Michaela and I carved our pumpkins on Saturday. Hers has the sweetest smile, doesn't he? I had just talked to (middle daughter) Trystan on the phone and learned she was to attend a "Bat Ball" that evening, which is a fundraising event for the bat sanctuary in Albuquerque, NM. So my creation looks a little batty....even vampire batty, maybe.
I teach 3rd grade religious education on Wednesday evenings at our parish, and every year I teach the kids a little about Halloween. Beginning with the word Halloween, which is the current version of All Hallow's Eve, or the night before All Saints (Hallows)Day. Then I read them the Pumpkin Patch Parable (by Liz Curtis Higgs), explaining that a parable is a story with a deeper meaning, and ask what they think it means.
Many years ago, I got an email that said it very well. We are like pumpkins in God's garden. He picks us from the patch, takes us in and washes all the dirt off of us. Then He opens us up and scoops out the yucky stuff; greed, anger, etc. Next he gives us a new face and puts His light inside to shine out for all the world to see. It is my hope that whenever my students think of Halloween, they will also remember All Saints Day and that we are all pumpkins in God's garden.
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