Good morning, Digital Neighbors!
When I think of Halloween I think of costumes, candy and all the decorations. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of Halloween and all the festivities surrounding it. The 70’s and early 80’s were still the days of innocent Halloween, not much gore and no smutty variations. It was still a time of harmless pretending for most of us.
Over the years, Halloween has migrated away from children and become more the domain of adults. Evil and sick minds put needles in candy or made it harmful in some way. Neighborhoods lost trick or treaters, and homemade treats virtually disappeared by the 80’s. Since then it has become less about children and pretending and more about adults and partying/” acceptable” debauchery.
Halloween can still remind us that pretending is good. Imagination is magic. Rediscovering things whimsical, fantastical and fun is not something limited to small children. I worry that we have carelessly or perhaps intentionally let imagination become replaced by fascination with technology. The latest gizmo has replaced our desire to know and explore more of this hidden world before our eyes. Spooks, jack-o- lanterns and magic were part and parcel of Halloween and the world of children. While I don’t think magic exists, wonder, awe, and masquerading are ways to recapture some of those lost gifts of innocent childhood. For those of us who believe in the Numinous and Luminous we accept that there is a hidden and enduring world beyond our senses. It is that world that awaits us after our pilgrimage of life. Throughout November I’ll share my thoughts on this world awaiting us and often intruding upon our busy and bothered lives as we rush from one thing to another, often without a notion of deeper currents in our lives and greater longings in our hearts.
Peace,
Padre
PS Not a Halloween song, but one that readily comes to mind today.
