Don't let All Saints get lost...this week or EVER!

Having grandchildren is a delight any way you look at it. Through the eyes of my 5 year old and 3 year old grandsons, I've had a front row seat down memory lane remembering how exciting Halloween is....the dilemma of choosing what to be, the thrill of dressing up in costume and savoring the "haul" of candy. Halloween is a high holy day for little children ranking right up there with Christmas. (I'm pretty sure Christmas is still #1 because Halloween doesn't have presents...)
As my little ones grow, I hope they will also grow into another dimension of the gift of Halloween--the "All Hallows Eve" origin...which said that the evil, negative, fear-inducing forces of this world had to work their fury on October 31--All Hallows Eve--because they knew that once All Saints Day dawned November 1, their power would disappear. Interesting to me that, according to the tradition, even the evil spirits knew that they couldn't compete with the powerful influence of godly Christian people!
It's not just little ones who need to learn the deeper meaning of Halloween. Halloween is the time for us to get perspective (perfect timing to be on Sunday this year!) that fear and evil and negativity don't have power once people focus the gift of eternal life and the communion of the saints. Halloween becomes the church's way of looking at fear and evil and saying, "Go ahead! Give it your best shot! No way you can compete with God's power! Even the worst you can do on earth (death) will be conquered by the Lord of life!"
How I wish we could reclaim that credo. Our world is full of fear. But the power of God at work in human life for good has not been vanquished. How did we -- people of professed faith--become such cowards? Such insecure, vulnerable people?
Don't let All Saints Day get lost!! All Saints is Easter celebrated in a different way --personalized with the names of our loved ones--a reminder of the victory of Christ that nothing in this world can take away. Those who are grounded in Christ need not fear through any storm (freshly personal after last Tuesday's tornados), any disease, any accident, any setback, any financial uncertainty, any hardship. God's power--and the influence of godly people--puts fear and evil in its place. This Halloween/All Saints is a great invitation to lift our eyes beyond the fear that surrounds us to the God who saves us. Happy Halloween! Happy All Saints indeed!