Known to the ancient Celts as Samhain, October 31 was the day when the season visibly turned (well, died) from summer to winter. The festival prepared for the winter’s crippling cold and the arrival of … the dead. The Celtics believed spirits returned this time of year to cause trouble and damage crops. To ward off these pesky spirits, hearth fires were built as protection from not only the spirits but the winter ahead. Many traditions came about all in hopes of keeping your space safe from the evil spirits that threatened it when the other side released them amongst the living. While we might not have to worry about literal crop hungry zombies lumbering into our lives, many of us do wrestle with figurative zombies like fear and self-doubt. As we admire costumes and decorations, we can take a few minutes to think about the less-than- lovely things that have invaded our lives and gnaw away at our inner strength. We can also think about the ways we would like to be transformed so that we can be healthier reflections of God’s love.
In Romans 12, Paul wrote, “2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We can begin with a few simple steps:
1. Recognize negative thoughts.
Each time a negative thought enters your mind, make note of how you’re feeling. Ask yourself things like: Does this thought help me in any way? Does it make me happy, or does it steal my peace? Is this a problem God can’t handle, or am I assuming it’s too big for Him? Asking God to make us aware of our negative thoughts is the first step to learning to control them.
2. Reject negative thoughts.
Once you learn to be aware of your negative thoughts, you can begin to combat them and fight back. Each time you notice a negative thought, aim to pause and reject it. Remind yourself not to focus on the negativity, and instead, try to focus on something positive. If you’ve decided it’s not really true, don’t allow yourself to entertain it anymore. If that negative thought is stealing your peace, refuse to give it power over your joy, peace or happiness, much less your life. Take control of what you’re thinking, rather than letting your thoughts run rampant. Then, turn that negative thought around.
3. Replace negative thoughts.
If something bad happens to us, we don’t have to believe we have a bad life. When we experience something positive in the morning but have to deal with something negative in the afternoon, we have the choice to decide whether we’ve had a good or bad day overall. If someone hurts our feelings, we can forgive and refuse to let it fester in our thoughts and steal our confidence. If someone insults us, we can focus on our positive attributes and remember what God’s Word says about us is most important.
Each time we notice our minds are wandering to a place where discouragement, sadness, fear, anger or negativity reside, we have the authority and the power to choose to reject those negative thoughts and shift them to be more positive.
Halloween celebrates the cycle of death and rebirth that we see in nature and also mirrored within us. We are always going through our own process of shedding, releasing and rebirthing ourselves making Halloween the perfect time to consider your own transformation as a person as well.
~ Upcoming Events ~
Sunday, November 4
Daylight Savings
Team 1 Acolyting
Children’s Liturgy
10 am | Chapel
Sunday School
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
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Monday, November 5
SENS Fundraiser
Gus’s BBQ
Lunch and dinner
Instead of cooking, support the nursery school by getting lunch, dinner or both at Gus’ BBQ
808 Fair Oaks Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030.
Please present this flyer to your server, either printed or on your phone.
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Sunday, November 11
Team 2 Acolyting
Children’s Liturgy
10 am | Chapel
Sunday School
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
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Tuesday, November 13
Good Enough Parenting: Raising Emotionally Healthy Children
Presented by John Philip Louis & Karen McDonald Louis
7 pm | Huntington Middle School Auditorium
Research has shown that when core emotional needs are not met during the formative years of a child, schemas (life traps) will develop. While no one’s parenting can ever be perfect, hear from authors John Philip Louis and Karen McDonald Louis of “Good Enough Parenting: Raising Emotionally Healthy Children” step-by-step ways parents can learn to meet these core emotional needs and provide parenting advice that is “good enough” to prevent exasperation and schemas from developing in their children.
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Sunday, November 18
Feast of St. Edmund’s
Team 3 Acolyting
Children’s Liturgy
10 am | Chapel
Beginning of Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
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Monday, November 19
Dr. Seuss’ THE GRINCH
Archlight Theater, Pasadena
Matinee Performance
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Tuesday, November 20
Descanso Gardens
11 am – 1 pm
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Sunday, November 25
Team 4 Acolyting
Children’s Liturgy
10 am | Chapel
Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
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Sunday, December 2
Team 1 Acolyting
Children’s Worship
10 am | Worship
Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
Goat Yoga & Craft Fair
11 am | The Close
Yoga will be $25 a person. To sign up contact Heather.
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Sunday, December 9
Team 2 Acolyting
Children’s Liturgy
10 am | Chapel
Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
Service of Lessons & Carols
7 pm | Sanctuary
Please feel free to contact Heather if you have questions.
