by Music Director David Brown
“It’s the most… wonderful tiiiiiiiime… of the year…”
Well, it is if you’re a certified Halloween aficionado like we are in my family. We’re the folks who start celebrating in early September, scope out the best haunted attractions (and even create our own DIY haunted woods path), and have more than a few [plastic, I assure you] skeletons in our closet. But the sad truth is, Halloween’s proximity to the election always challenges my seasonal joy. Our elections are no longer a mere contest of ideas for effective governance (such that they ever were) but a literal life-or-death struggle for the most vulnerable among us. It almost feels wrong to celebrate fear—of ghosts and monsters—while our neighbors fear a hospital visit without health care or being abducted by a partisan, racist secret police.
I have adapted to living with this genuine fear—to be able to enjoy my favorite holiday—in two ways. First of all, I get involved in every election. Whether I am knocking on thousands of doors, training volunteers, or merely spreading the word to everyone I know, I do not squander my role in our democratic process. This Nov. 4, Pennsylvania’s richest man—an extremist, billionaire megadonor—is trying to buy our PA Supreme Court through misleading ads about judicial retention. If he succeeds, our entire state will be left all but defenseless against the dangerous and malevolent policies of our federal government. Quell your horror by informing yourself and everyone you know and vote like your life depends on it, because somebody’s life does. On a personal note, there is no therapy quite like activism.
And second (the part you all knew was coming), I lean on my music. Sometimes it’s Halloween concerts, the perfect fall playlist, or this year, a stunning array of music for All Souls’ Day this Sunday. In the aperture between fear—Halloween and the Election—our community takes a step back to honor our loved ones no longer with us. The indomitable MLUC Choir will sing Elizabeth Alexander’s “We Remember Them,” lead us in Geoffrey Gibbs’s UU hymn “Beloved,” and close our service with a community favorite, Gwyneth Walker’s “Let the Life I’ve Lived Speak for Me.” But the rest of the music is up to you. Literally. Jodie, Kaitlyn, and I will be singing and playing the melodies that remind you of your beloveds as you share them with us. Although the link will be available during the service, feel free to share a melody for our “musical ofrenda” here.
Together we will sing hymns #128: “For All That Is Our Life” and #108: “My Life Flows On in Endless Song.”
In the face of fear, we celebrate joy, our loved ones, and our democratic process. Happy Halloween, All Souls’ Day, and an Election Day mandate against greed and hatred.