Reformation Day

My friend, Pastor Paul Viggiano wrote an interesting and provocative article for the Daily Breeze newspaper in So. Cal. that I wanted to give you a link to. The summary is that we Christians should work to take back Oct 31 as Reformation Day and leave Halloween to itself.

Here in England, Halloween is a very small event. I think that most of the people that are doing anything about it are foreigners. I saw a few masks for sale in a couple of shops, and there seemed to be a little more candy displayed near the checkouts, but in general it's no big deal here. I'm sure that there were plenty of people at the pubs drinking tonight, but that's not really any different from any other night, so...

But the sad thing is that no one knows or cares about Reformation Day. I'm sure there are a few Christians here and there who know what it is, but it's not even on the radar as far as most Londoners go. And I'm ashamed to say that I haven't done much to change that. After reading Paul's article tonight, I feel emboldened to talk about this more. The truth of God's Word will prevail, even when agnosticism and atheism seem to reign in a country like England.

And so, now that I've totally dissed Halloween, here are some images from the Nunhead Cemetery (click on them for a bigger version):



This last one is for a woman that was over 100 years old when she died. You can't read it in this little image, but it says,
ALSO
IN MEMORY OF ELIZABETH MARY BRAIDLEY,
WIDOW OF THE LATE JOSEPH BRAIDLEY,
WHO DIED THE 3rd JULY 1890
IN THE 100TH YEAR OF HER AGE
"SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE"
I think I would have liked to have met her and her husband. I don't know why, but those 100 years would have been great to hear about from the woman who lived them.

And a quote from Ecclesiastes 7:2: "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart."

Dave