HALLOWE’EN There’s a kind of thrill to horror when you can view it without its reality. It can be addictive.

Skull-type masks at a Hallowe’en party might evoke a grisly humour, but finding the skull of someone lying dead in their home for 3 weeks is not funny.

Do we laugh at death and the dark side so that we can cope with it I wonder? I rather think that we get a frisson of excitement at being a little scared, and why not make a party of it! The All Saints Day of religious history has bowed out to the celebration of the devil’s territory the night before. I believe we are making a caricature of something that is disturbingly real. We are at the moment de-sensitising children to the fact of evil and its consequences.

Yes, and here’s another question. Where does evil come from? Are some of us wired that way or are there real evil spirits emanating from a source set up in opposition to God and his righteousness.

Many of those who’ve dabbled with ouijda boards or known a curse on their family, or felt cold fear in their body through a paranormal experience, have discovered that evil is a real force.

I put out a plea to recognise its reality and perhaps next Hallowe’en be prepared to stop making fun out of what is the dark side of real life. God wants us to live in the light and in his wholesomeness.

Elspeth Jackman of the Vineyard Church, St.Albans

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