Reflections on All Hallows Eve

 

This week we will celebrate Halloween.  Kids will come by dressed in costumes, carrying pillowcases that will be full of candy, that parents will eventually sneak and steal from.  In 2023, Americans spent 12.2 billion dollars on Halloween…3.6 billion was on candy.  Most of us spend over $100 on candy and costumes.  Some of the most popular costumes last year were Barbie, Ken, and Spiderman.  Who knows who will show up at your door on Thursday night?

Whether you decide to dress up or not, the truth is we all wear costumes or masks.  We all are impacted and influenced by the people around us.  We just finished a series on “Gospeling your life”, because we know there are many gospels around us that want our attention and affiliation.  We all want to be part of the group, we are social creatures, who don’t want to be kicked off the island.  There are moments we might be laughing and then someone walks in the room and the jovialness stops ~ insert the sound of crickets here.  Systems Theory says that we play roles ~ in our family, with our friends, and even in church.  And all systems long for equilibrium.  If someone wants to change something, the group will resist such efforts.  Maybe you have felt this when you shared a dream with your family, and they immediately told you why it was a boneheaded idea.  Or you suggested a new restaurant to a group of friends who always meet at the same place, only to have that idea poo-pooed.  Or maybe at church you suggested a new paint color and you would have thought that you said there was no God for the reaction and response you received.  Systems like the status quo or homeostasis.  This is one of many reasons why sacred conversations on race and gender and sexuality are difficult.  The hard holy work of undoing racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia is long, because those are built and baked into the very system around us.

Today, I encourage you to pause.  What costumes do you wear with your family?  What masks do you put on with friends?  How do you show up at church?  When was the last time you felt like you could be fully and authentically yourself?  May God, who calls your truest parts of yourself, “Beloved” hold you in this holy pondering.  Amen.