No doubt, there are many Christians who will not be celebrating what our culture knows as Halloween tonight, for fear the practices are steeped in the paganism of the past. While those brothers and sisters in Christ have a point, our little flock of four, on the other hand, has taken a slightly different approach. Rather than avoid the festivities, we have changed our perspective. Gone from our decorating are all cultic symbols and gory details of death frequently used this night: witches, goblins, monsters, ghoulish music, creepy crawlies. What we do have are scarecrows, smiling pumpkins, stars, lights. Scarecrows to remind us that we ourselves, through holy living, can scare away evil, smiling pumpkins to remind us that though we face great darkness every day, we can smile knowing that it is God who has our backs, stars to remind us of that great star that led the wise kings to Jesus and that we should be following the light to Him, lights because He is the Light of the world.
Someday, too, when I have more backbone, I'd like to distribute holy cards with the treats to the children who come to our door. Simple ones depicting the meaning of All Saints Day...the real meaning of Halloween.
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