We Get Ready For Halloween

After a leisurely two hour breakfast at Dave’s, Ginny & I put up our Halloween display. Usually we’d have had it up more in advance, but the rain and stuff from Hurricane Wilma discouraged us from setting up last week.

That little elf greets people at the foot of our drive and there are a few other ornaments but here’s a photo of how we set it up the main display, I’m especially proud of the bromeliad pods in the valley (they were my idea):

I’ve been thinking about the 23^rd Psalm as we put together the display. Along with the Lord’s Prayer and Christmas readings, Psalm 23 is perhaps the one passage most familiar to people. “The Lord is my shepherd…” has been read at every funeral I’ve ever attended because the words offer such comfort “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me…”

The Psalmist acknowledges that bad things do happen: “Yes, when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”. Bad things happen to us because this is life that we’re living -- life in a twisted, fallen world. Bad things happen in the natural course of life. We are indeed few of days and full of troubles.

In his first letter, Peter said, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you… knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world”.

In other words, some bad things are just the common lot of mankind everywhere.

Death happens. Disease happens. Divorce happens. Defects happen. Disaster happens. To everybody, everywhere, at some time or another.

That means we’re alive.

We are moving through bad things.

Yet the Psalmist distinguishes between bad and evil. Evil, I think, being the deliberate chosen actions of wicked creatures either physical or spiritual. Being finite they can only do us limited, finite, damage because the Lord walks with us – if we chose to let Him.

Jesus once said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”.

So death is as bad as it can get -- but it is limited.

Whereas life in His presence is unlimited, a banquet table prepared, a rod, a staff, an overflowing cup, a place to dwell , goodness and mercy – forever.

Will the kids who come to our house for candy think about all this stuff.

Bull!

Not a chance.

They come for the goodie bags. We’re trying not to disappoint them. Here’s a photo of the typical loot:

Ginny and I stuffed Ziploc bags full of goodies for the trick-or-treaters as we watched the Florida/Georgia game on tv.

Gators won.

Bulldogs lost.

God’s in His Heaven and all’s right with the world.