Spiritism & Halloween

As a kid, I loved Halloween because of one thing: Candy. I’d dress up and collect all the candy I could score.

Candy, in those days, was at the heart of Halloween. In my mind, it still is.

But during this time of year, there are those who choose to celebrate darkness. And that makes Halloween a great time for someone like me to present what the Bible says about spiritism.

I am not speaking on it this year, so I offer a previous message on spiritism here.

Since it was recorded before we were doing video recordings, I have inserted the PowerPoint as the video.

If you’d rather catch just the audio in a podcast, click here.

Halloween: Enjoy the candy. Avoid the darkness. Shine the Light.

Preparing for Communion

I love what Frederick Buechner says about life in his book Wishful Thinking.

A sacrament is when something holy happens. It is transparent time, time which you can see through to something deep inside time.

Generally speaking, Protestants have two official sacraments (the Lord’s Supper, Baptism) and Roman Catholics these two plus five others (Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Ordination, and Matrimony). In other words, at such milestone moments as seeing a baby baptized or being baptized yourself, confessing your sins, getting married, dying, you are apt to catch a glimpse of the almost unbearable preciousness and mystery of life.

Needless to say the church isn’t the only place where the holy happens. Sacramental moments can occur at any moment, any place, and to anybody. Watching something get born. Making love. A high-school graduation. Somebody coming to see you when you are sick. A meal with people you love. Looking into a stranger’s eyes and finding out he’s not a stranger.

If we weren’t blind as bats, we might see that life itself is sacramental.

from Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner

We look forward to experiencing the sacrament of communion on Sunday as we enjoy the sacrament of living every day.