Halloween Is For Grownups
John Edgerton
October 12, 2022
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
~Isaiah 11:6
I live on a very Halloween-y block. You know the kind of block I’m talking about, where every house has decorations up and a candy-bowl that never runs dry. Where there’s always that one pair of dads locked in a spooky-season arms race with increasingly elaborate set ups. The kind of street that the whisper network said might have full sized candy bars. The kind of block that has locked in Oct 31 as one of our block party days and will never, ever let that go.
When we moved in, our neighbors told us to get at least 1,000 pieces of candy. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am currently locked in an arms race with another dad over jack-o-lanterns. Namely whose is the biggest and awesome-est (mine, in case you were wondering).
And as much as I enjoyed Halloween as a child, I enjoy it more as an adult than I ever did. The dividing line of Austin Blvd blurs into insignificance. The tiny wobblers struggling to remember the words they’re supposed to say walk in the same line as the surly teenagers struggling to bring themselves to say it. The parents, dewy-eyed, taking video as their kids brave the front steps of a stranger’s house protected by nothing but a Paw-Patrol costume. Everyone has a gift to give, good things are there for the asking, and the barriers between us fall for a night.
This holiday is supposedly for kids, but don’t you believe it. Halloween is there to remind us grown ups about generosity, and fun, and mystery, and joy. So get those candy bowls ready, carve those jack-o-lanterns, put up those decorations. Because a little taste of heaven is just a couple weeks away.
Prayer: God, thank you for children, they help us grown ups remember the joy of living.
