Column Draft on Halloween in Alton

Since Alton seems to be the epicenter of the paranormal, Halloween seems to be a good time to examine a bit of the world beyond.

On one hand, I just dismiss talk of goblins as mere fun and amusement. It is a version of a mental roller coaster, a momentary thrill of being scared. If setting up yard signs for a longer period than having Christmas decorations gives some pleasure, so what?

On the other hand, I do wonder why talk of zombies, for instance, has such a hold on the popular imagination in this new century. I wonder that zombies appeal to folks who are living but a partial life, so that life in the midst of death could seem to be  of interest. Entranced by images on screens, we could easily be mistaken for creatures but partially alive. Instead of positing a perfect life in the future, we are captured with a vision of eternal living death.

We do live in  a culture of death, as Pope John Paul II opined.  Guns are clearly American idols. I just saw a new report from the World Health Organization that processed meats, including the great gift of bacon, probably accounts for increased cancer risk. When I was younger the cloud of nuclear destruction was a real and present threat. Now climate change is poised to threaten us throughout this century.

As science continue sot offer more explanations for understanding our environment, perhaps playing in the fields of the occult is the last redoubt against examining our world with precision. Folk beliefs and practices have long come into being when people are faced with a seemingly inexplicable assault such as plague. I wonder if the AIDS epidemic, or fears of Ebola virus fostered some of the explosion of interest in extrasensory explorations.

Some churches both decry and fear the occult as it raises the specter of an invisible world occupied by the diabolical. If people are exploring that realm, then it is further proof that it in fact exists. At the same time, it gives an opening to then openly fight the forces of malevolent spirits.  A number of books on the Salem witch trails of the 1690s have appeared of late. As we see declining religious observance and belief, people are creating a grab bag of beliefs and practices without regard for orthodoxy.

For me, we have plenty of evil to go around without resort to the unseen world. The demonic is splattered all over the blood-soaked stories in a daily paper. I am haunted by the deaths on our streets, criminal, negligent, or of illness.

In terms of the after life, as belief in a punishing Hell declines, perhaps a focus on heaven declines as well. I note that religious people of all stripes are fascinated by alleged mediums of the spirit world. Folks watch the Long Island medium and flocked to her presentation in our area not long ago that filled a huge auditorium. At the same time, we seek proofs of an afterlife. Many people who have lost a loved one to death report some sort of sensory experience of the loved one, a vision, hearing their voice, being aware of a fragrance, feeling their touch.

In Biblical faith, life, not death, has the last word. Halloween precedes directly All Saints Day, the day of the hallowed dead and All Souls Day, November 2. In our Sunday service we are merging regular worship with remembering our honored dead with prayers and the lighting of candles, as November 1 falls on a Sunday this year. Even as the church year is drawing to a close, we point to new life, a whole resurrected life, one that endures and perdures.