I Got Nothin'

What2Say2Day? Some days I feel like I should just crawl back into bed and start over. How many of you feel the same way? (Looking around the world I see about 6 billion hands go up.) OK, wait, I just saw a news story about some towns/cities wanting to change Halloween to the last Saturday of October instead of always being on the 31st. What?!?!? have we forgotten the reason Halloween even exists. It's not a commercial holiday for bars and beer companies to make money. No! It's foundations go deep into the many cultures around this world. Mostly it's a set day when harvests from many countries are celebrated. It's also a day when many cultures celebrate the ancestors who have passed. Yes, the day has pagan beginnings, but Christians also celebrated this day in similar ways. November 1 is All saints day, the day when the Church celebrates all of those who have gone before us. In the early days of the church followers of certain disciples of Christ or "saints" who were martyred in the name of Christ would sit at their burial sights and await the morning. This night became known as All Hallows Eve. In the years that followed the church tried many times and many ways to stop the pagan celebrations, but were not able to because of how deeply set the beliefs of what this night would bring were; good harvests, safety from evil spirits, the moving on into a better world of families and friends who needed to move on. So, the church did what they're so good at and joined their night of vigil with that of the cultures around them and today that night is known as Halloween. I invite you to look up the history of Halloween. It's very interesting and not, as is commonly believed, a night of demons and witches and under-dressed people. this Halloween lets remember to find some time to give freely of ourselves (giving candy to children is the best part of this night to me - the way their faces light up as well as the thankfulness of their parents always makes my heart warm) to make at least a few hours on a single night a happy one for those around us.