Day of the Dead - sounds spooky doesn't it? Well, it's not as dark as it sounds. In Slovakia every November 2nd is a day of remembering loved ones who have passed away. This is following the Catholic holiday of "All Saints Day" (Nov 1st) which as it suggests - celebrates the lives of all the saints. Anyways, the Day of the Dead (D-day from here on out...) is a time of families getting together, tidying up the graves and then honoring their loved ones with fresh flowers, candles, and short prayers or moments of silence. For sure this holiday has it's roots in pre-Christian pagan practices, yet the contemporary practice of the whole thing is quite nice. How cool is it to have a day where you take time to reflect on those who have come before us, invested in our lives, and ultimately what is our own eternal destiny.
I had the opportunity to speak with many of my students about D-day, most of whom are agnostics, atheist, and one self-professed pagan. Surprisingly the majority of them viewed D-day as a very meaningful and "spiritual" day for them. This opened up many doors to speak about their own "spiritual world-view", what they live for, and ultimately their own eternal destiny. Pray that these soul-talks will be seeds in their hearts that can be watered by the Holy Spirit.
While we were in Dolny Kubin over the weekend we also celebrated D-day. We visited the grave of Ivetka's mother - Anna Chmarova. It's good to know that even though her body lies here in this land, her spirit is celebrating with her Lord and Savior!
I had the opportunity to speak with many of my students about D-day, most of whom are agnostics, atheist, and one self-professed pagan. Surprisingly the majority of them viewed D-day as a very meaningful and "spiritual" day for them. This opened up many doors to speak about their own "spiritual world-view", what they live for, and ultimately their own eternal destiny. Pray that these soul-talks will be seeds in their hearts that can be watered by the Holy Spirit.
While we were in Dolny Kubin over the weekend we also celebrated D-day. We visited the grave of Ivetka's mother - Anna Chmarova. It's good to know that even though her body lies here in this land, her spirit is celebrating with her Lord and Savior!
