Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

So, I guess today we're supposed to be talking about Halloween.

Yeah. Which is the reason why we're dressed up. We're not furries or anything. No.

Oh, goodness. Go back to whatever episode that was. We're not that. It was like last season. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I forgot about that. I did not. Yeah. It was funny. I was made known of something I had previously been unaware of that day.

You're welcome. Yeah. By the way, just before we continue, have y 'all ever noticed when you snap, the part that makes a sound is actually your finger hitting your thumb muscle? I guess I always, because Batman and the comics, I always thought the snap was that sound.

But it's really just that hitting that. And I never even thought. And I'm the best snapper this side of the Mississippi River. Oh, shoot. Speed. No, listen to the quality. No. Listen to the quality. Listen.

Listen. Here. Y 'all decide for yourselves. Get your mic ready. Y 'all decide for yourselves. Ready? Go ahead. This is lol. Okay. Hang on. My hands are. You can't do that. You can't do that. My turn. I win.

Okay. But I mean. I have a spit thing. So. You just bypassed it. All right. Hang on. You can't warm up the cheating. That thing that you just did. I did it on the spot. Okay. Mine. I win. Can you. No.

I can't do the one-handed clap thing, but I win. I win. Quality over quantity. So anyway. That's what that. And here's. If you like. For the three of you. Like. Actually. Like. Put your thumb here. Put your finger here.

And then. That's the part making the sound. You can stop it. Don't say yeah. You didn't know that. I didn't know that. You never even thought about it. Oh, you're such a liar. No. At least I'm not a harp.

Harp. Liar. I voted for your dad, by the way. So in case you don't know what you're talking about. On the Whitten Baptist Church app, we put out a theological survey to help the pastors and teachers gauge what we need to focus on in the upcoming year 2024 teaching.

And I can see what you mean, but it's hard to take me seriously. I know. And yeah. This isn't the thing. I don't know. Hold on. At any rate, Brother Christian, Pastor Christian made the survey and included is a question.

Who's the funniest pastor since now we have five? Interesting. He put himself as option C, which for those just racing through is the. Oh, and also Brother Christian is the only one who has access to the results.

That's also very interesting. At any rate. Conflict of interest. Pastor Jeff, apparently while I was gone on vacation and today in the microphone. During service. Is lobbying for votes. So you do what you got to do.

I mean, I'm just saying if the roles were reversed, Anna would be saying how much of a cheater I am and sore loser and all this stuff. And I'm just sitting here innocently being victimized by this rigged election.

That's what's happening right now. There's some like code words right there. They get flagged.

Let's say the. I'm about to say the AI is going to pick it up and demonetize. We don't make any money.

All right. So look, Ruby is ready for a Ruby snack. Or the game, the game that we're going to play before we talk about Halloween.

Do your girls watch the podcast like ever?

Like if there's sometimes on my YouTube, because we're going to my YouTube channel, we'll watch I Chromecast it on the yeah. And they'll see daddy in the podcast room. So like we'll watch it for a few minutes.

They're really entertained, for sure, by the content.

I just want them to see you like this. They will. It'd be cute. I think it'd be. They will. OK, so for our game today, we look ridiculous. I know. I just like I said, I look like an Ewok.

I don't even look like a lion. So we're going to do a would you rather. So pastor, would you rather. Scooby's nose, I'm sorry, Scooby, his nose, I know I'm taking this. I'm ready.

Would you rather spend five thousand dollars on traveling or on a physical item? So five thousand dollars on a trip or on one physical item.

You have no idea how my brain works on the overthinking that just happened in that 18 different scenarios that flooded my head when you said that. So like practically right now, I'm going to need a new car soon because we're having a third kid.

So like five thousand dollars. Are you going to get rid of your car like your car and going to upgrade your wife's car?

Oh, can I tell you a funny story? For those of you that don't know, I have a 1995 Oldsmobile and it's still it only has eighty eight thousand miles on it. Does it? Yes. Not under eighty eight thousand.

It is. I love that car. I've had it since one month after I got married. So seven and a half years. It will last me another 20 years if I want, but I don't need three cars and I can't get rid of the Subaru because it's too valuable as in to our family.

I don't know. Let's talk about something else. OK, can I tell you a funny story really quick? It's about your car. Yeah. So last Sunday I was standing outside of church with Ashley and my husband and I think there might have been another person there.

I can't remember. But someone pulled up in your car and Ashley is her. Wow. I'm about to say I don't know why just blank there. Ashley is your sister. Right. So I'll talk to you the way that Ashley is talking.

So she's like, who's driving Josiah's car? And I'm just like, I don't know. But they someone saw that they picked the wrong car to steal.

I'll tell you that my my car had the convertor stolen off of it. I fixed it. But then my fix messed up. So it's quite loud. Oh, yeah. That's what Ben said. Some people think I did that on purpose, like some rich, college teenager who made the car loud on purpose.

That is not me. Yeah.

Anyway, I love that car. I hope I don't have to get rid of it. So to answer your question, this is just like if you would rather I would say what would I rather do for fun, for fun, travel, spending, okay, I'm like spending it on any like repairs or anything or like any practical needs.

Would you rather spend it on something travel? I would too. I love traveling. I've spent more than that on a certain trip that we took a few years back and it rhymes with Disney.

I have never spent that much on a trip, but I would.

It was before we had a baby. Yeah. And it was our last like big vacation that we wanted to take and it was well worth it. We went during Christmas time. This is before they got like super crazy. We went to Disney.

I didn't spend that much, but I did spend a lot. We went to Disney. Me and Rachel. It was so fun.

It was a blast. It was so great. Lowell, did you want to participate?

Sure. Yeah. So since we're kind of ruling out practical spending of this money, like I got to go with travel because. Gotta be. Okay. There's really not anything out there that I'm going to enjoy as much as traveling.

Exactly. No one thing. And experiences.

I agree. Okay. Next one. Would you rather not shower for a week or not brush your teeth for a week? I have done both of those. Stop. Why?

I'm telling the truth. But why? I want to know now. I'm just curious. Camping trips and stuff like that. I've done both those. All right. Are like wipes an option? No. Okay. I have makeshift brush my teeth.

Like with a rag? Because I've done that when I've forgotten a toothbrush.

Or like gritty stuff and like, man.

I feel like. Because I would have to think this would be like in your normal everyday life. Like you would have to go to work, like school, like whatever. Oh. So that's why I'm like. Because I'm like, well, if I could just baby wipe the areas or just rag it.

I'll answer that.

This is real simple. From the months of October through April, I would rather go without showering for a week than go without brushing my teeth for a week. From the months of May to September, I would rather not brush my teeth but get the shower.

I would rather not brush my teeth.

I like your logic there. Thank you. I didn't know we could go like all the different times.

If anyone's watching this who's not from Memphis, you'll understand.

We need air conditioning in the summer. So that's my answer. And in the fall. Like right now, it's 80 degrees outside and it's almost November.

Yeah. But like in the morning time, it's like 48 degrees.

So I'm going to give one answer for the whole year and here's my logic. Teeth are such an asset, right? You don't want to ruin them? Yeah. I don't want to risk, you know, getting cavities and that progressing.

I can be stanky for a week and I'll hate how I feel and wonder what everyone's thinking around me, but I can do that for a week.

See with me, I would have to go without brushing my teeth because I can't go without washing my hair. Like, I have to wash it every other day. Otherwise, it just looks greasy. Oh no. I'll be honest with you.

Well, I'm a female. So like it's a little different, like whether you say it or not, like you have expectations from women. Like women are supposed to be more put together.

It is how it is. Though if you went without brushing your teeth for a week, the microphone would probably melt in front of you.

Oh for sure. I would rather just like, I would just chew gum constantly or do mints or something. But yeah, I would have to go without brushing my teeth.

Um, okay. I don't, I don't start thinking until like day three. You've tested this. Listen, I was young once and now I'm old.

You want to know something? My fifth grade teacher for Christmas bought us all deodorant. I'm not kidding. What school was this? My childhood school, like my elementary school. Bought all of you deodorant.

My fifth grade teacher bought all of her students deodorant for Christmas. Because it was that age where you start hitting puberty, you start stinking, you're coming back from the playground. She would spray our room with like just pounds of Febreze.

Just, just all of it. She hated it. So yeah, we got deodorant for that reason. Never got that as a second gift, so. You know what? Good for her. Yeah. Thought it was funny. Okay. Um, question three. Would you rather give up air conditioning and heating for the rest of your life or give up the internet for the rest of your life?

So AC heat slash internet for the rest of your life.

Okay. I'd rather give up AC and heat. That was an easy answer.

Even living in Memphis? Yeah. It would be tough. I'd rather give up internet. It would be tough.

When I hear the word Just be a homesteader. Um, in other words, like I can make a fire, that's not a problem. Air conditioning would be tough. It really would, but I've done it before. But no internet.

I'm thinking of that in terms of, I mean, like what we're doing right now. That's a lot.

That's a lot to give up. Can we divide it so it's like personal use internet versus like Work internet? Work.

Oh, can we do that for air conditioning too? That'd be helpful.

Yeah. I would assume it would just be like personal use. So like with me, I can get away without using the internet. Like I have DVDs, like I could watch or you know, whatever. I honestly, I love being unplugged from things.

Like when I'm on vacation, I sometimes don't even bring my phone with me. Like if my husband's with me, I don't need my phone. I don't know. I would just be happy being on a farm somewhere without internet.

If the question was for a week, internet, but if the question is for the rest of your life, heat and air. I could not go without heat and air.

I am too cold in the winter. One year, my husband bought me an electric throw blanket because he didn't want to turn.

Up the heat. I hope God calls you to the mission field in Alaska. Don't you put that curse on me. Is that a curse? It's a curse.

We have differing opinions. Well, what about you? I mean, I can't make a living without the internet. So I'm kind of stuck.

Well, I work from home now. So don't really need the internet. Well, hold on. How do you work from home? I'm a stay-at-home mom.

Being a mom. Oh, okay. I was thinking. Yeah, I work from home. Right. So, but imagine never being able to play Blu-ray for your son. It's not a problem. We don't watch Blu-ray right now. We watch Bear in the Big Blue House.

How do you watch Bear in the Big Blue House? Oh, with internet. But I'm just saying, we have DVDs. How was that your response to that? We have DVDs. Okay, all right. Yeah, like I said, we have DVDs.

There are other forms. We can go outside. Kids don't need TV. That's right. It's convenient when I need to get something done. That I will agree with, but they don't need TV. I'd just rather go without internet.

Okay. Like I said, my husband gets really upset with me during the winter. There was one time I turned. This is when we were in the apartment. I know what your husband's answer would be.

I know. He would consider both of those an inner circle of hell because he loves air conditioning and he loves the internet. He does.

But all of his games. I'm about to say he wouldn't be able to play any of his games. All of his games are internet games. Yeah, he doesn't use a console anymore. He'd be in trouble. But no, I just, I get too cold.

And there was one time when we were in our apartment, like before we had kids. And I. Oh, and you can't start a fire in an apartment. I turned the heat up. It was when it got like super, super cold one time.

Well, the past three winters have been freezing. Right.

And so it was really cold. And so I turned it to 80 degrees. Oh, my heat. 80 degrees. I don't want to know what your MLGW bill was. Our bill was through the roof and my husband looks at me and he's like, you can never touch the thermostat again.

You were banned from the thermostat? I was. And now he has it set to like certain things throughout the day. Oh, he's got a program. He does. And it's like the Google Nest or whatever. So he can control it when he's at work.

So I'm like. It still cracks you up about him. I'm going to mess with him about that. I know. So I have to like either turn on fans if it gets too hot. Or like open the doors and do that. Or I just bundle me and my son up.

So yeah, I've been banned from the thermostat. You got in trouble. It was. I think our built-in OJ was probably up to like $400. It was bad. For an apartment? That's crazy. It was bad. Wow.

It was really bad. So now we know. I'm not allowed to control that. I bet food was getting cooked on the shelf. Yeah, right.

I mean, Donovan's like, why is it so hot? She gets her eggs off the counter and they're already cooked. But yeah, so it was. It was terrible. OK.

Lowell, did you answer that one? The internet. Yeah. Yeah. OK. OK. I can't even make a living without email and stuff. OK.

Number four. Would you rather your partner forget your birthday every year or your anniversary every year?

Birthday. Birthday? Really? Why your birthday? Anniversary is something we celebrate together. So if she forgot that, it's like, that's lame. She forgot my birthday. Oh, you can't remember the day. I was born.

I came out of my mother's womb that you weren't there for. That's fine. In fact, I'll tell you all the truth. To this day. I love this. She's gonna be embarrassed when she watches this. My wife hesitates anytime someone asks her what my birthday is because I have created that.

From the time we were dating, I have always told her the wrong day for my birthday. And I did that for three years of us dating. Until there was a time where she had to put in something on a legal document.

And it didn't work. So she...

So this is when you were married or before you were married? I think it was right before we got married. Oh my gosh. So it had been three years.

And I'd tell the real one. And she made the code to open her phone my actual birthday, which I always tell her is wrong. It's the day after. So she still gets confused. So right now, if you ask her what her birthday is, she hesitates.

But normally she gets it right. But I still have never told her, yes, that is my birthday. I've always told her the wrong date. It's so funny. So I can't really blame her.

So when we celebrated your birthday that one year when we did the office thing, was that on your real birthday?

Because she's always known I've been messing with her. Okay. So she'll ask someone else. Or she'll go to the office in my house and look at my actual birthday on my birth certificate or something. Twisted.

It's hilarious. Sick. She'll look at my driver's license or whatever. And I wish I could get all that changed the wrong day. But I've tried. You're a madman. Anyway. I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to take her phone and change the code to the day before, which is all we've ever told her.

Now she's going to know. Now she'll forget. Like, oh, I've been typing in this the whole time. You're sick. It's a funny thing.

That's wrong. Have you ever heard of anyone else doing that? No, because that's mean. You don't do that to your spouse.

So long story short, I wouldn't blame her if she forgot my birthday.

If I were your wife, I would just celebrate your birthday intentionally on the wrong day. That's what I want. Yeah.

That's hilarious, though. She gets so embarrassed. What is your spouse's birthday? She always goes, OK, listen, don't judge me. He's told me wrong here. It's February 17th or 16th. And she's like, shut the thing.

Is it the 16th? Yes.

OK. Rachel, if you're watching, it's the 16th. Now, I would probably I would I would have to say the anniversary because that like you said, your spouse wasn't there on that particular day. And it's not my family.

We did birthdays growing up, but like we never had like a real big to do about them. Like I had like a couple of parties growing up, but it was mainly when I was like older elementary school. And like I had friends that I would want to invite, like the skating rink parties.

If anyone did those, those are really popular. Yeah, I did one of those. And then the rest of them were like sleepovers. But no, I would say the anniversary, because like you said, you get to celebrate that together.

So if you don't care about that, that kind of stings. What about you?

I'm on the same page with you guys. It's been a long time since I cared about my birthday at all. When is your birthday? You look like a March guy. Well, you're probably remembering me telling you that it was in March.

I really didn't. Is it March? It is in March. I promise I did not remember.

How am I supposed to believe that? Oh, we have January, February, March. You're January. What are you? Are you April? What are you in January?

January 1st. Oh, January 1st. Are you really? It said newborn baby, new year baby. I'm really proud of myself for guessing March.

Do you remember his middle name? I'm proud of you for remembering March. That's great. Do you remember his middle name? Just like you remembered my middle name started with an A. I have forgotten his middle name.

Hey, fun fact. I've never heard of your name before I met you. And then I've been watching Friends recently. And there was someone in the credits named Lowell. You! And then there was another person on the show, like a character that was named Lowell.

And I was like, I've just never in my life.

I've never met anyone with my name either. But my rule is if that happens, it's a death match on the spot. I can be the only one. There can only be one. I'm not going to use the element of surprise. You're like, he's going to know what's coming.

Because he has said the same thing. Probably.

I hope so. Anybody watch New Girl in here? There can only be one Winston. Did you never watch New Girl?

You didn't either? Well, then it doesn't matter. I've been a fugitive size. I thought you were cultured a little bit. Barely. I've been a fugitive size. Most are of a different ethnicity than me, but I've been a fugitive size.

My husband, if you Google his name, it's all black people. There was a guy when I was in high school, they thought, well, at the time we were dating, but they thought my then boyfriend was black. Which like, I don't care.

But he's just like, that was your boyfriend? I said, yeah. And he's like, but he was white. And I said, yeah. And he's just like, but his name is this. And I said, yeah. And he's like, have you never met a white one like that?

And he's like, no. And I'm like, oh, okay. A white one? I didn't know that was like a black name. You know, I don't know. I was like, I just, he is the only one I've met.

He's the only guy I've met. We had a guest on the show last week who was white named Charquita. I mean, does it really surprise anybody at this point?

I used to think when I heard her name that she was black. Of course you did. And she was a stripper. Because your dad used to say that from the pulpit.

No, he joked about it one time and it spread like danger.

Because J .C. used to witness to people using her testimony.

And then she wasn't even a stripper. And she goes, that's not part of mine. And he goes, oh, I'm sorry. I have a lot of people to go back and unwitness to.

Halloween’s Origins, Reformation Day, and Christian Liberty

Okay, anyway. So question five, we'll do this one and then the other one. And then we can change out of these costumes and really focus on what we're here to talk about for the day. Okay, so would you rather be gassy on a first date or on your wedding night?

First date.

First date. What a terrible question. Like, not a terrible question.

Well, your first date, like, you're trying to make a good impression. But then, like, if you've saved yourself for marriage, you're also trying to make a really good impression. That's just an icebreaker.

Yeah, I mean. You let them know if they're worth sticking around or not on the first date. I'm pretty sure you farted on your first date. I mean, I'm probably. And he always, Pastor, always, like, leans when he does it.

Or he makes, like, a face when you do it. I try to be the same no matter where I'm at. I try. Consistency is key. Okay, would you rather be allergic to the sun or water? What a horrible question. You know what's crazy?

I actually knew a kid when I worked at a pediatrician clinic that had, like, an allergy to water.

All right, let me explain something. I've had two people tell me this before. How was that mitigated? All right, hold on. Hold on, hold on. I've had two people tell me this before. One of them was my high school teacher.

And my first thought in my brain was, that's not true. Because you are made up of 71 of water. So that is demonstrably untrue. So there must be some mitigating factor. Like, you're allergic to. Allergic to tap water.

In other words, like, to calcium. The chemical. Not calcium. Fluoride. Fluoride. What's the other thing? Calcium. Whatever. One of the additives. You can't be. Your body is. Like, I mean, if it rains on you.

So the kid. Explain to me. In what aspect he was allergic to water. Well, it was a girl.

Not like it matters. But she. It wasn't like any of the soap that they used. Because they tested the soap. Like, she got all this other allergy testing done. So it was the water that they found out. She would get in the bathtub.

And she would just get whelps. Okay. On her. So it had. Her skin.

Like, was very. It had to be something. In the water. For the skin. Or minerals. Or fluoride. Because if she was drinking. I mean, obviously she was. Because she was alive. What drink on planet earth doesn't have water in it?

Oh, I don't know.

I'm just telling you that. She had, like, an allergic reaction when it got on her skin. Wow. So, like, she would whelp up.

Like, all the time. I'm sure you don't have a sun. I'm sure it didn't when it rained on her. It had to be tap water.

No, like, if her skin got wet from water. That's insane. Yeah, so she would have to, like, cover up and all that. That's horrible. Yeah. Okay. Allergic to a sun or water. Okay. Sun. That's my answer. I need to shower.

That's. Because I can wear protective clothing. Those are horrible options. For the sun. Like, sunscreen.

Like, UV clothing. Like, all the stuff. But you also need the sun. That's okay. Like, you can only block it out so much.

I'll be like that mannequin guy over there. Is that Benchwarmers? Yeah. Oh, like, when he eats the sunblock? Oh, goodness gracious. Those are two horrible options, but if you're going to make me pick.

And it's the game. So, let's tune this up here. So, now that I know the water allergy is just, like, your skin, like, gets a rash or something.

Well, it, like, whelped up and it was, like, really painful. Okay. Like, an allergic reaction on the skin.

What would my reaction be to the sun in this scenario?

I mean, I guess it would be the same. I don't know.

You'd catch on fire, lol. So, which one can you avoid more? Which one do you have to use more?

The water. All I know is I don't start sinking until day three. Right, that's what I'm saying. You drink with water. You cook with water. I can go three days without showering. You bathe with water. I don't want to go three days without the sun.

Right.

Those are horrible options. But they're the options. Okay. That's how this game works. Alright, let me ask this. Yeah. Instant sunlight hits me? I mean, it's like any type of other allergen. If you come in contact with it, you will have an allergic reaction.

Well, then it has to be water.

You would do water? If you're saying instantly, the sun hits the skin 100 of the time every day.

Except when we're in the building. Yeah, not 100 of the day. 100 of days.

At the time that you're outside. 100 of days. There's never a time where the sun doesn't hit my skin. There has been days, except for washing my hands. At least that's just my hands. There have been days where water, except for my hands, has not touched me.

I mean, it's whatever you're okay with giving up.

I just answered. I will bathe in pure alcohol. I'll get allergic to water.

Get a nice gash down your leg. I'm allergic to water. Fun fact, I cut my leg once when I was little. Cody, I hope you're watching my brother. Cut my ankle because I was like learning to shave and all that stuff.

My mom wasn't there at the time. I told my brother, I had a piece of skin like this long come out from the razor. I was telling my brother about it. He's like, oh, let's put rubbing alcohol on that. Poured it over.

It was the worst pain, besides labor, that I had ever been in. Thanks for that. Now what does he do for a living? He's an EMT. He tells me about some of his patients and what he says to them. Alright.

Game's over. Anna wins. It wasn't a win or lose game, but okay. Thank you for that.

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So, now that Anna has won the game. Thank you, sponsor. Thank you, sponsor. This message is brought to you by Witten Baptist Church. Download the Witten Baptist app and take the survey. Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

That is the question. And that is an interesting question.

Why Halloween Can Be Celebrated With Christian Liberty

So, Anna. What are your thoughts? So, my initial thought was, what is Halloween and where did it come from? Well, I had a window open. I guess I'll open a new window. So, I took the time over the last week or so to research the holiday, like where it came from.

It originally, it originated as what All Hallows Eve. And so, then it's All Saints Day is November 1st. So, they go into that process and there was, you know, like another group of people and I'm totally butchering this.

So, like research it for yourself, you know, look into that. But the way that I read it was like with anything, someone takes it out of context and it deviates from its original purpose. And then like you had like the satanic worship and like all this other stuff.

It was very focused around death. And so, figuring that out and I'm like, okay, well, how did it become what it is today in America with us like going to each other's houses and trick or treating or doing like the trunk or treats and everything like that?

At church. And it's kind of just like everything is people take like either a Christian or pagan holiday and make it their own. And so, that's kind of what I looked into over the last week. But the thing is like, I'm like, I don't celebrate the satanic worship.

Like I'm not sitting here with like a Ouija board or like an altar, like sacrificing to Satan or like doing any of these other demonic things and practices. And so, but I'm like, but why did the church find it necessary to take it and then do like a trunk or treat instead of like a trick or treat thing?

With our church, I see the need for a trunk or treat because of the neighborhoods that we're in. And it's not a safe neighborhood. And a lot of these parents are not comfortable with sending their kids out in these neighborhoods to trick or treat.

We've been out in these neighborhoods before like witnessing and all of that stuff. And I am not comfortable in some of those neighborhoods. And so, for that need, I find it useful. But otherwise, I just kind of, I just do the costumes and candy.

And then it's a good way to, it's a good way to witness to others, like, especially in your own neighborhood. You can talk to your neighbors and get to know them and share the gospel with them. And, you know, it's a witnessing opportunity.

So, I don't know. It's kind of my, like, all of that to say, like, that's my accumulative thought.

So, you'll get people, and they'll do this with Christmas, too. We'll get to that in a few weeks from now. Who will get into an argument about the original intent of Halloween. So, was it originated as pagan?

Was it originated as Christian? So, we see pre-medieval church. Halloween, All Hallowed's Eve, the eve before All Hallowed, or All Saints Day. In the Roman Catholic tradition, even today, November 1st is celebrating all the saints who died and are in heaven.

Whereas, November 2nd, All Souls Day, is celebrating Christians who didn't make the cut for heaven, but are currently in purgatory. Earning their way. How do they know?

They don't know. Like, versus the saints, so it's just all Christians?

Yeah, so, remember, in Roman Catholic tradition, as opposed to the scriptures, saints are super-Christians. Like Paul. Performed a miracle. They were martyred for their faith, etc. So, because of all of their and other Christians' good works, in heaven, there is a treasury of merit.

All the good works, like, let's say that this much was necessary for entrance to heaven. Well, if this person did this much, there is a surplus of good works. You can access that surplus of good works through penance, through the sacraments, and then get credited based on the merit of other people, through the treasury of merit that's in heaven.