The custom of Trick or Treat

 

Trick or Treat

       ( I tried to find on the internet where this came from.  It may have been from several sites.)

“Trick or Treat" is thought to have come from a European custom called "souling". Beggars would go from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven.

 

In John 14:6 Jesus said:
"I am the way the truth and the life;
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

"For by Grace are you saved through faith.
It is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast."
~Ephesians 2:8-9~

 

Another version:

In the Middle Ages there was a superstition that those who had died the previous year without being forgiven by you might rise to haunt you, appearing as will-o’-the-wisps or ghosts. They would jar you so you would release them by prayer and forgiveness. You might also appease them with "soul cakes"—cookies, fried cakes, "treats"—so they wouldn’t do you any mischief with their "tricks." Soon those who were living began to use the occasion for reconciliation. To wipe the slate clean for the coming year, they came, masked and unrecognizable, and boldly bargained for treats.

The connection between trick or treat and forgiveness deserves to be reclaimed, don’t you think?

Avoiding costumes and decorations that glorify witches and devils goes without saying.

 

"For God has not given us a spirit of FEAR but of power
and of love and of a sound mind."
~~~2 Timothy 1:7~~~