All Hallow’s Eve is a time when the veil between night and day is thin. People are dressed and masked taking on personas they have encountered in books, shows, and movies. You might walk right by your neighbor and not recognize them.
Pumpkins turn into faces alight with personalities and feelings that gourds don’t normally have. The barrier between this life and the next is hard to decipher and discern. The air hangs heavy reminding us that we are dust and to dust, we shall return.
And then the new day dawns on All Saints Day. We remember our loved ones who have gone on before us. We treasure their light and their love. We search desperately for signs or symbols that reconnect us to them even for just a minute.
All Saints Day is a high and holy day because we have traversed the dark night remembering that we have but one life to live, one light to shine. We walk into the new day and the new month reminded to live intentionally and compassionately in hopes that our legacy lingers in the light of jack-o-lanterns and the delight of children calling, “Trick or Treat!”