We are ready for Halloween. We have candy treats ready to hand out, though the mini candy bars are even smaller this year and came in bags with fewer treats than last year. We have the ingredients to make a large pot of chili for family and friends who will gather at our house for supper. Unlike our neighbors, our home isn’t decorated for the occasion. Our grandchildren will bring pumpkins from the farm when they come over this afternoon. Some of the houses in our neighborhood were decorated before the first of October this year, and several of our neighbors spent a lot of time and money on their decorations. We moved into our house right before Halloween four years ago and were surprised at the number of children who came to our door seeking treats. Since then, we’ve been better prepared.
I look forward to the evening. My favorite part is sitting on the front porch, handing out treats, and watching all the children go by.

Halloween is a mash-up holiday. It has roots in harvest festivals. Before it was associated with All Saints Day and the name Halloween, people in the northern hemisphere gathered around bonfires to celebrate the end of the harvest and prepare for winter. Celtic traditions include the extinguishing of hearth fires in homes, cleaning fireplaces and chimneys, and kindling new fires for winter heat. Wearing masks, dancing, and sharing sweet treats were part of the celebrations.

Apart from harvest festivals, Halloween also has roots in the remembrance of the dead. In some parts of the world, it has become traditional to visit graveyards to pray and place candles and flowers on the graves of loved ones.

In the early centuries of Christianity, All Saints Day originated as a day to honor martyrs. It was originally a spring festival, established in the 7th century by Pope Boniface, who designated May 13 as the day for its observance. In the 9th Century, Pope Gregory’s rearrangement of the calendar moved All Saints Day to November 1. Gregory’s date change was strategic. He wanted the Christian holiday to replace the Celtic harvest festival.

Instead of replacing the harvest festival, the holidays became combined, and celebrations spread out. In some places, three days are observed: Halloween on October 31, All Saints on November 1, and All Souls on November 2.

In modern times, the connection between Halloween and All Saints seems less prevalent. Many who celebrate Halloween don’t observe All Saints Day and see the day as a secular celebration. I think we are also witnessing another change in recent years, as Halloween becomes increasingly a holiday for adults. The observances of Halloween I remember from my childhood focused on activities for children, primarily wearing costumes and going door to door seeking treats. In my family, trick-or-treating was reserved for children. We were allowed to dress up and go out though our eighth grade, but when we reached high school we were expected to stay home and leave the treats for younger children.

A quick look at the Internet or a stop into a pop-up Halloween store reveals that much Halloween marketing is aimed at adults, with a wide range of costumes and decorations well beyond the budgets of children.

Across the border in British Columbia, folks mash together Halloween with the English Tradition of Guy Fawkes Night. In England, November 5 is the day to observe Guy Fawkes with bonfires and fireworks. In 1605, a group of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to assassinate King James I by blowing up Parliament. They planned to install a catholic king. A holiday was declared to celebrate the king’s survival, and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes became part of the festivities. Fireworks were lit to remember the explosives used in the failed attempt. Our neighbors in British Columbia don’t need much of an excuse to light fireworks. We’ll hear blasts and see occasional bursts in the sky to the north for the next several days, starting tonight.

I don’t know much about the changes and transformations in Halloween celebrations. I haven’t gotten into recognition of the day beyond enjoying children in costumes and handing out treats. I also like the tradition of inviting our grandchildren’s friends and their parents to our house for supper. I don’t plan to wear a costume. I don’t have any fireworks. I’m not planning to light a bonfire.

The beginning of November is a time for me to remember family members who have died. In churches I have served, All Saints Sunday has been set aside to remember church members and friends who died in the previous year. Grief, however, does not end after a year. The remembrances always bring to mind others who have died. When I think of All Saints, I think of my mother’s family. She was one of five sisters. The first of the five to die suffered heart failure as a child. Likely, her heart condition would not be fatal with today’s advanced cardiac care, but losing a sister was part of my mother’s story. In my immediate family, a sister was the first to die. It has been 56 years since my oldest sister died, but her memory and story are part of my identity, and she is often recalled. These days, our parents have both died, as well as another sister and a brother. Our family of nine is down to four survivors, but the presence of the others is part of who we are.

There are so many others we remember when we pause to think. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins join those killed in war and friends from church. It has been 50 years since I first officiated at a funeral, and there have been many since. Even before I became a minister, I was no stranger to funerals. As a teenager, I played taps for the military honor guard at many funerals.

So tonight, while I enjoy handing out candy, I’ll think of many wonderful people whose lives touched mine and who have gone before. Hebrews 12 begins, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . .” Indeed, I am surrounded, and the cloud of witnesses is great. I hope I can share a bit of their kindness with the children who come to our house this evening.