It was Linus Van Pelt, Charlie Brown’s best friend in Charles M. Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip, who famously lamented, “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people…religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin!”
With all due respect to Linus, we’ll take our chances.
When you come right down to it, the tradition of “trick-or-treating” on Halloween is a curious custom, but maybe a little less so when you consider its origins.
There’s evidence suggesting it first evolved in England, where children would go to neighborhood homes on the eve of “All Saints Day” (November 1) to pray for the occupants’ deceased relatives in exchange for pastries. Back then, the practice was known as “Souling.” A bit transactional, to be sure, but it seems sugar’s alluring draw and addictive grip are timeless.
Prayer eventually gave way to performance. Instead of remembering the departed, children began doing tricks for the treats. Hershey, Mars and Nestle having been giving thanks ever since.
One could easily make the argument that trading tricks for treats extends well beyond a Halloween tradition. With a national debt of over $35 trillion, it seems our elected officials have grown accustomed to giving out all kinds of treats to all kinds of people.
The word “trick” stems from the Latin “tricari” which means to “be evasive or shuffle.” But to make matters worse, the economic “tricks” are often voted on and overwhelmingly approved in broad daylight.
Back in high school, I remember my history teacher Mr. Olson lamenting how the country was approaching three trillion dollars in debt. He was practically apoplectic about it, and he blamed it all on Ronald Reagan. I liked Mr. Olson, but I loved Ronald Reagan. Even my teenage self knew from my history books that the Constitution gave the power of the purse to Congress and not the Gipper.
One of the problems with our national debt is that the number is so astronomical that it’s difficult for most of us to get our arms around such a figure. Some have tried to personalize it by divvying the amount up between citizens. With a $35 trillion balance, we’re told we each owe $106,056.
Our boys have had a Halloween tradition of dumping all their candy out on the dining room table after a cold night of trick-or-treating. Personalities emerge in the process. Some organize by size, others by type. Some dive in to eat some of it, while others save up and see how long it can last. Then the trading beings.
Congress is full of too many representatives who dump everything out and want to consume rather than conserve. Plus, if the government had to put all our debt onto a table, it would make Judge Henry Harper’s desk overladen with letters to Kris Kringle in the 1947 Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street, look downright spartan.
Even if we were able to somehow pay off our nation’s $35 trillion debt in one-dollar bills, we’d quickly run out of room. That’s because 35 trillion one-dollar bills stacked on top of each other would be approximately 350,000 miles high – or one and a half times the distance to the moon.
The Bible doesn’t look favorably on debt, suggesting it’s a burden, noting “the borrower is a slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).
Maybe the problem, though, isn’t just the politicians who vote to put more debt on the backs of Americans – but the public demanding more and more treats. Not to mention the fact that the government doesn’t really pay for anything. It’s Government 101 that everything ultimately comes from the taxpayer.
It was the late radio commentator Earl Nightingale who wisely observed, “If any person is discontented with his rewards, he should examine his service.”
Which brings us back to trick-or-treating’s origins. We’d be better off as a nation with less tricks, fewer treats – and more prayers for our loved ones and neighbors.
Image from Shutterstock.
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