October 31, 2024

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” ~ Matthew 5:9

I live in a very diverse neighborhood subdivision. Across the street from my home, the neighbors are Indian and identify as Hindu, to their right is a family from Nepal, who I am almost certain also practice Hinduism. Our neighbors to the left of us are Polish (and frequently speak in their native tongue), and the neighbors to the right of our home are Indian as well, but I am less certain of their religious affiliation. While half of our cul-de-sac is Caucasian, it appears that our larger neighborhood has a concentration of South Asian identifying folk.

This is a unique time of year, as four major secular and religious holidays fall on the same two days- Halloween, El Dia de Muertos, All Saints Day, and Diwali. Halloween, derived from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain as a commemoration of the triumph of hope over fear, falls on October 31st. El Dia de Muertos is celebrated in Mexico on November 1st as a day to welcome back your ancestors to feast with you and is usually depicted with skeletons decorated in brightly colored garb. All Saints Day is November 1st and is a celebration of the saints of the Church, both known and unknown, specifically in churches that identify as Western Christians (both Catholic and Reformed). Diwali is a Hindu holiday, celebrated this year on November 1st, known as a Festival of Lights. Lamps are lit, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. Metaphorically, this light symbolizes knowledge over ignorance or good over evil. (There is a whole other conversation to have here on the symbolism of light vs dark but that’s another devotion for another day.)

There’s a lot of rhetoric out there, especially in this time of election season, that likes to sell you on the story that different is bad. Anything that is outside your culture is out to harm you. It struck me that these diverse religious festivals have the same threads running through them. The religions themselves aren’t similar; however the themes of remembering the dead and spending time “with them,” as well as celebrating hope over fear and the triumph of good over evil, transcend the artificial structures of religion and reveal to us the innate desires of being human. As humans we miss those whom we grieve and we long for victory over that which binds us. If only we could see in one another the divine within, which could help us to welcome our neighbors regardless of how they identify or who they worship. At our center, we truly are one people. Jesus, who was well acquainted with living in a poly religious society, speaks not of retribution and conquering, but of centering ourselves in the pursuit of humanity and peace. As we tend to these final days of election season and the space we will live in after that, let that which is our commonality bind us together in peace, so we can live into pursuit of love everlasting.