Reflections on All Hallows Eve part 2

 

I remember one year I what as a ghost for Halloween.  I did this because we had just purchased new sheets, and my grandma (a child of the Depression) would not allow anything to be thrown away.  She recycled or repurposed before it was trending.  It was also the easiest costume to make.  A few holes for my eyes (I don’t think my grandma cut one for my mouth to breathe ~ but breathing is overrated).  She used some markers to make the eyes stand out.  And voila, instant Halloween costume. 

 

The truth is we are all haunted by unholy ghosts in our lives.  We may no longer be afraid of monsters under our bed, but we are afraid of the images we see on the news and the voices that tell us the world is dangerous. 

 

What ghosts and ghouls do you deal with? 

Tie this to what we talked about yesterday with systems.  How do you show up when the gathering sends a chill down your spine?  You know that meeting you dread each month.  Or that broken person who keeps calling?  Do you keep putting on the same costume to show up?  This is not meant to blame or shame, but to notice.  In fact, I would contend that noticing, rather than moving ahead on autopilot is a brave practice we need now more than ever.  This starts with noticing the places where your stomach does summersaults, your mind races like a hamster on a wheel, and your heart sounds like a bass drum of a marching band.  Hold those moments and think about what you said or didn’t say ~ the truth is that in anxious situations we can get bigger (raise our voice, pound the table, demand our way or the highway) or we can get smaller (sink to the sidelines and stay silent).  How you stay human-size, as your authentic self, is hard holy work ~ as hard as trying to maintain the status quo that goes against your values.  

 

I pray for all the ghosts and ghouls that show up in daylight in your life ~ for all the aches and heartbreaks and overwhelming sense we are all lugging around in the luggage of life.  May God who also hold you right now, be felt as we reflect on this one holy, beautiful, broken, precious life.  Amen.