This, Our Valley What might foreigners teach us?

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

What a weekend, eh? Time changed early Sunday morning. The World Series reached its conclusion. Treat or Treaters across the land did their thing on Friday night. Many churches celebrated All Saints and/or All Souls Day on Sunday (they are two different days on liturgical calendars). Spanish language congregations celebrated El dios de los muertos (Day of the Dead), remembering friends and family members who have died. 

I confess the Hispanic approach to All Saints always baffled me, but that’s because their culture is foreign to my own. I’m an American, but my heritage is Swedish. We’re a quiet people. We don’t make too much fuss about things. “The sun rose and the sun went to bed. Jah, it was a gute day,” is about as expansive as my Scandinavian forebears would get in “describing” their day. 

It’s not that we Swedes are bored or boring; it’s just that we don’t like to inflict ourselves on others. Our Viking ancestors learned a long time ago that people didn’t like it when they showed up, so “we” stopped showing up. Oh sure, I know it was more the burning and pillaging that irritated folks, but still, we know when we’re not wanted, so we leave things be, and we’re a lot happier for it.

Finns and Scandinavians are reported to be amongst the happiest people on earth (the mouse kingdom lies about how happy THEIR world is). That’s because we leave others alone. We let others have their opinions. And if they’re wrong? Let them be wrong!.

And if they’re right? What then? We keep our mouths shut: look, listen, and learn. What a concept!

I can’t begin to list all the things Americans get wrong about Halloween (that would be impolite and unScandinavian of me), for instance. But I can say I do like the Mexican approach to the season, celebrating and honoring those who came before, sharing stories and joyous anecdotes, building home altars upon which and around which offerings (ofrendas) are made and which include the four elements of earth (bread), water (pitcher), fire (candles), and wind (paper banners) – gifts for their ancestors. 

It seems strange that we of northern European descent tend to glom onto the more macabre, grim, “John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave” approach to the season, whereas our Mexican siblings find it a time to celebrate the lives of the saints, known and unknown. Of the two approaches, I am much more at home with the first, but find the second much more enlightened and faithful to my own religious tradition – as people of the resurrection.

For us, life is not ended in death, but changed. So why do we Anglos focus so much on death, blood, horror, undead zombies, and the like? Why don’t we focus, like our Mexican brethren, on the lives of those who have gone before us, and who go before us, and who prepare the way before us? 

Why don’t we take time to talk more productively about those we miss, those whose lives impacted our own in significant ways, who have died? Have we gotten so wrapped up in trick or treating, costumes, and candies that we have forgotten what the days and seasons are about?

I spend too much time trapped in my own little world, my own little problems, my own myopic perspective of life and living. It’s nice to see, explore, and ponder what other folks do, and learn what they have to offer us, to teach us. When something strikes us as strange, it’s good to stop, to sound a note of curiosity (“Hey, what’s that you’re doing?) and dig into what it means.

What’s the best way to approach Spooky Day in America? That’s up to you. I have no plans to pillage and burn the homes of those who disagree. After all, I could be wrong. 

What I will do, however, is continue to stop and ask questions, for that’s how we learn here in this, our valley. Let’s give thanks to God for the saints in our lives. May your ofrendas always be sweet!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)