TO BE SCARED OF WITCHES, OR TO FOCUS ON THE LIGHT

30-31st October 2015

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” – James 2:19 KJV.

I got confused driving home Monday evening. It wasn't the traffic – but a technology programme on the radio sharing stories of people who had found doppelgängers – people who looked exactly like them – on the internet. What does it feel like to look into someone's face and see yourself? Spooky! It then interviewed a man who had found people with the same name as him – and how he had connected with them. They suggested a Google or Facebook search – so when I got home, I did. After all, there can't be that many Victor Hulberts in the world!

There aren't. On Facebook there are only three! Me, a retired pilot in Kerrville, Texas who seems to have a liking for playing Texas holdem and, more interestingly, a 42-year-old African-American in Zachary, Louisiana, who is happily married and dotes on his two children. For instance, he writes, "Is there such a thing, where one parent has a favourite child over the other? We should love both the same no matter what. 'Love', a strong word thrown around a lot, but never put to the test when it comes to our kids. Just something that was on my mind. Don't just say it. Show it!"

I couldn't agree with him more. I'm almost, but not quite, tempted to ask to become his friend. Two Victor Hulberts becoming friends whose only connection is a common name. I wonder how that would work out?

Google was less helpful. After a couple of pages highlighting various pieces of my work, written, TV, public presentations – and a number of things I'd even forgotten I'd done, the only namesakes I found were dead:

New Zealand WWI veteran Leslie Victor Hulbert who died 21 October 1916, age 29, a casualty of the Battle of the Somme in Northern France.

Bernard Victor Hulbert, an Australian gunner who again served in WWI – but with better fortunes, he only died in 1964. And finally, a three-year-old Victor Hulbert in the 1901 census – his birth registered in Rochford, Essex.

If you are a John Smith or Joe Brown you may be used to meeting people with the same name. I've never met another Victor Hulbert – in fact, outside my own family I've only met one other Hulbert, the Provost of Perth and Kinross Council – John Hulbert. An interesting man himself, I mentioned to him that I'd seen a grave of a missionary, also named Hulbert, on the remote Scottish island of Iona. "That's my father", he told me. A man who had been a missionary in India and then in the Americas and who had finished his days serving in the Iona Christian community. Another random connection – with my parents having been missionaries, not in India, but West Africa.

Of course, there can be a scary side to doppelgängers ‒ fiction loves it. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Hitchcock's Vertigo, ‒ or even hark back to Charles Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities – but is there an even older story?

Isaiah paints a picture of Satan as one trying to be a doppelgänger of God: "I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." [Isaiah 14:14] He's been playing that game ever since – and will be playing it this weekend.

The Christian calendar labels 31 October as 'All Hallows' Eve'. In more recent times it has come to be known as 'Reformation Day' in acknowledgment of Martin Luther choosing that date to post his 95 thesis to the church door. Yet the day is also a doppelgänger ‒ Halloween – an event taken over by the dark side – the antithesis of a Christian festival.

So what should Christians do? Ignore it? Probably not an option. Point out its dangers? There is plenty of material out there, including a recent article in Adventist Review.

How about providing an alternative? Last Sabbath I preached at the Leamington Spa Mission. During the announcements I heard about a 'light party'. While other children may be out trick and treating, these children and their friends will be celebrating light. Scripture Union is among the organisations offering these kind of alternatives. The Evangelical Alliance also tackle the issue head-on – giving some positive alternatives.

Several years back I was privileged to attend an event in Weston-Super-Mare where churches joined together to provide a Christian alternative – again focused around light rather than darkness. It was an inspiration that I've never forgotten. Another friend I know hands out 'glow-cards' to trick or treaters while yet another asks them to sing a verse of a Christmas carol before she gives them a cookie.

So how will you spend Halloween? Afraid of the doppelgänger or finding some way to use it to share the light?

"And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone. The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out." [John 1:2-5 NIV]

[Victor Hulbert]

Bryn's choice of music rings of victory and freedom over darkness – David Phelps Ghost Town (Freedom) (LIVE). Click on the picture to listen.