On Sunday morning as I was getting ready to go to church, I was listening to the radio. All the discussion was about Hallowe’en, that seems to have become an event that stirs the imagination of everyone. Yet I find that much of the focus is on death, darkness, fear and what I consider a negative world view. It seems a travesty of what I have understood Hallowe’en to be originally.
It is the Eve of All Hallows’ Day, a time when evil is recognized as reaching its limitation. You see All Hallows’ Day is a celebration of the unity that exists among all those who have sought to follow God in the centuries before they existed and all those who are currently trusting in God and all those who in the future will respond to the call to follow Him as well. This celebrates valuing of one another as we travel the same journey following the path of faith.
As I further reflected, I saw a unique parallel between Hallowe’en and All Saints Day and Good Friday and Easter. Hallowe’en is a time when the focus is on darkness and evil and shadows and masks, even cruelty and death. Good Friday focuses on a time when evil seemed to dominate as One who showed love and kindness was made to suffer and die, a victim of the darkness that held sway at the time.
Love that creates this unique union of those who are accompanied by the great cloud of witnesses, who are believers. We read about them in the letter written to Hebrew followers of the way. It includes people like Abraham who trusted God, Moses who obediently led God’s people to trust Him, King David described as a man after God’s own heart, and many others. Then the disciples of Jesus found their lives transformed by this love and felt compelled to go, strengthened by God to share the news of this transforming love to those who followed through the ensuing centuries, until it came to those of us who are alive and experiencing that same love today. The legacy we leave is the possibility for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to know the transforming power of that love in their lives as well, as they offer their lives to God who is love.
It is love that finally triumphs over evil, by a reversal of values. Evil depends on the strength of force and might. Love is a surrender of these that opts for kindness and caring and life-building for others, giving of oneself for their sake. It is the message of the One who lay down His life for all of us. That is the message of Easter and it is the message of All Saints’ Day.
