Halloween...Celtic New Year...All Saints Eve...or something else?

Whoooweee. What an email fest the last couple of weeks have been. Between the homeschool groups I still follow and the blogs, I can't believe the battles I read regarding Halloween. To celebrate, to avoid, to substitute? Apparently, that was the question.

I read a quote from one columist who stated "There is no lasting benefit to ignore a holiday that exists around us, but it also does harm to celebrate Halloween as it has originated and grown over the centuries." I have tended to agree with that over the years, knowing it would do no good to pretend there was no such thing as Halloween, but also not wanting to glorify all that was evil about it. Now that my kids are older and scary movies seem to be the new cool thing- how do I allow them room to make their own choices, and yet still teach them to avoid the very real, very terrible spiritual world of Satan and his demons? Our TAG group is studying the lies we believe about Satan this week, and as I watched 6 year olds walk up to my door with bloody knives and horrific, scary masks- I realized how prevalent the belief that "the boogieman isn't real" is in America. Now, I don't really believe in the "boogieman", but the Bible makes it very clear that there is a spiritual force in this world trying to SUCK our eternal lives away, and for Christians, destroy our faith and relationship with Jesus. So, do we avoid Halloween because of it's meaning and origins, or can we make it something else?

I truly don't have an answer as of yet. I am always going to do everything I can to bring glory to God, and I think my "Candy Corn Princess" and my "Super Mario" aren't promoting the Wiccan religion by dressing up for Halloween. But I can't say that the "holiday" is very comfortable for me, and in all honesty...I am glad it is over. Maybe God will reveal a more clear option to me by next October 31st.

On a side note- I love how our Christian brother and sister in Slovenia celebrated Halloween. Read their blog for the full story (www.teamwynnfamilyblog.blogspot.com), but since Halloween isn't a big deal in that country...they chose to celebrate Reformation Day! It marks the anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses being nailed to the door...and the beginning of Protestantism (I love making up words). They dressed their toddler up as Martin Luther and taught him how to "ding dong ditch" as they left little presents on the doormats of friends. I love it!

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

Happy Halloween!

This holiday gets me pondering every year, and every year I still can't decide what I think about it. There are great arguments on both sides of the Christian discussion- that all things evil should not be part of our celebrations, or this is just an opportunity to have some fun and witness to others. I don't ever feel that the way our family celebrates Halloween is at all evil, but is it appropriate to participate in a holiday that Satan worshippers very clearly revel in? And truly, are Satan worshippers any more dangerous to us than pew-sitters who say all the right things, but their hearts are far from Jesus?
I guess this might be a question God won't answer for me until I get to heaven, and for now, I am going to go with His exhortation- "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters...Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand...He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. " Romans 14:1-8 (edited for length)