Happy Halloween, or rather…

​All Saints Day

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Again at Halloween, I recommend to you all the time of remembrance, honor and prayer we can have on All Saints Day, Nov. 1, the day after Halloween. Halloween is more precisely named All Hallows Eve or All Saints Eve, the evening before the important day, All Saints Day.

All Saints Day, the day after Halloween, is the proper day to remember and honor the saints who lived in the past and brought forward our faith and reverence, knowledge of Jesus, God and the bible to us. Those saints to honor and remember are our Christian parents, grandparents and other relatives and ancestors, as well as all the founders and protectors of our faith, back to the disciples themselves, the great theologicans, preachers, martyrs, missionaries, hymn and song writers down through the years.

Of course we reject all the wrong and ugly ideas of witches, ghosts and deceased people seeming to be alive.

But kids and adults at Halloween using their imaginations, dressing up as various other acceptable sorts of people or animals, having wholesome​ fun with their friends and families, is always great and

​enjoyable by us.​ It’s one of the opportunities in the year to come together and laugh together.​

Some people even try to criticize “imagination” itself, defined sometimes as holding in the mind an idea of something that is not real. But imagination is a critically essential human activity, a very valuable gift from God, fundamental to us like intelligence itself. Imagination is the beginning of every improvement mankind has ever accomplished, from the child putting one block atop another to start a structure, to the Wright brothers thinking man might fly. Where would we be if those friends in City Tavern in Philadelphia had not imagined combining the thirteen states into a new nation?​

​So on All Saints Day- or for Catholics All Souls Day, see below- after Halloween let us all remember and honor the Christians who have passed before us.

This precious practice was introduced to my church by our pastor many years ago. I am ashamed to admit it was the first time I had thankfully recognized the gifts to me, sacrifices made for me by my father, as well as his and my mother’s gifts including their requirement that we learn about Jesus and the bible in worship, praise and giving thanks in attending worship and Sunday School every Sunday. They required of us and set examples of actively participating in ​other church and Christian activities and service.

And in the years since then I honor and remember all of the Christians through the years. Loving music, I think of the great hymn writers like Fannie Crosby, the Wesley brothers, and more recent ones like Keith Green. I think about also and give thanks for the apostles, especially Peter and Paul, who are so responsible for sacrificing to bring the faith to Rome and Europe, to us who are of European ancestry. I also remember St. Patrick who so incredibly brought the faith to my ancestors who were Druids in Ireland, and Martin Luther who courageously nailed to his church door the beliefs adopted by my German ancestors. I remember my former pastors and childhood Sunday School teachers, and the missionaries who came to visit and share their experiences with us.