The highlight of my day so far has been handing a piece of foil wrapped candy to a tiny child masquerading as Tinker Bell. The Eden St. Preschool trotted out it’s tots today and paraded them down Maine street, accompanied by proud parents and a police and ambulance escort. They came past the door of Our New England Country Store and I popped my head out dutifully (there was a note left for me this morning instructing me to be nice to the children…). A miniature Buzz Lightyear, after being encouraged and then prodded by a nearby adult, squeaked, “Trick or treat?”
Ah, Halloween. Since then I have helped myself to most of the candy that I brought in to work today, since I have seen neither hide nor hair of anyone besides a few witches from the bank next door. Candy corn goes down easy, and at least I’m not hungry!
Nearly dozing off just now while reading Dracula prompted me to hop on the computer and see if there were any interesting Halloween related articles on one of my favorite sites – Art and Letters Daily. I found a link to an article about Martin Luther. Close enough!
This is a rather busy weekend. Aside from Halloween and All Souls Day and All Saints Day, we’ve got Day of the Dead and Reformation Day. I remember, years ago when my family still resided in New Mexico, going to an “alternative to Halloween” party. My Dad dressed up as Martin Luther. I recall him striding across the cafeteria and nailing a sheet of paper to the wall. I suppose he was a character in a skit of some type, but I don’t remember anything else about the night. Except perhaps a vague sense of humiliation over not being brave enough to go dunking for an apple…!
500 years ago Martin Luther declaired to the world that there was something other than Catholicism available to the followers of Christ. The better informed among us celebrate this momentous discovery on Reformation Day. Hurray for Protestantism! The funny thing is that in the city where this difinitive moment in Christian history took place – Wittenburg, Germany – there are so few Protestants that the Evangelical Church has declaired a “Luther Decade”.
They want to turn Wittenburg into as much of a place of pilgramage for Protestants as Rome is for Catholics, as well as seeking and making new converts to Christianity – or rather, to Protestantism. Ultimately, the EKD wants to re-awaken the Reformation. The party starts today people! Lutherization everywhere, all the time!
If your daily life is getting dull, perhaps it’s time to make a pilgramage to Wittenburg, a.k.a “Luther City”. There you can check out the “Luther tree”, visit Luther Street and Luther House, have some Luther beer and some Luther bread, and don’t forget about the giant memorial to Luther in the main marketplace. It’s a must see for all self-respecting Protestants.
Happy Reformation Day, one and all!
what we have here is a failure to communicate 
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