• Taking Candy From Strangers: grace and the everyday gift economy pt. 1

    “Don’t take candy from strangers,” is one of the first proverbial lessons we try to teach our children.   Its up there with looking both ways before you cross the street. It is even higher than, “stop, drop and roll.”    Its an important  precursor to, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.”  But it is also why my friend Rich thinks that Halloween (not all saints day,  not all souls day, not a ‘harvest festival,” but Halloween) is one of the best holidays for Christians and Burners to celebrate, precisely because it is so much about candy and strangers…