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Welcome to “read the Bible – expand your mind:”

The Book of Common Prayer says that by taking part in Holy Communion, Christians become “very members incorporate in the mystical body” of Jesus. The words “corporate” and “mystical” are key. They show that a healthy church has two sides, with the often-overlooked “mystic” side asking the question, “How do I experience God?” This blog tries to answer that.

It has four main themes. The first is that God will accept anyone. (John 6:37.) The second is that God wants us to live lives of abundance.(John 10:10.) The third is that Jesus wants us to read the Bible with an open mind. (As Luke 24:45 says: “Then He [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”) The fourth theme – another one often overlooked – is that Jesus wants us to do even greater miracles than He did. (John 14:12.) 

And this thought ties them together:

The best way to live abundantly and do greater miracles than Jesus is: Read, study and apply the Bible with an open mind. For more see the notes or – to expand your mind – see the Intro.

In the meantime:

February 1, 2026 – The next feast day is February 2, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. It’s part of the season of Epiphanytide, leading up to the Last Sunday after Epiphany on February 15, Ash Wednesday on February 18, and the First Sunday in Lent on February 22.

Counting forward from December 25 as Day One, we find that Day Forty is February 2. A Jewish woman is in semi-seclusion for 40 days after giving birth to a son, and accordingly it is on February 2 that we celebrate the coming of Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus to the Temple at Jerusalem…

In other words, the day celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus, “to officially induct him into Judaism.” (In many churches it’s also called Candlemas, as shown at right. Members take their candles from home to be blessed, and those “blessed candles serve as a symbol of Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the Light of the World.”) See Luke’s account of the Presentation at 2:22-40: “Mary and Joseph took the Infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem … to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth.”

Luke explicitly says that Joseph and Mary take the option provided for poor people (those who could not afford a lamb … Leviticus 12:8), sacrificing “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Leviticus 12:1-4 indicates that this event should take place forty days after birth for a male child, hence the Presentation is celebrated forty days after Christmas.

In other words, Mary and Joseph were there “in obedience to the Torah (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12-15.” (On Purification after Childbirth, “if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.”)

Another note: Mary did this even though she’d “borne Christ without incurring impurity” – meaning the usual ritual impurity involved in conception – but “went to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses.” (To set an example, like Jesus insisting that John baptize Him.) Another tidbit: This first Presentation put Jesus on the long road to His second one, the one at the hands of Pontius Pilate, displaying Him to the mob.

A reminder that from the time of His first Presentation – at just over a month old – Jesus’ life was one long journey to that second presentation. (On the eve of making the sacrifice that would literally change history, if not “split history in two.”) 

And it all began with “Simeon and Anna recognizing the Lord Jesus.”

Which brings up the question: Who first recognized the baby Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, Mary, Anna or Simeon? Simeon and Anna were two old folk at the Temple when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to Jerusalem for the first time. Simeon approached first, as he’d been told he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah. And having seen Jesus, he is ready to die.

Anna also recognizes Jesus as Messiah but she has a far different reaction. (She’s the only New Testament woman explicitly called a “prophetess,” Luke 2:36.) And at the ripe old age of 84, she wants to live and spread the Good News. She, like the disciples, is driven to bear witness. So, while Mary was first to hear the good news, Simeon and Anna were the first to understand fully.

Which makes Mary all the more like us today. Unlike Simeon and Anna, she didn’t immediately understand fully. She couldn’t foresee the future, or that a sword would pierce her own soul. She could only, as noted in Luke 2:19, “treasure all these words and ponder them in her heart.”

The act of pondering suggests deep contemplation and meditation, and in the Bible the heart is seen as the center of thought and emotion. That indicates Mary would not only remember these events but also try for years to understand their full meaning. Such introspection is a common theme in the Bible, where individuals meditate on God’s works and words, as seen in Psalm 119:15: “I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.”

So, Mary’s pondering can be seen as an example of faith and obedience, as she seeks – for years – to comprehend God’s plan. An example of a “continuing search to understand” that seems especially appropriate now, since Lent will soon be upon us.

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The upper image is courtesy of Pontius Pilate – Wikipedia. The caption:  “Ecce Homo (‘Behold the Man’), Antonio Ciseri‘s depiction of Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus to the people of Jerusalem.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2017’s The FIRST “Presentation of the Lord,” The “Presentation of our Lord” – 2020, The Presentation of Jesus – 2/2/22, and The Presentation and the Poker player – 2025.

References to Simeon and Anna as the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah are from Mary, Simeon or Anna: Who First Recognized Jesus as Messiah?

Re: Psalm 119:15. I used the translation from the New King James Version. Other translations: “I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways,” and “I will meditate on Your precepts And [thoughtfully] regard Your ways [the path of life established by Your precepts].”

The lower image is courtesy of the “Simeon” link in the Wikipedia article on the Presentation, with caption: “Simeon the Godreceiver [sic] by Alexei Egorov. 1830–40s.”  The caption for that image is from Simeon and Anna Recognize the Lord in Jesus. That’s another interpretation of the event, by Rembrandt (van Rijn).  (Far better known than Egorov.)  You can see Rembrandt’s interpretation at “Wikigallery,” or at “Rembrandtonline.”

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As noted in the opening blurb, this blog has four main themes. The first is that God will accept anyone. (See John 6:37, with the added, “Anyone who comes to Him.”) This is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. From the Old Testament, Psalm 9:10, “You never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.” (In the Book of Common Prayer version.) The second is that God wants us to live abundantly.  (John 10:10.) The third is that we should do greater miracles than Jesus. (John 14:12). A fourth theme: The only way to do all that is read the Bible with an open mind:

…closed-mindedness, or an unwillingness to consider new ideas, can result from the brain’s natural dislike for ambiguity. According to this view, the brain has a “search and destroy” relationship with ambiguity and evidence contradictory to people’s current beliefs tends to make them uncomfortable… Research confirms that belief-discrepant-closed-minded persons have less tolerance for cognitive inconsistency…

So in plain words, I take issue with what I call “Christian first graders.” Those who choose to stay in a kind of elementary-school first grade. See John the Baptist, ’24 – and “Christian First Graders,” for more. But the key point: “The Bible was designed to expand your mind,” not make it narrow. Also, there’s the idea that “Jesus was anything but negative. His goal was for you to grow and develop into all that you can be.” (For more on that see ABOUT THE BLOG, above.)

I’ve written on boot-camp Christians, the Literalists who never go “beyond the fundamentals.” But the Bible offers so much more than a narrow reading gives… (Unless you want to stay a buck private all your life…) Now, about “Boot-camp Christians” see Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?” The gist of that post: Starting the Bible is like Army Basic Training. You begin by“learning the fundamentals.” But after boot camp, you move on to Advanced Individual Training.” 

And as noted in “Buck private,” one of this blog’s themes is that if you want to be all that you can be, you need to go on and explore the “mystical side of Bible reading.*” In other words, exploring the mystical side of the Bible helps you “be all that you can be.” See Slogans of the U.S. Army – Wikipedia, re: the recruiting slogan from 1980 to 2001. The related image at left is courtesy of: “toywonders.com/productcart/pc/catalog/aw30.jpg.”

Re: “mystical.” Originally the “liturgical, spiritual, and contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity.” Mysticism – Wikipedia, and the post On originalism.  (“What the Bible was originally about!”) See also Christian mysticism – Wikipedia, “In early Christianity the term ‘mystikos’ referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative… The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.” As to that “experiential” aspect, see also Wesleyan Quadrilateral – Wikipedia, on the theological reflection method using four sources of spiritual development: scripture, tradition, reason, and “Christian experience.”

For an explanation of the Daily Office – where “Dorscribe” came from – see What’s a DOR?

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January 24, 2026 – The last post covered two major feast days in January, the Confession of St Peter on the 18th and the Conversion of St Paul on the 25th. It covered Peter confessing, so this post will cover “Paul’s converting.” Converting from a devout foe of the early Christian church to its most ardent spokesman. (Becoming second only to Jesus in helping spread the Good News.)

In plain words, they took different paths. Peter came to a position of authority from inside the church, but Paul got dragged kicking and screaming into his position of authority. Paul wrote of his former life as a zealous enemy of the budding Christian church in Galatians 1:13-14. (He said he was “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”) He “persecuted the church of God … and tried to destroy it.” But God changed his tune, and his name, from Saul to Paul.

As noted in Acts 7:57-8:3, “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” Then came the Stoning of Stephen, and as the crowd threw their rocks “the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” But then he had his Damascus Road Experience (as illustrated below). In other words, Paul went through a profound life-changing experience that changed him from skeptic to believer and advocate. And he was literally struck blind, for three days.

Of that episode, Wikipedia noted three different accounts, including Acts 9, 9-19:

[The] third discussion of Paul’s conversion occurs when Paul addresses King Agrippa, defending himself against the accusations of antinomianism that have been made against him. This account is briefer than the others. The speech here is again tailored for its audience, emphasizing what a Roman ruler would understand: the need to obey a heavenly vision, and reassuring Agrippa that Christians were not a secret society.

So, as I said Paul was “dragged kicking and screaming into his position of authority.” And from there he became “the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity.” From that position of authority, Paul noted that above all we as good Christians are called on to be “ministers of reconciliation.” In following his lead, we Americans should not be as polarized as we are now. Because as Paul said in Galatians 3:28, in Christ “there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female, no liberal or conservative.” (Well, that’s what he would write if he was here today.)

And speaking of current events, can you think of anyone today who could bring lots of people to Jesus, if only “they” could have a Damascus Road Experience?

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The upper image is courtesy of www.canvasreplicas.com/Rembrandt.htm. See also Two Scholars Disputing by REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn. (I used it in the previous post, on Peter Confessing, in part because the two feast days are only a week apart and in the past, I’ve combined them.)

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Note that both feast days – January 18 and 25 – fell on a Sunday and so were transferred to the following Monday. See Precedence, Rules of – The Episcopal Church: “Sunday takes precedence over all other feasts and observances of the church year. When a feast of our Lord or other major feast appointed cannot be observed because it occurs on a Sunday, the feast is normally transferred to the first convenient open day in the following week.”

For this post I borrowed from 2016’s Paul restored – from the Damascus Road, Paul gets his sight back, Peter confesses – 2024, On Peter and Paul, working together – 2025, and links therein.

The actual link to Paul’s “DRE” is Conversion of Paul the Apostle – Wikipedia.

The lower image, by Caravaggio, is courtesy of Conversion on the Way to Damascus – Wikipedia.

The painting depicts this moment … except Caravaggio has Saul falling off a horse (which is not mentioned in the story) on the road to Damascus, seeing a blinding light and hearing the voice of Jesus. For Saul this is a moment of intense religious ecstasy: he is lying on the ground, supine, eyes shut, with his legs spread and his arms raised upward as if embracing his vision. 

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Two major feast days are coming up, January 18’s Confession of St Peter and January 25’s Conversion of St Paul. Taking the “confession” first, January 18 celebrates Peter confessing that Jesus is the Christ (the Jewish Messiah): “Thou art the Christ, Son of the Living God.” In other words we recall how Peter was “led by God’s grace to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ” And we join with him – and with all other Christians – in “hailing Jesus as our Lord, God, and Savior.”

[The] Apostle Peter proclaims Jesus to be Christ – the Messiah. The proclamation is described in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27–30 and Luke 9:18–20. The proclamation of Jesus as Christ is fundamental to Christology … and Jesus’ acceptance of the title is a definitive statement for it in the New Testament narrative.

Note that later this year, on June 29, we have a Feast Day that remembers both Peter and Paul, together. At that time we remember that both men were martyred at about the same time, in Rome, on or about 65 A.D. But here on the other side of the liturgical year – in the dead of winter – we remember both men separately. Or more precisely, we remember how these two “Pillars of the Church” took two completely different paths to the same destination.

On 18 January we remember how the Apostle Peter was led by God’s grace to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20), and we join with Peter, and with all Christians everywhere, in hailing Jesus as our Lord, God, and Savior.

(See Confession of St. Peter, from the Satucket website.)  Put another way, the January 18 Feast Day commemorates Peter being the first apostle “to confess Jesus as Messiah.”

But at as indicated by the painting at the top of the page, the two men did have their differences. See for example, Galatians 2:11-14, when Paul corrected Peter at Antioch: “When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong.” On the other hand, Peter wasn’t too crazy about Paul’s style of writing. See 2d Peter 3:16: “He writes the same way in all his letters.” (Pretty much like the lawyer Paul was.) “His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (Which is why God made John 6:37 and Romans 10:9.)

But despite their differences, Peter and Paul managed to work together, just like Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill. As one site noted, despite starkly different ideologies, Reagan and House Speaker O’Neill offered a model of political friendship. That was especially evident after the assassination attempt. O’Neill was one of the first people Reagan let in to see him at George Washington University Hospital. When O’Neill entered the room he walked over to the bed, “grasped both the president’s hands, and said, ‘God bless you, Mr. President.’”

The president still seemed groggy … with lots of tubes and needles running in and out of his body. But when he saw Tip, he lit up and gave the speaker a big smile, and said, ‘Thanks for coming, Tip.’ Then, still holding one of the president’s hands, the speaker got down on his knees and said he would like to offer a prayer for the president, choosing the 23rd Psalm.” Then O’Neill kissed Reagan on the forehead.

Another tidbit: Reagan often answered O’Neill’s calls, “Tip, is it after 6 p.m.?” The point being that Reagan and O’Neill might fight like cats and dogs during work hours, but “after 6, these two enemies enjoy each other’s company.” So, wouldn’t it be wonderful if making America great again meant a return to those “traditional family values?” On the other hand, you might say that’s all part of being a good Christian. (Romans 5:6 and Matthew 5:44.)

Reagan and Ted Kennedy were also able to do that, despite their intense political differences. Kennedy said of Reagan: “He’s absolutely professional.  When the sun goes down, the battles of the day are really gone.” Or as one writer said, “Heated rhetoric was part of the game of government. [But w]hen the day was over, win or lose, everyone could have a drink together.”

I’ll write about God giving Paul his Damascus Road Experience in a week or so. (Turning him from an enemy of the church to its most ardent advocate.) In the meantime, wouldn’t it be nice if we could go back to this kind of working together, in religion and politics?

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The upper image is courtesy of www.canvasreplicas.com/Rembrandt.htm.  See also Two Scholars Disputing by REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from Paul gets his sight back, Peter confesses – 2024, On Peter and Paul, working together – 2025, and links therein.

On Paul’s style of writing see Understanding Paul’s Difficult Scriptures. On Paul as lawyer see Topical Bible: The Lawyer: “In the context of the Bible, the term ‘lawyer’ refers to an expert in the Mosaic Law, often synonymous with a scribe or teacher of the law… The Apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, was a Pharisee and well-versed in the law. His background as a lawyer-like figure provided him with a deep understanding of Jewish law.” 

Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Period, no ifs, ands or buts. To me that’s pretty much sums up the whole point of the Bible.

The quote about Kennedy and “heated rhetoric” is courtesy of Battle for Justice: How the [Robert] Bork Nomination Shook America, by Ethan Bronner, Anchor Book edition (1989), at pages 103-104. 

The lower image is courtesy of the Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill link in the main text of the January 2025 post noted above.

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November 16, 2025 – Thanksgiving is the next major feast day. (There’s a large gap between that holiday and the Halloween Triduum.) And as noted in past posts, the idea behind the holy-day feast goes back long before 1621, Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims.

For Native Americans, “gathering to give thanks was already a familiar custom, taking place not just annually, but 13 times throughout the lunar, calendar year – a cycle known as the Thirteen Moons.” As one Wampanoag said, “Thanksgivings are a big part of our culture. Giving thanks is how we pray.” (The Wampanoag helped Pilgrims survive their first winter in 1620-21.)

And something else to remember: Of the 102 Mayflower Pilgrims who landed in December 1620, less than half survived the following winter that led to November 1621. And of the 18 adult women only four survived those 11 months. (“And you think today is bad?”) Anyway, it turns out there’s a good reason special days of thanksgiving have been around a long time. Research has shown that giving thanks can reduce pain, reduce depression and improve immunity and sleep. “As more researchers dig into the science of gratitude, they’ve found the feeling likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive.”

Gratitude is a powerful human emotion… [T]his simple practice can lead to profound positive changes in mood, resilience, and overall well-being… Gratitude can boost emotional resilience by focusing on positive things in life instead of toxic emotions like envy, jealousy, resentment, and anxiety.

In 1620 the Pilgrims just wanted to make it through another harsh New England winter.

But why did they leave the Old World to “The New” where less than half survived? For one thing the Pilgrims spent years in Holland trying to escape persecution from the Established Church in England. Yet while Holland had tolerance and security, there were troubling signs. Those signs included a threat of invasion by Spain (which then owned Holland as a colony) and also:

The Netherlands was … a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there. (Emphasis added.)

But after leaving England – finally – they faced a treacherous voyage across the North Atlantic, during which one member, John Howland, got swept overboard. So when the Mayflower finally landed at “Plymouth Rock” – at long last – William Bradford memorialized the event:

“Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth.” (Emphasis added.)

That was from Bradford’s classic book Of Plymouth Plantation, to which Wikipedia added that the “passengers who had endured miserable conditions for about sixty-five days were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving.” And by the way, John Howland did more than survive after being swept overboard into that “vast and furious ocean.” He lived on to age 80 and ended up populat[ing] America with two million descendants. 

John and Elizabeth Howland founded one of the three largest Mayflower families and their descendants have been “associated largely with both the ‘Boston Brahmins‘ and Harvard’s ‘intellectual aristocracy’ of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.” American actors Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957), Anthony Perkins (1932-1992), and Alec Baldwin (b. 1958) are counted among Howland’s descendants.

But we digress. Meanwhile, back to the Pilgrims. After landing at the tip of Cape Cod, then trying to find a good place to spend the winter, their ordeal was far from over. Most notably there was the risk of starvation: “The Pilgrims had no way of knowing that the ground would be frozen by the middle of November, making it impossible to do any planting.” The frozen ground and starving conditions led to disease, and as Wikipedia noted, “During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able and willing to feed and care for the rest.” 

Also, the surviving colonists had to let the graves in the new cemetery “overgrow with grass for fear the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become.” On the other hand there was Squanto, a Patuxet Native American. He taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn, and served as an interpreter. (He’d learned English during travels in England.)  “Additionally the Wampanoag leader Massasoit had donated food stores to the fledgling colony during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient.”

So somehow the fledgling band of colonists survived, and celebrated their first Thanks-giving:

The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.  The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.

So get ready for your Thanksgiving dinner of eel, mussels and beetroot. And if you feel like giving thanks to the Lord but don’t know how to say it, see the full Lectionary readings at Thanksgiving Day for some ideas. Like “Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them.” Or “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The upper image is courtesy of Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner By Thomas Nast – Image Results. See also Thanksgiving (United States) – Wikipedia.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s On the first Thanksgiving – Part I, and On the first Thanksgiving – Part II, On Thanksgiving 2015, and On Thanksgiving – 2016. Also, more recently, On Thanksgiving 2022 – and an Unknown American Icon (which detailed John Howland’s full story), Between Halloween and Thanksgiving – 2023, Thanksgiving 2023 – and an “epileptic Rabbit Trail,” and On Judgment (Good or Bad) – and Thanksgiving 2024.

The Mayflower originally landed at the tip of Cape Cod, then tried to sail south to Virginia, but contrary winds forced them to turn back. For more see Plymouth Rock | Geology, Legend, History, & Facts | Britannica: “The rock, now much reduced from its original size thanks to damage from being moved and to the depredations of souvenir seekers, rests on the coast of Plymouth Bay… The Pilgrims – who made their first North American landfall on Cape Cod, not at Plymouth – did not mention any rocks in the earliest accounts of Plymouth colony. Plymouth Rock’s historic significance was not generally recognized until 1741, when Thomas Faunce spoke up to stop construction of a wharf that would have covered it. Faunce, then 94 years old, was the son of a settler who had arrived in Plymouth only three years after the Pilgrims.” 

The lower image is courtesy of The Puritan By Augustus St. Gaudens, – Image Results. The Wikipedia article on Thanksgiving included this caption about the statue: “The ‘buckle hat’ atop the sculpture’s head, now associated with the Pilgrims in pop culture, was fictional; Pilgrims never wore such an item, nor has any such hat ever existed as a serious piece of apparel.” See also – on the “American Myth” cite – The 40 Most Enduring Myths in American History — Best Life. Number 16 said, “Pretty much everything you know about Thanksgiving isn’t true… The real story involves plagues, and Pilgrims showing up because they thought the Native Americans were sick or dead, so it’d be easy to steal their food.” (Not so Kumbaya.)

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November 1, 2025 – We call it “Halloween,” but few know the October 31 Eve is just one of three days called the Halloween “Triduum.” (Meaning three days.) It’s also called Allhallowtide:

The word Allhallowtide was first used in 1471, and is derived from three words: the Old English word hallow, meaning ‘holy’, the word tide, meaning ‘time’ or ‘season’ [see Eastertide or Christmastide] and all (from Old English eall) meaning “every.” The latter part of the word Hallowmas is derived from the word Mass. The words hallow and saint are synonyms.

And speaking of Old English, its word for “saint” was halig, which as an adjective meant holy or sacred. It eventually became “hallow” – as easier to say? – which led to the main triduum event, All Hallows’ Day, November 1. (What we now call “All Saints’ Day.”) And since the night before a big day is often called its evening or “eve” – think Christmas Eve – the full old-timey name for the night before November 1 was All Hallows’ Evening. (Or “Eve.”) In time that got shortened to All Hallows’ E’en, then to Hallows’ E’en – dropping the “all” – and finally just “Halloween.”

So much for etymology, but what about all those weird things people do on All Hallows’ E’en? And what’s it all about anyway? Is it just an excuse for wearing crazy costumes, getting lots of candy or watching really creepy movies, as so many seem to think?

Actually, Wikipedia said the three days are times “to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians.” The main day of the three is November 1, now called All Saints Day, but previously called Hallowmas. It was established sometime between 731 and 741 – over 1,300 years ago – “perhaps by Pope Gregory III.”

Put another way, November 1 honors “all the saints and martyrs, both known and unknown.” In other words, special people in the Church. (A saint is defined as one “having an exceptional degree of holiness,” while a martyr is someone “killed because of their testimony of Jesus.”) On the other hand, November 2 – All Souls’ Day – was designed to honor “all faithful Christians … unknown in the wider fellowship of the church, especially family members and friends.’” In other words, the rest of us poor schmucks. (That is, those who have gone on before.) Also, consider this:

Given that many Christian cemeteries are interdenominational in nature, All Souls Day observances often have an ecumenical dimension, with believers from various Christian denominations praying together and cooperating to adorn graves.

Another note: Ecumenism means that Christians even from far different denominations “should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity.” Which would be a nice change of pace for this year’s November 2.

But again, what about all those strange “Eve of All Hallow’s” customs? It seems they started with the old-time idea that evil spirits were strongest during the long nights of winter. And that on the night of October 31 the “barriers between our world and the spirit world” were at their most permeable; the barrier between this world and the next was at is lowest point. Which brings up the masks and costumes that are a big part of Halloween. In the old days people wore masks or costumes to disguise their identities. The idea was to keep the ghosts or spirits – coming from the netherworld – “from recognizing live people in this ‘material world.’”

The same is true of bonfires; literally bonefires, fires where bones were burned. One idea? Evil spirits could be driven away with fire and noise. Also, old-timers thought the fires brought comfort to “souls in purgatory and people prayed for them as they held burning straw up high.”

Then there are those pumpkins. Some other old-time people set out carved pumpkins on their windowsills to keep “harmful spirits” out of their home. But yet another tradition said  jack-o’-lanterns “represented Christian souls in purgatory.” And while today jack-o’-lanterns are made from pumpkins, they were originally carved from large turnips.

In turn, both the jack-o’-lantern and Will-o’-the-wisp – see a Japanese interpretation at right – are tied in with the strange ghostly light known as ignis fatuus. (From the Medieval Latin for “foolish fire.”) That refers to the “atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached:”

Tradition had it that this ghostly light – seen by travelers at night and “especially over bogs, swamps or marshes – resembled a flickering lamp. The flickering lamp then receded if you approached it, and so it “drew travelers from their safe paths,” to their doom…

And about traveling on All Hallows E’en. (Holding a candle.) If you hiked from 11:00 p.m. until midnight, your had to be careful. If your candle kept burning, that was a good omen. (The traveler would be safe in the upcoming “season of darkness.”) But if the candle went out, “the omen was bad indeed.” (The thought was that the candle had been blown out by witches…)

But once again, the Halloween Triduum officially ends on November 2, All Souls’ Day. The idea iss to remember the souls of the dear departed, illustrated by the painting below. Good Christians remember deceased relatives on the day, and – in many churches – the following Sunday includes a memorial service for those who died in the past year. Which should make for the Good News of Halloween. Accordingly, here’s wishing you:

A Happy “All Hallow’s Triduum!”

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The upper image is courtesy of Allhallowtide – Wikipedia, with the caption:  “A graveyard outside a Lutheran church in Röke, Sweden on the feast of All Hallows. Flowers and lighted candles are placed by relatives on the graves of their deceased loved ones.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2018’s The THREE days of Hallowe’en, The Halloween Triduum – 2019, On the Hallowe’en “Triduum” – 2021, and On Halloween 2023 – and a Sheol “rabbit trail.”

The lower image is courtesy of All Souls’ Day – Wikipedia.  The caption: “All Souls’ Day by William Bouguereau.” See also Allhallowtide, and All Saints’ Day – Wikipedia.

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