ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 31, 2025
As peculiar as it may seem, I can’t help but feel a slight sadness when Halloween arrives. My spouse is an exceptional decorator, creating a festive atmosphere for various holidays. However, Halloween holds a unique charm for me. Most of the decorations are silly, a few are a bit strange, and for the most part, there is nothing gory. But I really do like the playfulness of the house.
Halloween, which has its roots in the tradition known as All Hallows Eve, was connected to All Saints Day, November 1, and All Souls Day, November 2. Though the recognition of the saints stretches back before Christianity became acquainted with the Celtic Festival known as Samhain, there appears to be some influence. Christianity had this habit of borrowing certain rituals from other religions as a way of bridging the difference, especially when Christianity was often using the Roman Empire to force people to become Christian. It helped to soften the blow. But part of those rituals around All Hallows Eve, at least in some settings of Christianity (probably borrowed from the Celtic Festival), included visiting the graves, sometimes a parade through the cemetery, or even having a meal at the gravesite of a family member. It’s not difficult to see how some of the early practices around Halloween could emerge from such festivities. Yet one of the things such rituals did, especially done in the cemetery, was to create some normalcy and calm around death.
In the last couple of decades, I have done more funerals where the children of the deceased, who were sometimes in their 50s or even 60s, said to me, “I’ve never been to a funeral.” There was real discomfort about the whole idea of a funeral, and it was more than grief. Even though movies and tv shows portray a lot of death, we have in fact distanced ourselves from it. There will always be grief, but grief is a healthy journey when people feel somewhat comfortable around death and dying.
My mother might have been extreme, but she spoke regularly about her own death—her own peace, what she wanted at her memorial service, the logistics of what she had already planned at the funeral home, etc. Us four Frogge kids sort of made a joke of it, but when my mother died, there was some peace and some clear direction on next steps. There were no uncomfortable conversations, and I have my mother to thank for that. This makes me wonder if the Celtic and early Christian practices and rituals might help our current culture gain some ease, even serenity, around death that will most definitely help facilitate the grief process.
As death is very much a part of life, I pray for a healthier relationship to death. Holy God, your love extends beyond all limits, even what I might see as the end of my earthly life. Provide me peace that gives rise to good and healthy conversations and understanding around death and dying. Amen.
