I love the confluence of sports and holidays, particularly the sacred meaning of many of our holidays. But first off, I am excited for the North Daviess Cougars game on Friday against West Washington at West Washington. The game is to be played this Friday night, October 30th, at 7:00 PM in Campbellsburg, IN, a crucial sectional matchup where the winner keeps Sectional hopes alive. The other traditional statewide top 10 sectional powers are out - Springs Valley and Tecumseh, the latter in a thriller last week in Elnora 35-28.
If the Coug train keeps going, I foresee a Super Bowl Shuffle-type song with a novel take on "Black and Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa, instead, "Black and Orange. " Go Cougs! Thinking on sports and our best local football team, perhaps the best 1A team in the state, I was further reminded of a quote from the film Chariots of Fire, that athletics are not an end in and of themselves. The lead character (a British Olympic runner who won’t compete on Sundays) in the Oscar-winning film from the 1980s famously said, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast.
And when I run, I feel His pleasure. " Indeed, boys. When you play football, when you pursue a good thing you love, do it for the glory of God. This helps me segue into the overriding purpose of this article. Second, a bit of thanksgiving as we approach the best American-invented holiday aka Thanksgiving. I am thankful that my inlaws moved to Daviess County from South Dakota last summer. I am further thankful that my parents moved back after being gone for over 25 years and live next door to us and our 8 kids.
I sound Amish, yes? Almost every day, my kids get to see and interact with their grandparents, and that is a great thing - the intergenerational living. It's not merely their classmates or others the same age that are the primary influence in their lives. Instead, it's their parents, grandparents, and siblings. And while Thanksgiving is not a traditional HolyDay, but an American invention, thanks be to God. Third, on Halloween. For me, Halloween recognizes that it is not merely the physical that exists in the world. We talk about this on the Juice podcast, and specifically with interviewee and friend Nathaniel Rainey of the Powerhouse.
He made the comment that sometimes these kids he chooses to serve “have a darkness over them. ” I don’t doubt it. Something happens in their lives and persons of good will (you and I) are here in part to help them when we take a second to recognize that. Forces of good and evil are all around us, daily. Not just on Halloween. What started as All Hallows' Eve (October 31 looking to November 1) has too often turned into a celebration of the dark forces, which of course, it should not be.
Let’s instead celebrate the light on Halloween and we can mock death. That its not the end. "We know that ALL things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), yes even Holy Days. Of course, holidays were originally Holy Days and the old ones have holy origins, certainly Halloween. Furthermore, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about those things.
" (Philippians 4:8). The holy day started as a remembrance of those faithfully departed - loved ones and well-known good and righteous folks. I should think of my grandma, Lily Mae Wittmer. Not Beetlejuice or killer Freddy Krueger. But of course, that is what we have morphed it into. And its not Pollyana, ignoring that dark forces exist. Of course they do. But, we need not invite those forces in, and we need to resist what is evil and cling to what is good. For Christians, Halloween shouldn't be a surrender to modern forces and pop culture.
It can and should be reclaimed as a holy day. During the vigil of All Saints' Day (the word "Halloween" comes from All Hallows' Eve) or as you are out walking around collecting treats, “think about these things”. Holy things on this holy day. On October 31, families historically fasted and prayed in a solemn manner to prepare for All Saints' Day. Poor children went "souling, " begging for spiced cakes (treats). On November 1, the festive Christians attended Church, dressed up as a holy, departed loved ones, and feasted on November 1st.
Ergo our modern Halloween celebration ancient derivative. Interesting stuff. Rather than focusing on a commercialized celebration of darkness, Christians should view this upcoming Halloween night as a Holy Day to remember loved ones and that all of us will depart this life. What are we going to do while we are here? As Christian philosophers have asked: How shall we then live? Focus on the light, love God and neighbor, of course, but remember you too will at some point depart of the world. Death is inevitable. Our souls will continue on.
By dressing up as glorious saints rather than evil actors or proud sinner, we emphasize the communion of the saints. What is this idea? That beautiful, spiritual unity that binds together all members of the Church into a single mystical body, under Christ its head. We remind ourselves that holy, physical, and spiritual realities are all intertwined. Seriously. The light always triumphs over the dark. Let's make Halloween Holy again.