The misunderstanding associated with this profound triduum commemorated in Christianity is quite unnerving to me. Sadly, for most Christians I have spoken to, the preoccupation with the “pagan” or “satanic” origins of Halloween seems to dismiss the truth of this Fall observance. Rather than joyfully celebrate those lives having transitioned to heavenly planes, greater existence and true life, fear takes over reason, and any sense at all falls on deaf ears.
For most, I fear, the devil is far more powerful than they wish to acknowledge. There is indescribable freedom and an intoxicating sense of power in being able to laugh at satan on days like these. To dress like the dead, playfully emulate the dead and have parties where the dead are VIPs is in a very uncanny way quite appropriate. How many have taken the time to consider what is going on? For those who are in Christ, what a privilege to look at the adversary dead square in the eyes and shout, “this is as dead as I’ll ever be!” Truly, death has no sting.
I enjoy this season very much. Short as it is, it is second only to my favorite season of the Christian calendar – Advent. After my mother’s passing, I never saw death in the same way. Since my mother’s transition, I have acquired a deep sense of human consciousness and how the Mind transcends the body, time and space. I’ve had peculiar experiences where I know the connection between this world and the next are inextricably related and not divided as I was taught so long ago.
The thin places are everywhere, but where they are most powerfully permeable is in Mind. Our consciousness is a resource where the spirit is exalted to where it should be and relegates the body to its proper place. In a world where so much is judged by the sensual and the sexual, it is refreshing and quite good to be reminded that what we take is our Self – our spirit and our consciousness – while the body is left to decay. Only after the fullness of time is realized and God has His way with His creation will the body be transformed and not be what it is today. Although it remains, it is modified to be in harmony with the spirit rather than directly contradict it as it is here on earth.
Perhaps all this is a bit too complicated, but I believe Allhallowtide affords us an opportunity to consider these spiritual truths. It is good to be reminded how quickly all this can end and how fast and unexpectedly we can transition to a place where I pray you, my dear readers, are truly prepared to go and have made every effort to know ahead of time. Perhaps it will do us rather well, too, to no longer dismiss this season as that of witches, but rather of saints – living and dearly departed, but surely not dead.
Peace,
Pastor Daniel Medina
