Comments on: Trappings of a World in Which We Do Not Believe

By: Halloween | bethstedman.com

Halloween | bethstedman.com — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:17:31 +0000

[...] “At Halloween our modern cultural rituals are a dim reflection of the historical practice of connecting with and honoring those who have come before. We lost the true meaning, but keep the trappings in hopes that we can connect in some way to something bigger than ourselves. We bring out the ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, and black cats not understanding what they mean, but longing nonetheless to grasp hold of a fleeting glimpse of the mysterious. We watch horror movies in hopes that fear, as raw and intense of an emotion as it is, will at least make us feel something beyond ourselves.” – Julie Clawson’s blog [...]

By: Halloween « Coffee Klatch

Halloween « Coffee Klatch — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:03:20 +0000

By: What Do We Do About Halloween « Godspace

What Do We Do About Halloween « Godspace — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:10:17 +0000

[...] At Halloween our modern cultural rituals are a dim reflection of the historical practice of connecting with and honoring those who have come before. We lost the true meaning, but keep the trappings in hopes that we can connect in some way to something bigger than ourselves. We bring out the ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, and black cats not understanding what they mean, but longing nonetheless to grasp hold of a fleeting glimpse of the mysterious. We watch horror movies in hopes that fear, as raw and intense of an emotion as it is, will at least make us feel something beyond ourselves. But these things still remain trappings of a world in which we don’t fully believe. Read more [...]

By: Christine Sine

Christine Sine — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:41:40 +0000

Julie,
A great post and a great discussion. As someone who grew up between the Greek Orthodox and the Presbyterian church and then found vital faith through a pentecostal type experience, I have been exposed to a wide variety of rituals from different expressions of Christianity. I have learned from all of them as I have grappled with what my faith can and should look like.
I am convinced that we all need ritual in our lives to connect us to the deep things of God but if those rituals become rote expressions then not only are the rituals dead but our faith dies too.
There is a fine balance here that I find myself constantly struggling with. It is not easy for any of us to maintain living rituals that connect us to the deep things of faith because it means that we must be constantly in contact with the God for whom and with whom we need to develop those rituals. And most of us just don't take the time out of our busy lives to make that happen

By: Robin@heartofwisdom

Robin@heartofwisdom — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:31:00 +0000

The Bible holds the answer to pagan holiday questions. I posted an article about Halloween on my blog and received several interesting comments. See http://tinyurl.com/ypd2ck

By: Bryan Riley

Bryan Riley — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:07:00 +0000

Wow. This is fantastic. Yes, we are gilded. We put on all the trappings of what we imagine the Christian life being but neglect the most important part – the heart. And things that we don't understand we fear and we run from, rather than letting the light of Christ shine on them. Great post.

By: Karl

Karl — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:46:00 +0000

Julie, my own short answer to your question would be "yes."

You say "The hollowness can be found in all the traditions." I agree. No one tradition or form guarantees a lack of hollowness. Nor would any new one that we invent offer such a guarantee.

But I'd also add that while hollowness can be found in any tradition, so can the spirit and the experience of the veil being lifted, of finding oneself in a thin place between Heaven and earth because, maybe even in spite of the form, the focus is on "the reason those forms came into being in the first place." If I have eyes to see. C.S. Lewis is helpful to me here:

My own experience is that when I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago, I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn't go to the churches and Gospel Halls . . . I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the great merit of it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren't fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit."

- C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:24:00 +0000

Thanks all.

Karl – you made a good point with, "That phenomenon suggests to me that the "lifting of the veil" has more to do with the spirit and heart than the form" The hollowness can be found in all the traditions. Have too many of us focused more on form than the reason those forms came into being in the first place?

By: K.W. Leslie

K.W. Leslie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:27:00 +0000

Very good point.

My roommate is a newbie (which is what I call new Christians) and he's just started seeing visions. It was interesting timing; he had his first vision about a week after I casually commented to him, "It's nice that you're taking Christianity seriously, but wait till the weird stuff starts to happen."

The weird stuff started later that week. He had to wake me up as soon as he got off work (which was way too early for me, but one has to be patient with newbies) and tell me all about it. He was given a vision of the sort of things that were tempting one of his customers. It scared the stuffing out of him, but it confirmed the spiritual world for him in a way that years of Buddhism and neopaganism never had -- and it reminded him that God was with him, which is the sort of comforting thing that indicates this was of the Holy Spirit.

"I had no idea these things were out there," he said. "I mean, I knew, but I didn't really know."

"Welcome to Christianity," I commented. "That's what you get for taking the red pill."

By: Jonathan Brink

Jonathan Brink — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:37:00 +0000

Very nicely put Julie. You actually captured my feelings really well.