Dear One’s of St. C’s, 

Someday I encourage you to talk with Anna Pringle about the importance and significance of Halloween.  It will transform your thinking from a fun and silly kids holiday to realizing the spiritual and psychological need for this holiday. In the Episcopal church this time of year is actually called Allhallowtide.  Oct 31st, Nov. 1, and Nov. 2nd are days we have set aside in the Christian calendar to remember the dead and face the possibility of death in our own lives.  On October 31st we face the things that scare us, many of us put on scary costumes and walk around in the dark, knocking on strangers doors threatening them, “trick or treat.”  As Anna says, "death is often hidden away in our society, hidden away in hospitals and nursing homes, on Halloween we dwell in our fears and we face death."

This past All Hallows Eve our kids at St. C’s went to the Francisco’s and saw skeletons, smoky graveyards and listened to spooky music.  My son dressed up as a monster and ran through a group of strangers roaring and they all screamed with delight and a little bit of fear.  Yes, we are being playful, but we are also partaking in scary things that we would never do on another evening of the year.  I would never think it was safe to allow my kids to knock on strangers door at night and demand, “trick or treat”, and yet somehow on this night it is okay.  Whether you realize it or not, our witches, ghosts, and goblins are our communal effort in playing out our own fears of death and the beyond together.  

This is all in preparation for what is to come on Nov. 1st and 2nd where we remember all those who have impacted our lives who have died.  Where we feel the loss and sting of death.  Those we love who we see no more.  This coming Sunday we will honor them by saying their name in the Eucharistic prayer and making an altar with their picture on it or an item that connects us to them.  As a community we will gather and we will remember that their lives mattered.  We will remember the sting of their absence and how their love for us changed us and reflect on how our love for them continues.  We honor those who have died and we give thanks to God that death is never the end of the story. 

with care, 

Meghan