Ponderings and Prayers on a Halloween Night

I am writing this column late on a Sunday night—Halloween night.

It is finally quiet. The front door no longer vibrates from the rapid knocking of sugar seeking spooks. The doorbell has stopped its ringing. The shuffling of eager feet on our deck has ceased.

This year’s batch of clowns and cartoon characters, movie stars and magicians, puppy dogs and princesses, is most likely in bed by now. (Which,…