Complete Order of Service - Script 

for Sunday October 31, 2021 

Holy Halloween, Blessed Samhain 

The high holy day for Earth based spirituality is a combination of Christmas and New Year's Day for those who understand it best. 

NIUU, Sue Hansen-Barber, Jeanie Donaldson, 

  Pastor Fred 

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Prelude - Jeanie Donaldson 

Welcome:  Welcome to the North Idaho Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Thank you for joining this morning.  The day will be a bright one again, the trees on fire with reds and oranges, the air rich, holding the last warmth of summer.  To me, a day doesn’t get more beautiful than this.  The world beyond our walls calls I know, and am glad this community also calls.  May you find inspiration here to live your life fully by your values and the solace for the pain in your heart.  May you find companionship and community.  At NIUU we accept, we support, we transform.  Ourselves.  Our community.  Our world.  We are very glad you are here. 

Opening Words and Chalice Lighting:

As long as humans have existed, we have wondered about death and tried to

understand it. People in different parts of the world, at different times in history, have

created special ceremonies about death.

In the fall, the ancient Celts of Britain celebrated the harvest and the beginning of a new

year. The Celtic dead were believed to have access to earth on Samhain (say: SOW in,

with sow like cow), October 31st, when the boundary between the worlds of the living

and the dead relaxed. The Celts danced around huge bonfires, wearing animal heads and hides to confuse the spirits, and burned crops as offerings to the returning dead.

In Europe in the eighth century, the Catholic Church decreed November 1 as All Saints

Day. Setting aside the day to honor the martyrs and saints was an attempt to replace

the 2000­ year tradition of the Celts and their Druid priests.

Around the end of the first millennium, the church reinforced its attempt to cover the

Celtic celebration by designating November 2 as All Souls' Day to honor the dead. All

Souls' Day was celebrated with parades, big bonfires and the people dressed as saints,

angels and devils.

In the language of the day, All Saints Day and All Souls' Day were known as

All­hallowsmas, and October 31 was "All Hallowed's Eve" or Hallow'e'en.

Today, we light our chalice in joyful celebration of those who have died. We rejoice in

the gifts they gave us and the ways in which they shaped us.

Hymn #108 - My Life Flows On in Endless Song: 

Covenant: 

Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law

This is our great covenant:

To dwell together in peace,

To seek truth in love,

And to help one another. 

Meet and Greet / Check-in  / Joys and Concerns /  Sharing 

Meditation - 

Death is a mystery and puzzle. Nobody knows for sure what happens after death, but

we understand that death is a necessary part of life, as natural as the leaves falling off

the trees. In our Unitarian Universalist faith we can believe that death is never the end

of the story. By studying the world of nature, we know that spring always comes after Winter, and the trees grow new leaves. This is possible for the heart and spirit, too. We

celebrate and honor the loved ones who have gone on before us to the mystery of death; we can celebrate the gifts and lessons their lives were to us, keep their love with

us and continue on our life journey. Join me in meditating with the music.

Meditation Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP_XkN2v7OM  - Remember Me - 1 minute and 15 seconds 

Reading - By Mark Bellintini

Some of us remember with pleasure aunts, uncles, fathers, mothers, friends and lovers, cousins and neighbors, other times and other places: cities and farms, homesteads and rooms, yellow sunsets, chilly sunrises. 

Some of us find it hard to remember, for the memories that clamor inside us are jagged, like glass we ourselves did not break. 

Some of us remember people we have never met, but who through history, recent events, book and poem and film and painting have met us and entered the secret chambers of our heart. 

Some of us remember children, and cannot be comforted. Some of us remember and are set free in our thanksgiving. Some of us remember and are tight with guilt or shame. Some of us struggle daily to remember with greater charity. 

Some of us weep easily and often. Others weep rarely, but grieve all the same. Some of us are stoic and say, "These things happen." Some of us rail against the unfairness of it all, and clench teeth and fists with discontent. 

Some of us bear the burden of those who took their own lives, or who suffered greatly at the end. Others among us remember only vast meadows of love and charity in which we played with joy. 

But all of us remember, whether we speak or are silent, whether we deny or affirm, whether we love or find it hard to love. May the power of love embrace us all, as the curtains between then and now are drawn open for a moment, and the fullness of life impresses itself on us, each in our own way. 

Day of the Dead Ritual - 

 Reader 1:  The rituals and ceremonies that cross cultures and time nearly always speak at truth.  Our beloved dead do live with us.  We feel them.  We cannot push them away.   Some feel their spirits humming around the edges of their lives.  Others find them in memories and in the way we conduct our lives.  Often they exist in very cells in our bodies.  They are here, always, with us.

  Reader 2:  Today, in this late time of the year, as the shadows and darkness deepen, as the plants die, we follow the traditions of the Northern Europeans and other cultures around the world, we remember our dead.  We invite them to visit, to slip across the veil, into our lives. We say their name, admire their photographs, clean the grave or walk where the ashes were spread, tell stories, remember the jokes, their kindnesses, and to say thank you to them for being there in life and now in death. Maybe their breath no longer animates their life, but our breath does.

Now we invite you to speak the names aloud of your beloved dead.  Please raise your hand or otherwise indicate that you wish to speak.  Fred and I will light candles for each name read.  If you do not wish to speak, but would like a name or names read, please write them in the chat and Fred will read them.  You may have more than one person you wish to bring into this space today.  That is fine. Let us hold these people who have given our lives so much.  Let them be here with us now. 

Sermon:  

Today is a high holy day 

  that begins a whole season of holy days 

    for our culture. 

I will be saying more about the season of holy days 

  as we draw nearer the end of the sermon, 

    but for now I want us to look carefully together 

      at the deeper meanings 

        of the Day we are getting to enjoy together 

          despite the impediments of the current times. 

We often understand Halloween 

  as a primarily secular celebration. 

In fact, it's sacred as well as secular. 

For people whose spiritual orientation 

  turns toward Earth (or nature or creation) 

    as its center, 

      Halloween (or Samhain) 

        is the highest of high holy days. 

To compare it to the mainstream culture of the U.S., 

  Samhain (or Halloween) for Earth based spirituality 

    is Christmas and New Year's celebrations 

      rolled into one. 

I've had many people tell me 

  that Halloween is their favorite holiday. 

I feel that there are good reasons for that... 

(1) It's a fun time. 

(2) Many of us have wonderful memories of it. 

(3) I believe that the sacred nature of a holiday 

         that centers on natural events 

            carries an echo in our hearts. 

...

We all experience the changes in the natural world. 

By the time Samhain comes around 

  at the end of October every year 

    the transition from hot to cold weather 

      is easy to see, 

        or at least it was easy 

          before the era of climate change. 

There is still at least an obvious transition, 

  and that is one reason so many of us 

    love Halloween / Samhain. 

We humans are edge dwellers 

  from the earliest days of our species, 

    and we love the edges of the natural world 

      to this day. 

Beaches may be at the top of that list, 

  where ocean meets land. 

Rivers are part of the picture, too, 

  and the edges of periods of time 

    are also important to us. 

The first day of any Season is worthy of celebration. 

The start of a New Year is also marked by a holiday. 

Likewise, Samhain / Halloween is a time of transition, 

  and I'm convinced one reason 

    many of us love it so much 

      is the transition from warm to chilly. 

In our part of the world, 

  the transition is especially visible. 

As I've mentioned before 

  in our Samhain celebrations, 

    our dearly departed Beth used to tell me 

      that the first snow in our part of the world 

        often arrived at or around Halloween. 

Of course, with climate change, 

  the former lines of demarcation are also changing, 

    and many of us may experience the change 

      in reliable transitions as a loss, 

        maybe even nostalgia. 

In any case, 

  Samhain is a holiday for us, at least in part, 

    because it is reflected in our experience 

      of the natural world around us. 

...

The very word holiday means holy day, 

  and the way I use the term, 

    a holy day is a special day. 

So a special day that is fun, 

  generates wonderful memories 

    and has echoes in the world of nature 

      is a natural favorite. 

One could say that we celebrate 

  and have lots of fun with 

    some of the things that scare us 

      on this special day. 

It's especially fun and meaningful for me 

  that we get to share our Halloween and Samhain, 

    October 31, 2021, on a Sunday. 

When I speak of Christmas and New Year's 

  rolled into one, 

    I'm thinking of Christmas as the redemption 

      of the cold of winter in the northern hemisphere, 

        and Samhain (Halloween) is quite literally 

          the start of the Celtic New Year. 

Samhain also marks a major transition 

  to the colder weather of Winter, 

    so it is an appropriate time 

      to mark a redemption of coldness 

        through fun and celebration. 

There is another area 

  in which Samhain connects with Christmas, 

    and I feel a need to tread lightly 

      as I speak of this. 

Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas

  does a great job of connecting the darker themes 

    of Halloween with Christmas, 

      and even in the Bible there are connections. 

The martyrdom of the innocents comes to mind, 

  where King Herod the Horrendous killed children 

    born about the same time as Jesus 

      because he so feared being supplanted 

        by one born to be King in Israel. 

And there is one more connection 

  I feel the need to mention. 

As Christmas celebrates the Holy Birth, 

  all of us who believe in life after this life 

    can think of death as a holy birth 

      from one world into the next. 

On the other hand, 

  Halloween also has a much lighter side, 

    one we may well prefer to talk about. 

Like many of the special days of the year, 

  in our culture, Halloween has long been  

    a fun and special time for children. 

As many of us do, 

  I remember from my own childhood, 

    the joy of going from house to house 

      in my neighborhood, 

        saying "Trick or Treat!" 

There is some interesting history 

  behind the custom of trick or treating. 

From ancient times people have dressed in costumes  

  and visited their neighbors' homes, 

    putting on a brief play, 

      and looking for a treat as a reward. 

More recently, "soul cakes" have been shared 

  in various communities, 

    remembering loved ones and friends 

      who have recently died, 

        and perhaps praying for them 

          if that is part of the local faith and custom. 

As I've spoken of it before, 

  this high holy day is a thin time, 

    that is, a time in which the veil 

      which separates our world 

        from the world of spirit 

          becomes so thin 

            that we can almost see through it. 

We can think of the spirits 

  as the life of those we love who have crossed over, 

    and so we have All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day 

      right after Halloween 

        as a time to remember them and be aware 

          that they are still part of our lives 

            in so many ways. 

Hispanic culture celebrates the sense of presence 

  of those who have transitioned, 

    as the currently popular euphemism (which I like) 

      would have it. 

The Day of the Dead is a wonderful time

  to celebrate and enjoy 

    many of the things that might otherwise 

      leave us feeling uncomfortable. 

Skulls decorated with brightly colored flowers 

  and even made 

    into candy, cookies, and other treats 

      are among the Hispanic (especially Mexican) 

        cultural practices 

          that surround the Day of the Dead. 

That Day is related closely to Halloween 

  because it celebrates the thin time, 

    and it falls on November 2, also known as 

      All Souls' Day. 

My own preference in my personal spiritual practice 

  is to focus on my awareness 

    of the spirit (the breath of life) all around us. 

There are many realities that we are not aware of 

  simply because we are not paying attention. 

The holy day of today 

  is a perfect opportunity 

    to look more closely 

      at the burgeoning life around us 

        than we normally do. 

Trick-or-treating is fun, 

  and appreciating the oneness of all life 

    can be even more deeply satisfying. 

Opening our minds to realities 

  that we don't often think about 

    is a healthy exercise at any time. 

Samhain can be a reminder 

  to broaden our awareness. 

If we use this holy time in that way, 

  it can mean more to us than fun and candy. 

Of course, we may well not want to give up 

  either the fun or the candy, 

    but we can still remember that there is more 

      to the celebration. 

We are entering a season of holy days - 

  also sometimes known as the holidays. 

Each one has customs surrounding it, 

  and each one has a deeper meaning, too. 

Halloween is the thin time 

  to remember the spirits, the life, of all things. 

Thanksgiving is a National Holiday 

  to remember to give thanks,

    not only for the harvest, 

      but also for the many good things in all our lives. 

Canada had their Thanksgiving 

  on the second Monday of October. 

Christmas celebrates 

  the birth of Christ for Christians, 

    and it is also a traditional Earth based festival, 

      known as Yule. 

As such, it celebrates the Solstice 

  and the beginning of longer days. 

New Year's Day brings us an opportunity 

  to remember and celebrate new beginnings. 

The ancient Greek and Roman god and symbol, 

  Janus, has two faces, 

    one facing forward and one facing backward. 

Reasonably enough, Janus is remembered to this day 

  in the name of the first month of a new year, 

    January. 

This year for Samhain, 

  since we can be together (even virtually) 

    on Sunday for our worship time, 

      we are emphasizing the thin time 

        as our opportunity to remember 

          our loved ones 

            who have crossed the veil before us. 

As such, remembrance is more than memory. 

In more ways than one, 

  all the holy days remind us of times past 

    and bring hope of times future. 

If we are careful with our thinking, 

  we can avoid the sadness 

    that often comes with holidays 

      as they remind us of happier times in the past. 

We can focus on the holy days and their meaning, 

  finding deep comfort in our hearts and minds 

    thinking of powerful themes of our culture, 

      our values, and our spirituality. 

When we keep our hearts set 

  on the powerful meaning of holiday traditions, 

    we can draw strength from the celebrations, 

      and it's possible for us to share in the fun 

        even in the midst of a certain amount 

          of nostalgia. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

Blessed be! 

Congregational Response 

Offering Information 

Our Charity of the Month:

Safe Passage

Violence Prevention Center

"Safe Passage not only helps survivors, we work toward reducing violence through prevention education. We provide individual and group programs that teach ways to recognize domestic violence and how to safely intervene and help."

NIUU

P.O. Box 221

CDA ID 83816 

Musical Interlude--Asia Minor by Jeanie Donaldson

Extinguishing the Chalice and Closing Words:

This Sacred Thread - Responsive Reading - All 

By Heather K Janules

They once dwelled among us, the people of memory.

They who knew us, they who taught us,

They who hurt us, they who loved us.

They touch our lives time and again,

through their presence and their absence.

Through familiar scents and favorite songs,

Through old stories and renewed sorrow.

As the earth turns and leaves fall,

We reach back to renew the bonds between us.

With hearts and hands open

We hold onto love,

Ever-stronger than death.

We reach back in gratitude and understanding -

Without our time together,

The pain and the joy,

We would never be who we are today;

We would have little to pass on ourselves.

Without fear, with thanksgiving

and with hope for all that awaits,

We remember those who have gone before,

We honor the circle of life and death,

And our place within this sacred thread.

 

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