Trick or Treat?

Dear Friends,
As a kid I loved Halloween. Not the scary stuff. Like many kids I loved Trick or Treat with all the candy. My best friend Billy Sands and I would map out our route, careful to avoid any house that had a reputation for offering more tricks than treats. One place that was on everybody’s “avoid list” was Mrs. Fields’ house. She was an elderly lady who lived on the corner of 17th Place and D Street. The gossip was that she was a witch.

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.
Proverbs 18:8

It was a Double Dare that got me to be the first kid to ring Mrs. Field’s doorbell. Billy watched from across the street as I mounted the steps and peeked in the window. I pressed the doorbell. Almost immediately the door flung open and there was Mrs. Fields.

“TTTTrick or TTTreat,” I stuttered.

She smiled broadly and said, “Won’t you come in?”

I detected the pleasing aroma of freshly-baked cookies. When I looked past her into the house, I saw a row of tables lining the hallway. Each had a bowl filled with goodies. I tossed caution to the wind and walked down the hall looking into each bowl, trying to decide which treat I wanted most. “Take one from each bowl,” she said sweetly.

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

“Cowabunga, Buffalo Bob!” I thought. “I’ve hit the motherload.” First, I chose an apple, although I must admit the thought of Sleeping Beauty crossed my mind. I then grabbed a packet of candy corn, a Hershey bar, a chocolate chip cookie, and a straw filled with pink sugar. I thanked her and raced back across the street. Billy took one look at my haul, then took off, anxious to see what goodies he would be able to toss into his bag. The word spread quickly. Mrs. Fields’ house became a “must-see” destination for our neighborhood trick or treaters.

As I look back on this experience, I can’t help but wonder how hurt Mrs. Fields would have been if no one had rung her doorbell that night. I don’t know who started the gossip that made her place off-limits, but I know that it could have deprived her of the joy of giving and a whole lot of kids the joy of receiving the treats she had prepared so carefully.

It saddens me when I think back on that Halloween night because I know, as a little boy, I wouldn’t have been nearly as enthusiastic about Mrs. Fields if she hadn’t been so generous. How much of that little boy is still in me? In each of us?

This Halloween Bonnie and I will once again go trick or treating with our El Segundo grandchildren. El Segundo is a wonderful city in which to trick or treat because the people there offer some serious treats — talk about abundance! I will need to suppress that little boy in me who is impressed by abundance and remember to offer the same level of thanks to the man who gives our grandkids a single Hershey kiss as I offer to the candy-philanthropist who gives out share-size bags of M&M’s.

It can be like that in our relationship with God. We can get so used to getting share-sized blessings from God that we take for granted the everyday kisses he sends our way. We need to remember these words taken from 1 Chronicles 29:16: LORD our God, all this abundance that we have … comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.

Blessings,
Your Friends in Christ