Woooooooot—it’s Halloween! At long last!
Halloween is particularly fun when it’s on a Friday. My little town “observed” trick-or-treating last night, but I’m going with Dr. Fiancée and my niece and nephews tonight (we’re not dressing up, but the kids are). I’m looking forward to some family time.
How are you celebrating tonight, readers?
With that, here is 31 October 2019’s “Happy Halloween!“:
The dust has settled and Halloween 2024 is in the books. Now we’ve arrived at the holiday that Halloween—All Hallows’ Eve—is actually about: All Saints’ Day.
Growing up Pentecostal, we did not really celebrate or observe these major feast days (frankly, I’m surprised we celebrated Halloween growing up, but I think that’s because of my Stephen King-loving mother). We missed out on a great deal of the beauty of the high church liturgical calendar as a result.
All Saints’ Day and its close companion, All Souls’ Day (observed on 2 November) are two beautiful solemnities worth observing for all Christians. While I believe that all saved Christians count among God’s “saints,” and I don’t think the Roman Catholic Church holds a monopoly on canonization (or that canonization is even a legitimate spiritual designation), I do appreciate the celebration of the lives of the saints. They were inspiring Christians, often because they were such fallen sinners themselves before receiving Christ’s Grace.
I do believe they performed miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe such miracles are still possible. Sure, there’s probably some literary license taken with some of the saints, but I can’t deny the possibility of miracles; Scripture is full of them!
As a doughy American Evangelical Protestant I realize I am out of my depth here among the Anglicans and Catholics that read this blog, but I hope it is clear that I appreciate the richness of your traditions. All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days are worthy of celebration; all Christians should honor these days with prayer and feasting.
Maybe it’s the feasting that I like. Let’s see how I do with the days that call for prayer and fasting. Gulp!
One final coda: my recent release, Spooky Season III, ends with a piece called “Eleventh Hour and All Saints’ Day“; it’s two pieces in one. The hymn-like chorale “All Saints’ Day” kicks in around 4:30:
I wanted to capture the transition from the quiet solitude of a post-trick-or-treating Halloween night into the glorious morning of All Saints’ Day. I hope this humble piece did the trick.
Happy All Saints’ Day!
—TPP
It’s Halloween! All the build-up, all the ghost stories, it’s finally here!
Last night I took the opportunity to carve my one of the two pumpkins I picked up earlier in the month ($4 a pop!). He’s the cheeky little guy pictured above, and in the photo collage below (I’m getting fancy with the production values in this post).
His brother was stolen off my front porch Wednesday night. I’d just gotten in bed and switched off the lights when I heard some tires squealing. Thinking it was one of my neighbor’s buddies hydroplaning on the wet street, I didn’t think much of it, until my neighbor began shouting for me minutes later!
The Portly Politico 