It’s the time of year when the days get shorter.  We see dry leaves swirling in the breeze, and many lawns bedecked with masked creatures, signs and jack-o-lanterns.  As dusk settles, ghosts appear in the shadows and strangers knock on our door with the season’s request:  “Can we count on your vote on Election Day?”

Halloween and the midterm elections are here.  Both are scary, perplexing events.  While Halloween began with the ancient Celts, our midterm elections are American creations.  Today’s voter has more information available to him or her than ever in our nation’s history.  Yet, our discourse has whittled down from the complex and lengthy debates of Lincoln and Douglas to the sound bites of news shows and political advertisements.  The news stories are underscored by sinister, syncopated music.  In the political ads deep, cynical voices deliver accusations.  Rather than offer constructive options, the ads dish dirt and innuendo on the opposing candidate or issue it seeks to defeat.  Smoke and mirrors worthy of a haunted house, not our local and national leadership.

My six-year-old daughter appreciates the “treats” part of Halloween, but the “tricks” still confuse her.  “Why did they invent Halloween?” she asks, when confronted with gory, skeletal creatures.  I’ve avoided the ancient Celts’ story in considering her question, and turned instead to Halloween’s hold on our culture.  Is there a part of us that likes to be frightened, as silly as it sounds?  It must be why horror movies and amusement park thrill rides are so popular.  On Halloween, we feel the adrenalin rush of fright.

The midterm elections arrive this year in a climate of fear.  Unfortunately, politicians and the media sustain this climate with the message:  be afraid.  Since the terrorist attacks on our country five years ago, we’ve lived in a state of heightened anxiety.  Unlike Halloween, the rush that comes in this situation is not fun, but we have gotten used to the feeling.

The answers to the complex questions of our day, however, cannot be ascertained in a state of emergency.  We need creative leadership, able to adapt to the threats of our day, inspiring us to the common good in our communities and the world.  “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” said President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression, another dark and scary time in our nation’s history.  His words resonate today.  We must choose to live in hope, trusting in humanity’s essential goodness, and not be dominated in our thinking by fear, prejudice or hatred

There are a few steps we can take to achieve this.  First, be discerning in your TV viewing. TV heightens our fears by repeating bad news over and over.  The second step is to focus our attention on what’s good in life.  When we do this, we create a calm, not anxious, environment for ourselves, those we love, and those we meet.  Our fears in check, we can envision a future that honors humanity and our world.  The third step is to vote on Election Day.  We live in critical times, and have a civic responsibility to participate in our democratic process and elect leaders who share our vision for the future.