Sunset on Halloween

The sun is setting tonight on Halloween, slipping behind the trees that are nearly stripped of leaves after this week's strong winds. I noticed it as I took one of the dogs out. Another day, another month slipping away into the night, I thought, the light fading in the same way the year is fading. Can it really be November tomorrow? What happened to our early spring, the humidity of summer, the cooling days of autumn? The wind has blown more than leaves away. It has blown away time.

I know I talk about time a lot in these posts but I really marvel at how much quicker it seems to be slipping away. I suppose it has something to do with age. The year isn't broken down anymore into school and non-school, spring break and Christmas break. We get up, we go to work, we come home and have supper, we go to bed. Do children think about time? Or is it so much easier to contemplate it now that we are adults in the real world, taking responsibility for our own choices, becoming aware of our own mortality?

Halloween is very important to me. It's my favorite holiday in my favorite month in my favorite time of the year. I've always loved it, but I love it even more now because it was the night that I met my husband. We are celebrating tonight with some seasonal comfort food - slow cooker black bean pumpkin chili. It smells delicious. I can't wait to eat it and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas in front of the fire. Our street is short and sparsely populated so we won't get any trick-or-treaters. It will be a cozy night at home for us.

Halloween as we now know it has only existed for slightly over a century, perhaps even less. The ancient Celts called this day Samhain, which means "summer's end." It was the last harvest festival of the year, when all of the crops had been harvested and stored for the coming winter, when livestock were brought in from far fields and either stored away or slaughtered for food. The ancient Celts were very aware of the changing of the seasons, in a way that we are not aware of now. The seasons and the holidays all seem to blend in together, blurring through the twelve months that we call a year. Our survival no longer depends on whether we planted enough food or whether we had a good crop. We can go down to the grocery store and get whatever we want. Perhaps it's a nice convenience. Perhaps it's a bad one. Perhaps we are paying for the convenience with our health and our lives and our sanity.

Samhain was also a time to honor the dead. This is represented today in Catholicism as All Saints' Day and in Mexico as Dia de Las Muertas, or Day of the Dead. It was believed by the Celts to be a time when the veil between the worlds was at its thinnest. An excellent movie that explores this theology and the history of Halloween is Halloween Tree, an animated film based on a story by Ray Bradbury. Tonight I have lit a candle in memory of the loved ones that have gone before us. Their time is done. They no longer worry about the changing seasons, car expenses, taxes, or what to buy for Christmas. They are only love, pure and beautiful, love that shines down on us as we go through our busy day. They are the gentle voices that whisper comfort in our dreams. They are our guiding lights, and we will miss them always, until the day when we too are done with time and can join them in the peaceful light of pure love.

I encourage you to light your own candle and take a moment, somewhere between the ringing doorbell or taking your own children around, to reflect and remember your own precious loved ones, the ones who have left the physical world behind but are forever in your heart.

Grandpa Rhedin. Uncle Jack. Aunt Betty. Great-Grandma Kay. Grandpa Epperson. Great-Grandpa Gallaher. Great-Grandma Gallaher. The father-in-law that I never knew, my husband's father Rodney. My husband's Uncle Russell. Uncle Todd. Great-great-grandparents that passed when I was a child; great-aunts and great-uncles. The names become more familiar as I grow older; the grief becomes closer, harder. The sounds of their voices may become forgotten and their faces may be only memories, but they are all there inside of me, shining with love in my heart, watching over me and the ones they left behind. I honor them always, but on Halloween especially. I miss them and I love them, and I thank them for the gifts and the love and the joy that they brought me.

What Would [insert religious avatar's name] Do?

It's an election year. Thankfully we don't have any type of cable and are blissfully unexposed to the campaign commercials. However, it's still all over the news. I read the articles on it from time to time, depending on the headline. I will sometimes scroll down to see related headlines and my eyes will catch some of the comments. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion, but what's with all of the hate? Today it really got me thinking about the way we choose to live.

Let's talk about the word "hate". It's a word that some parents tell their children not to say. It's said to be a strong word, a powerful word. As Yoda would say, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." Do not underestimate the wisdom of little green Jedi. You may argue, whatever, it's a line from a movie, but it is far from just a quotable piece of dialogue. It rings with a deep inner truth, and you know what? Religious avatars like Jesus Christ and Buddha would agree with him.

Hate is an ugly word, and yes, it is very powerful. It's everywhere, spreading across the world like a disease, like a poisonous gas that slowly steals our breath away. It's in the news. It's in schools. It's in churches. It's in politics, it's in racism, it's in rioting, it's in personal relationships. It's all over religion. You may argue that most religions are "peaceful religions." Well, that could be true, if the actual original teachings were followed. Unfortunately, the original messages have been forgotten in the whole "My church is better than your church" or "You don't believe in the same things I do so everything you say is wrong" or the burning of books and religious buildings, wars fought in the name of religion, or protests at soldiers' funerals. So much hate is expressed "in Jesus's name." Do you really think Jesus would approve?

Jesus taught love. Jesus taught compassion. Buddha taught the same. Paganism's basic principles lie in love. I don't know much about Hinduism, but I can almost guarantee that it's a religion that values life and love. Your Creator gave you free will. Your Creator gave you the right to choose.

Why do so many people choose hate?

Here's a better question: Why would you choose to live your life in hate? What kind of a life is that? An angry life, bitter and short, full of high blood pressure, unnecessary stress, and possible heart attacks, divorces, estranged relationships, minimal joy, fear. Why would you wish that on anyone, especially yourself?

Hey, I know, we're all different people and we're going to disagree about politics and sports teams and stories with sparkly vampires. I'm a dirt worshiping tree hugger. I believe in renewable energy, sustainable living, and buying organic. I'm a dog person, I think the best show that was ever on television was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I take my faith from multiple religions, and I read fantasy literature. I know plenty of people, relatives and friends and co-workers, who would completely disagree with everything I just said, but that doesn't mean I hate them. Hating is a waste of energy. Do you know where we should focus our energy instead? On love. Wouldn't living in love be a better choice than living in hate?

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies, we will die; where you invest your love, you invest your life. " - Mumford and Sons

Love is the highest emotion. Take a moment to think about the last time you were completely surrounded by love. Perhaps it was with your family at a holiday or on a trip. Perhaps it was cuddled up with your significant other. Perhaps it was petting your dog or cat. Wasn't it a nice feeling? You felt happy, peaceful, full of joy and hope. Imagine if you could feel that way all of the time. Then don't imagine it - do it. Be it, live it, breathe it, make it your intention and claim it. Live a life in love and be happier, healthier, better for it.

And then think about how wonderful this world would be if everyone learned to let go of hate and to live in love instead.