On the edge of town, by the old cemetery, stood a giant pecan tree. Local legend? Not quite. It was just a great place for kids to hide out, especially two boys who one day decided to divvy up a bucket of pecans right under its branches.
“One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me,” one boy said to the other as they sorted the nuts behind the fence.
Some of the pecans slipped, rolled down the hill, and stopped near the cemetery gate.
Enter a third boy, riding by on his bike. He hears the voices and – being a curious little guy – slows down.
“One for you, one for me…”
Eyes wide, he panics. “Oh no,” he whispers. “It’s Satan and the Lord dividing souls!”
Naturally, he pedals off in a blur of fear and panic until he spots an old man hobbling along with a cane.
“You’ve got to hear this!” the boy pants. “Satan and the Lord – right there at the cemetery – splitting souls!”
The old man isn’t buying it, but the boy is persistent, and eventually they both tiptoe to the fence, gripping the iron bars. And sure enough, they hear:
“One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me…”
They lean in, spooked and silent, eyes straining to see the other side of death itself.
Then comes the kicker:
“And one last one for you. That’s all. Now let’s go get those nuts by the fence, and we’ll be done.”
Legend says the old man made it back to town five minutes before the boy.
Now I ask you: Are you afraid of ghosts?
I’m not. Never have been. But I am afraid of people who act like them – appearing out of nowhere, disappearing when the bill arrives, and haunting your bank account for years.
See, I’ve been cheated, swindled, deceived, and lied to but never by ghosts.
The Bible says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee.” Ghosts, demons, devils I can pray them away. But a con man with a spreadsheet and a fake smile? That’s a different horror story.
Every year around Halloween, I find myself the odd man out. While the rest of the world is celebrating monsters, ghosts, and tiny devils with candy buckets, I just can’t bring myself to laugh. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, maybe I’m no fun, or maybe I’ve seen enough real-life monsters to know the difference.
Sure, there are exceptions. I don’t mind when kids dress up as Taylor Swift (no objections there). But we’ve turned October into a celebration of darkness and worse, we don’t even know why.
So, I looked it up.
Halloween began with the ancient Druids of Great Britain. Nov. 1 was their new year, and Oct. 31 was basically their “ghost purge” a night where spirits and witches had one last party before the calendar reset. To scare them off, people built bonfires.
Later on, the Catholic Church co-opted the date and called it All Saints’ Day and the night before became All Hallow’s Eve. Fast-forward to modern times, and now we have costume parties, candy, and suburban lawn skeletons drinking pumpkin spice lattes.
The Scots brought us jack-o’-lanterns. The Irish invented going door to door asking for food. But it was America that came up with the pranks. “Trick or treat” became the currency of the night: give us candy or face the consequences.
Naturally, as Filipinos, we copied all of it jack-o’-lanterns, costumes, parties, the whole shebang without stopping to ask why.
And now? We’ve even adopted a popular Asian practice called “Ghost Month,” as if one spooky holiday wasn’t enough. Apparently, we’re so good at being haunted, we gave the ghosts their own month.
But here’s my problem: the theology behind it.
Scripture says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” That’s it. No wandering spirits. No limbo. No unfinished business. Just eternity either with the Lord or without Him.
So when people talk about ghosts, I shrug. But when someone talks about “ghost projects” and “ghost employees”? Now that sends chills down my spine.
I’m not afraid of some transparent phantom in a white sheet.
I’m afraid of transparent accounting from people with phantom expenses padded on their accounts.
I am afraid of spooky business people who have earned my trust only to betray it later as they steal our company’s data base and accounts and starting spitting venomous vexes against us.
Funny how when I reflect on all this, it’s not the spirits of the dead that worry me, it’s the living humans with dishonest hearts and creative accounting.
You know the type:
Smile like angels.
Bill like devils.
Run like ghosts when the audit comes.
So this Halloween, I’m not lighting candles for wandering souls. I’m keeping the lights on for the living and watching my wallet.
Because ghosts don’t scare me. People do. But I am not giving up hope. Perhaps one day they will be exorcised.
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