“Halloween … Halloween! All other holidays come between.” And, probably, to some people (kids especially), Halloween is the best and most fun of all the holidays. Can you remember some of the different costumes you wore to go trick-or-treating in your early years? Who can forget those moments of standing in joyful anticipation on someone's front porch, ringing the doorbell, and then waiting in quivering expectation to see if you'd be recognized? It was always such a thrill when no one could guess who you were.

When you think about it, Halloween really is a unique day. It gives us a chance to take on another personality—to become someone (or something) other than what we normally are.

Right here in Silent Unity, every October 31, most of us still dress up in costumes—sometimes amazingly creative costumes—and parade up and down the aisles and across the stage of the Silent Unity Chapel during our morning Daily Word meeting. Wish you could be here. You'd love it!

The Masks We Wear
Halloween isn't the only time some of us wear masks, however. There are times that we all do. There are times when we hide behind defenses. There are times when we try to be something we're not—or try to make people believe we're something other than what we are, lest they discover our true selves. There are times when we don't want to show our vulnerability or our insecurity or our feelings of inadequacy or our fear or our emotional pain. So we cover up. We hide behind our “everything's fine” masks.
But there's an interesting thing that happens when people call or write to Silent Unity for prayer. The masks are dropped—left outside the doors of prayer—and only the genuine sacredness of the person is left. Stripped of all pretenses and defenses, the bare soul reaches out for spiritual help. It is a beautiful thing that takes place.

Praying With and For Each Other
The foundation of the work here in Silent Unity lies in making that genuine contact—heart to heart. Nothing stands in the way of this precious and sacred connection. As a result—in that unique moment of prayer—the holy presence of God, the person wishing to be prayed for, and we of Silent Unity are fused into one.

This will be your own experience if you ever decide to turn to Silent Unity for prayer. There is that breathlessly sweet moment of knowing the peace of God—that everything is okay. In that moment you shed the mask and open your heart completely to Spirit. There is nothing … nothing … but God.

Dropping the Mask
On Halloween we dress up so people will laugh at us. The other 364 days we sometimes “dress up” so people will not laugh at us. Won't it be a blessed relief when we can all drop our masks all the time, without fear of not being accepted for what we are? Dealing with each other from our divinity to theirs is surely a better way—the way we were designed to live.

In the meantime, if you feel the need to step out of your day-to-day routine, take a few minutes for prayer. Because when you pray—when you are immersed in the presence of Pure Being—it is impossible to be anything other than absolutely, genuinely you. And that is refreshing to the soul.

And always remember that Silent Unity is here to pray with you at any hour of the night or day. We're never more than a thought, a letter or a phone call away.

 

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This article is excerpted from Unity Magazine®.

We hope children of all ages enjoy this Halloween poem from our Unity Archives.

This poem originally appeared in the October 1933 issue of Wee Wisdom®

Halloween

By Theodosia Smith

Jack-o'-lanterns gleam and glow;
Rosy apples, row on row;
Popcorn piled like mounds of snow:
     Why, it's Halloween!

Sheeted figures scurry past
In the nipping autumn blast;
Joyous children's hearts beat fast;
     For it's Halloween.

There is jollity and cheer
In gay voices calling clear,
“Good-by for another year,
     To happy Halloween!”

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