Halloween Lesson

A Father's Enduring Lesson 
for Halloween

My favorite Halloween story was Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman. I could not wait for the show to air.  The spectre of the night coming out of nowhere was rooted in the primary fear of the unknown--a kid's true haunt.  Then there were these lines which I never forgot which I found in the text.

Reverend Steenwyck: Their heads weren't found severed. Their heads

He told me that my fears had a name--

were not found at all.
Ichabod Crane: The heads are... gone?
Notary James Hardenbrook: Taken. Taken by the Headless Horseman. Taken back to hell.

My father always seized on the teachable moments for me--and without punishment.  He told me that my fears had a name--

FOFF!  

"The more you run from Foff," he said, "The bigger and more fearsome he gets.  Stand and face him, and he shrinks so small you can laugh at him." 

Was that the lesson of Sleepy Hollow?  To face what you fear?  There is this unforgettable line from the story:

Ichabod Crane: It is truth, but truth is not always appearance.

Fear wears its own mask—and does not resemble the truth that God’s love is ultimate reality.  The lesson of the Headless Horseman is that he is obviously—blind!  He cannot see things as they really are.  If we want to be blind for our lives—that is indeed a nightmare.  It’s a piece of heaven when we can wake up and see things as God intended for us.  Thanks Dad for the lesson!