Reflections on Life and Faith,
by David Keating

all Hallow What?

October 28, 2006

     When my kids were small we used to tie a sheet into a sorta ghost shape (if ghosts really do look like that it's no wonder they're so grumpy) and hang it in a tree outside the front door. We also made fake tombstones for the young hobgoblins to walk through on their way to the door for a treat bag. So far as I know, no undead spirits rose up to take them away. Although I suppose that if we had run out of candy it might have been a viable alternative.

     We are, of course, in the middle of the usual marathon of horror movies on the telly, huge stacks of mini-size chips, bars and pop in stores, and rack after rack of witches hats, capes, and cowls. It is, after all, Hallowe'en.

     There will be plenty of advisories about keeping kids safe; checking their treats before they eat them; making sure they don't go out alone. This is important stuff and I urge you to take it seriously. Our family's last stop of the night used to always be the kids' grandparents, where they sorted out their loot into piles on the living room floor. Thereby giving Mom a chance to visit with her folks, while Dad got to snatch the stuff "no one liked" while also giving everything the once over.

     There will also be the inevitable spate of tongue-in-cheek documentaries telling us about everything from the custom of bobbing for apples to the origins of Dracula as Vlad the Impaler.

     And of course, those who see Halloween as devil worship will be beating their drums loudly and decrying the march of Beelzebub in the world.

     Each year I usually dedicate this column to talking about the silliness of equating Johnny and Sally dressed up as a hockey player and a ballerina with some sort of homage to evil. Then again, come to think of it my daughter did go out as a dead cheerleader last year.  What was her mother thinking??

     But since I have all year to talk about such things, I'd like to dedicate a little space this year to the demise of a different Halloween tradition.

     The Pennies for UNICEF campaign will not run in Canada this year, although it will continue in the US.

     According to the UNICEF website, the program has raised over ninety million dollars since it started in 1950. That's a heck of a pile of little round copper coins in anyone's piggy bank.

     There were lots of reasons cited for cancelling the program. It’s a lot of work not only to roll the coins, but to administer the program itself. And of course there are safety concerns for kids carrying boxes of money around.

     But those who expressed disappointment about the cancellation of the program made a good point as well. The program helped kids connect their own haul of candy loot with helping others who have probably never tasted a caramel kiss.

     The program took its inspiration, not from Dracula or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but from a Philadelphia Sunday School class. In 1950 the class decided to collect money for charity instead of candy for themselves on Halloween. They sent seventeen dollars to UNICEF and, as their promotional material says, an idea was born.

     It may be that this particular program has run its course. If so, then all the more reason to take a moment to commend its founders. Their willingness to find God's generosity in a place that others could only complain about has benefited countless kids over more than two generations.

David Keating