I personally do not like Halloween. It’s the time of year that starts with trick or treating then it’s a candy fest all the way until Valentine’s Day. I gain 10 pounds just supervising the holidays. My kids love Halloween because they go door to door, with their friends and get candy...lots of it. For every time I say “no” in the grocery store, Halloween seems to make up for any restraint in one night. My kids love dressing up. I do have boundaries, no gore, no evil dudes that would scare even the old people in the neighborhood. We do our best to downplay the frenzy mostly because I don’t want to spend money. I don’t spend my time decorating the house for any holiday except maybe Christmas and even that has lost it’s appeal to me over the years simply because of it’s commercial overtones mixed with cheap crap from China. I do like eatable gourds that last until December so it's pretty much pumpkin season.
When I grew up, I remember hearing a pastor preach about the roots of Halloween and thinking “I don’t want to be a part of that!” and many churches withdrew from the All Hallows Eve by doing alternative events such as Harvest parties or roller skating. My sweetest memory on Halloween was my Mom taking us ice skating and giving us candy. I never felt deprived. But our house also got egged occasionally and the night before Halloween in my neighborhood was an excuse to be destructive and disturb the very elderly people we would be knocking on their door and asking for treats after “devil’s night”. I was made fun of and bullied for not celebrating Halloween. I remember in fourth grade, a group boys relentlessly poked fun at me to the point of tears. Sometimes my mom would take me out of school on that day to ease that pressure, but still the comments came. Could you imagine people making fun of a jew for not participating in Christmas? Well, now you get the point.
This is weird stuff of the 70s that I try to block out of my memory.
I think culturally at this point many people of my generation that don’t know what to do with Halloween, now that we have children begging for costumes and candy especially if you grew up trick or treating. I think it's worse to navigate if you didn’t because there always is that looming information behind every fact and symbol. Participating in Halloween is for every parent to decide for themselves, based on I believe their maturity and discernment for where and how they live. I really to appreciate so many discipleship and missional blogs, resources, and posts that have been helpful to me personally to sort through some of my past understanding of Halloween and use it for His Glory. http://thegospelcoalition.org/
It’s true that Halloween has dark underpinnings, but if you dig deep enough even Christmas has a dark pagan history. The reason for this post is basically to state that although I do see an increase of the severity, the horror and demonizing theme of Halloween I still see it’s valuable tool as a believer to be missional in our current context. People respond to Halloween in various ways even in the secular world. There is a FB post out now about a woman giving out letters on obesity (totally weird), some people collect canned goods for a food bank, some for donations to charities. Instead of arguing over Biblical passages that support or denounce the withdrawal from cultural festivities (depending on the context that applies) I think about how Paul in Romans proclaimed food and days to be unessential issues is worthy of further study and application. Paul states, give the weaker in faith benefit of the doubt.If you are more free from the law we should never boast in our freedom because it causes the weaker in faith to stumble by not allowing the Holy Spirit in their conscious to reveal their freedom in Christ. It's a process to figure out you are freer than you actually are. Paul states in that the one that observes the food and observance of days is actually weaker in faith, and the mature to be more confident in their freedom from the law. But it backfires if you shove it in their face and basically is arrogant. I would say this can apply to the observation or non observance of Halloween too for the believer. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on believers to participate or not in Halloween. Sometimes it’s not IF, but HOW we participate that sends the clear message.
In our neighborhood if the porch light is off, that means you are not home or not participating. I will say here however, that living in a neighborhood is simply my favorite thing about living in New England. For example, there is a retired couple on our street that hand makes something unique and different for each child that lives on the street. One year handmade bean bags, the next elaborate origami. No candy. My kids have been WAITING eagerly and even went down to their house and tried to pry the information from them a day early. Not even my kids could get the secret out of them. It’s really is hard to beat that personal effect on a kid. That’s love. That’s personal. These are my neighbors that love my kids. They have seen them ride their bikes and fall. They have allowed them to use their bathrooms in emergencies and don’t call the cops when they play in their wooded backyard. Soon, the crunch of the leaves, screamingly cute kids will arrive at my door and this is my opportunity as a missional mom to know EACH and every one of them. I know who is behind those masks by name! Do you? Just like our Heavenly Father knows our hearts, may I remind us that God is after each heart that rings your doorbell tonight and says “Trick or Treat!”. What will you give them?
Matt 11:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
