Meanwhile, my younger son is hosting my older daughter for the weekend at his house and they should be at a local amusement park about now for their annual Halloween festivities.

I'm ready to crash like a rock in the next ten minutes and it's hardly dark out yet!!!

Braces & Glasses & Beaches, oh my!

This week has been busy, between one child going for an eye exam on Saturday, the other child getting braces, and a short-notice trip to the coast for a swim meet with the youngest. (Not that I mind the idea of being at the beach without sharing it with half a million tourists!) While I'm watching the swim meet, I hope also to get some paperless paperwork done, as I'll have PLENTY of time to just craft reports & save them on my laptop. (Come Monday, all I'll have to do is copy them into my employer's database--time consuming, but not as much as composing & copying simultaneously.)

The queen of orthodontia got her hardware installed yesterday morning, so of course she's constantly reminding me constantly that her jaws, teeth, & lips are sore. Her little sister will be picking up her new glasses just in time for the trip to the coast, so maybe now she'll be able to see individual leaves on trees or grains of sand on the beach. So far it appears she won't need prescription goggles for her soggy athletic exploits.

Next post to come after I get the sand out of my shoes!