82. Halloween

It is that time of year again.  No, I am not talking about the time of year when we are visited by Jason, Michael, and Freddy along with a host of goblins, ghosts and witches demanding candy.  Well, I am, sort of.  It is that time of year that Christian publications, mostly on-line these days, warn of this pending Satanic celebration.  There is only one problem, Halloween is not Satanic.

          As I am blogging about this, you can bet your bite sized Oh Henry bars that I am taking some exception to this perception of Halloween.  Halloween has its roots in the antiquity of Europe, when at this time of the year, or earlier, we were slaughtering animals to get through the winter.  The entire time had a dismal feel to it.  For not only was death literally in the air, we were facing the hardest time of the year to survive.  The belief came that this was the time when the veil separating life and death was at its thinnest; perhaps because our grasp on life was at its most precarious.

          There was recognition that death was an inescapable part of life.  Yes, the deities of the time were celebrated, this does not make the celebration Satanic.  It would have been later that the Church of Rome came and demonized the spiritual beliefs of the people.  The rest, well to coin a phrase, is history.  The celebration of Halloween, viewed death as a necessary and valuable part of life.

         

So, this Halloween I want to make comment about death, which like taxes, waits for us.  Each one of us.  Next year, if I am still blogging I will comment about our relationship to Satan.  For a bit of a teaser about that entry - Jesus said to Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan.”

          But death, the great dirt nap.  And if you are one who believes that we are taken up in the rapture, then unless Jesus comes before you Kak, you too will die.  Those of you who don’t believe in the rapture are with me already.

          I have managed to figure out how to avoid paying income taxes legally, and honestly.  I cannot say the same thing for death.  Death awaits me and there is nothing I can do except to attempt to prolong our meeting.

1 Corinthians 15:55 – 57

 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To my way of thinking, Halloween is an excellent time to contemplate death.  Yes, I am aware that Christianity tends to cast death in a rather unattractive light.  Death is considered the wages of sin, a consequence of being kicked out of the garden.  But it is also the only way to get to heaven. 

          But more to the point, I think people should keep mindful of our mortality. Our finiteness defines us.  I have only so many days, about thirty thousand if I live as long as my Grandparents, less if I die at my parent’s age.  At this time of my life there are less sunsets for me to watch than I have already watched.  So what I spend my time on, because it is finite, is what I value.

Me and the kid were out driving one day, actually I was driving and he was passengering. We were talking about how at age seventeen he felt that he had experienced much of life.  For my kid this was not just adolescent hyperbole, at his age he probably has seen more than many adults.  But I commented, “Just wait until the only major thing left in your life to experience is.”

          “A prison term?”  The kid asked, cutting me off.

          “No, death.”  I answered.

So I think this year, after the kids have stopped bugging us for candy, and my kid has collapsed into bed, I will take some time and think about this next year.  While I do not believe that it will be my last, the odds are increasingly favouring that each year could be.  And what do I want to do with this year?  What is important to me?  How will I serve God?  How much time do I want to spend upset at the agitation of fools in my life?  How much time do I want to spend letting my wife and kid know that I love them?  I will also think of those who have gone on before, my dad and mom, various aunts, uncles and cousins, and more than a few friends. 

          Death is the next big life event that awaits me, I hope.  There are other big life events that await, but I hope to avoid those.  This season, as the days grow shorter, and we are cast into more darkness than light, I hope to come closer to reconciling myself to dying.  In doing so, I see the light, love and grace of God that awaits for me.

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.