Waiting

I have always had a thing for pumpkins. When my cousins and I were kids, my Granddaddy Settle would plant a whole field of them on his farm in Southside Virginia just so he could have the pleasure of watching his grandchildren run through the vines in autumn, seeking out their "perfect" pumpkin for Halloween. Naturally, when we were young the rule of thumb for picking a pumpkin to carve was size and, to the dismay of our parents, bigger was always better!

When I grew older and had children of my own, I enjoyed the pumpkin carving tradition just as much, but from a different perspective. I always urged Ben and Hannah to opt for a "friendly" face over a scary one, but truth be told it didn't matter to me, because it was all about them. We never had trick-or-treaters. Our house was too out of the way, in the woods up a rough gravel and dirt road. Still, we carved our Jack O'Lantern and I bought candy...just in case.

Fast forward a few years and everyone's older, meaning the kids have caught onto the idea that trick-or-treating in subdivisions is much more lucrative than trick-or-treating in Brumley Gap. We still carved pumpkins and bought candy. But after that we piled in the Suburban and headed for town. And I started buying more pumpkins, so when the Jack O'Lantern was compost I would still have bright, beautiful, firm pumpkins to color my world when all of the leaves had fallen in late November.

Tonight my kids are enjoying Halloween elsewhere. It is, after all, probably the biggest holiday on college campuses across America. Hannah is a ladybug and Ben is the dead guy from the movie, "Weekend at Bernie's." And I didn't carve a Jack O'Lantern this year. So my pumpkins, large and small, may just last until my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. I bought candy, but as usual I've had no takers.

It's probably no surprise that, as a kid so taken with gourds, one of my favorite seasonal television treats was, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Charles Schulz was a genius, and in his 1966 classic (which, according to the Wikipedia entry, preempted "My Three Sons" that year), the Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween minus Linus and Sally, who are waiting in a pumpkin patch for "The Great Pumpkin" to appear. Long story short, The Great Pumpkin never makes an appearance and Sally's not happy with Linus, to put it mildly. But he hangs tough, vowing that next year will be different. In one of my favorite lines, Charlie Brown tries to comfort Linus, telling him, "I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, too."

It may be a cartoon, but Linus’ vigil reminds me of our own, as Christians waiting for Jesus to return. At times it may feel futile, and yes, non-believers may even ridicule us, saying it’s a “stupid” cause. But I’m trusting in Christ’s promises. After all, we’re not talking about the Great Pumpkin, but the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So here are six ways the two differ. (Please, don’t send comments about how blasphemous this is. Just stay with me...)

Six Ways Jesus Is Different From The Great Pumpkin

1. You can’t “carve” Jesus into whatever you want him to be.

2. You can’t blow out his light.

3. He’s the vine, not the fruit.

4. He’s unchanging, unlike a pumpkin that grows, peaks, then withers away.

5. His seeds produce wisdom, love, and mercy.

6. He is coming back!

Like pumpkins, but love Jesus. And never, ever give up on waiting for Him.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.” ~ John 14:27-29 (NIV)