The other day I was listening to a Christian radio station and the lady said she and her husband didn’t celebrate Halloween and their young children were starting to ask questions. Like their childhood friends would ask what they were dressing up as for Halloween and the kids asked mom and dad why they weren’t getting costumes.
It reminded me of the year my mom came to our house to visit her young grandkids and I didn’t have up the Halloween decorations. I told her we didn’t want to celebrate ghosts and witches and monsters, which really don’t support our Christian faith. (some of you have been in my house and know that I am the one who decorates for the seasons and holidays and do it up well most of the time – something I learned from mom who loved the seasons and holidays)
So I started looking for friendlier ways to celebrate Halloween. Now we have decorations in our yard that have Winnie the Pooh, Tiger, Shrek and our neighbors added Mickey Mouse to our menagerie of Halloween decorations. I do a lot with pumpkins and fall leaves. And of course we do turn on our light on Beggar’s night to hand out goodies. We do try to come up with more alternatives to candy for the kids safety and parents ease of mind. So we have found a coupon for an ice cream treat the kids can enjoy days or weeks after the candy is gone. We’ve handed out nickels and pencils and some fun Halloween tracts.
But there is a tie in Halloween to our Christian faith. Halloween is All Hallow’s (another word for Holy) Eve or the night before November 1st or All Saint’s Day. And Christians have dressed up in costumes of their favorite saints on that eve. I remember a church party one time that a friend of ours came with only a sleeping bag that they carried under their arm. We spent a lot of time trying to guess their character and finally they said its an Old Testament character – a friend of Daniel who hung out with Shadrach and Meshach. His name….”a bed to go” or Abednego.
We don’t have to join the world in things that detract from our faith, but we can find ways that still glorify God. There are lot’s of heroes of the faith that would make a great Halloween costume and their are family friendly ways to celebrate sans the monsters and witches and it is one of our fall holidays that can be rich in color and harvest time remembrances. Be safe this Hallowed-een. Enjoy the season and the celebrations. This year it’s got to be less scary than the political scene.
So mom, I put up Halloween decorations now every year, because of that one year you wondered why we weren’t celebrating. We are celebrating, just not the way the rest of the world is celebrating. This is probably true of many holidays with a mix of secular and Christian celebrations.
