DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
A Different Halloween
© NaimaLett.com/blog



Underoos! © DC Comics, Inc.

Nobody has to beg artists to don costumes.
We create them daily.

We’ve been playing “dress up” since we could slip our tiny feet into our dad’s work boots or mom’s high heels.

That’s why Halloween is usually so exciting. A day when we can parade around in play clothes all day long without folks noting how “different” we are?! Bring it on! LOL!

But this year, we’re not the only ones who are different.
Everything’s different.

Many on the East Coast are still without loved ones, homes, cars and/or power in the wake of Sandy’s storm. And some who have regained electricity in NJ and NY are still being asked to sit tight because power lines are down and maneuvering is dangerous.

Trick or treat?
I don’t think so!

Folks could care less how much Kim Kardashian paid for a blond wig and designer mermaid costume to host a NYC party last weekend when New York’s Mayor Bloomberg is calling Sandy ‘maybe the worst storm we ever experienced’.

People understand that super model Heidi Klum is postponing her infamous annual Halloween shindig and tweeting pics from an abandoned NY sidewalk sans her elaborate Cleopatra costume that took at least 4 fittings to perfect for this year’s event.

Broadway shows are canceled along with sports events, late night talk show tapings, and filming on Russell Crowe’s Noah movie. The New York Stock Exchange opened back up, but schools are still out, subways are still closed and forget about trying to drive around. I saw pics of die-hard NY fam trying to jog through Central Park. Really?!

Die-Hard

But maybe that’s what we could use right now – a die-hard spirit.

I’m not saying that we totally ignore the catastrophic events that have taken place and/or pretend that things aren’t as bad as they are. But maybe, just maybe, folks who are trapped at home could go head and put their costumes on and enjoy eating lunch as pirates, princesses, prophets and Transformers.

If your closet didn’t flood, pull out that afro wig and those bell bottoms and run a Soul Train line down your hall. Your kids take their cues from you. Go head and let Spider-Man and Wonder Woman Underoos run through the house and jump on the bed, this once.

If you don’t have kids and you and your spouse are locked in, go head and throw on your Spidey or Wonder gear, or take it off and run through your house and jump on or do other things in your bed.

If you’re rocking the solo, get with your friends. Playing dominoes while dressed as gladiators and break dancers never goes out of style.

Community

This is a great time to build community. I was so blessed by the news stories surfacing of communities pulling together, neighbors eating together, folks helping each other. One family may have the toilet paper. Another may have food that hasn’t spoiled. Somebody else has a radio with lots and lots of batteries. Folks are sharing and doing what they have to for each other.

I can’t help but picture that’s what the first church looked like. Acts 2:42-47 describes a scene with believers fellowshipping, breaking bread together and giving to all who were in need: “46 Every day they continued to meet together… They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

The American Red Cross is on the ground and providing food and shelter for many who have been hit hard. Prayerfully, local churches are also helping and standing in the gap. And hopefully, each one of you is doing what you can as well. When we give and help meet real needs, it’s a reflection of our heavenly Father. Go head, meet together, break bread in your homes, eat together with your neighbors with glad and sincere hearts praising God and enjoying favor from your peeps.

And since it’s the Most Costumed Day of the Year, I implore you to do all of the above in whatever get-up you can pull together.

Sandy does not have to cramp your creative style.
Swing Spidey!
Bling Wonder!
Do your thing, Fam.

Lots of love from the LaLa,
Naima

Are you still able to dress up today?
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