It is astonishing how deeply the Lord’s Prayer is rooted in the occult. Of course it draws believers in with “Father in heaven”, but the next line reveals the jack-o-lantern’s light: “hallowed be your name”. As everyone knows the root of hallowed is Halloween. A day revelling in ghosts and ghouls! When you understand this, the Lord’s Prayer becomes just as ghastly.

Of course you know I write this tongue in cheek — poking fun of modern media that takes a bit of truth and twists it. Hallowed and Halloween are related, but in both hallow means “to honor as holy”.

And this is the truly astonishing part of the Lord’s Prayer. We often miss the collision of transcendence and intimacy in the first line (“Our Father who is in Heaven, Hallowed be your name”). The Holy One (Hallowed) is called our Father – though we are unholy! The perfect one embraces the sinful as a parent. In this hug we are healed.

Beyond the Lord’s Prayer, what does this mean for Halloween — is it ghastly? Well, it is certainly a primer to obesity. But the day literally means “honor as holy eve”. It is the night before All Saints Day – when the church honors the saints who passed away. Of course, in our fear of death, we crescendoed toward the night before. But it actually creates an amazing picture: the night’s ghosts rise with the sun (son) as saints! For as the prayer declares, the transcendent came down to embrace ghastly. And now we may call the Hallowed our Father!

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This Sunday we continue our series on the Lord’s Prayer. We join in prayer as come out of the pandemic and seek God will for our new normal. Please download our daily prayer guide and I hope you join us at 10:30 in person or streaming online.