It also invites the community to come together and consider the littlest ones: do the mobility challenged need help climbing the porch step? Come down to them, heck, set up a water bottle stand in the col-de-sac. Non-verbal autistic child? The blue pumpkin pail signals people not to expect a "trick-or-treat" or a "thank you" but that someone has considered a child's needs and included them. Food intolerances? Plastic spider rings and homemade toys like felted acorns are wonderful surprises!
Even the dead are included. In Mexico and eastern Europe, the deceased are invited to a meal with their loved ones, and we pray for one another, the dead for the living, the living for the dead. We acknowledge that the threshold between life and death is only temporary, and that Christ steps easily over it. Nobody is forgotten.
I wish modern western society still participated in holy days and festivals. We've lost our sense of belonging to one another. On this one night a year, we remember.
+JMJ+
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