It’s time for the fading light to dim to darkness,
for scary and cute faces to cover up the faces we love,
for leaves to pile high and yet crackle under our feet as we feel our way through the darkness,
for pumpkins to smile and sneer at us,
for cider to be served hot and spicy,
for children to beg for candy at our front doors,
for the “zombies” who live in our neighborhoods to party late into the night-
It’s Hallow’een!
BOO!
It is really just the day before All Saint’s Day on the Western Christian Calendar. A day that is signified with remembering all those who have died in the Lord. Remembering and looking forward to the time when we will all be reunited in the presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
I can celebrate this.
I am in anticipation for the actual day when I shall see Jesus, and all of my loved ones who have gone before me into eternity.
I shiver in anticipation, which is not at all like a shiver of fear.
But I enjoy the holiday, because it is NOT a celebration of death and evil and fear.
It is a celebration of those who have gone before us.
Because Our God holds the issues of death-Psalm 68:20-
and death for a believer is a sacred trust between God and himself.
Don’t turn this holiday into a harvest festival.
Look deep into the eyes of death and ask where is the sting.
Walk by the cemetery and look for the victory.
Celebrate because God deserves the praise and the glory.
Do I hear any “Amens”?!?
amen and amen and amen! Thanks for the reminder and the history lesson and the call to celebration! (We are studying the first half of Rev. 9 this week–the locusts from hell–talk about scary!…and even then they are completely and strictly limited by Sovereign God. Yes, I will celebrate!)
Actually, the Commemoration of All Soul’s (aka Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed) on Nov 2nd is the day to mark all those who have died in the faith. All Hallow’s Eve is, historically speaking, the vigil of All Saint’s celebration (and by extension part of All Saints), the feast on which the Church commemorates all those saints who have attained the beatific vision. All Souls differentiates from All Saints in that it marks (at least traditionally in the medieval and now RC tradition) those who have not yet been purified (and attained the beatific vision) but died in the faith. Those squeamish about the need for requisite purging after death (Protestants: Anglican and Lutheran–although Anglo-Catholics are often partial to the traditional meaning), have reinterpreted the feast to help people commemorate all those who have died in the faith even though they might not be designated “saints” by the Church.
What you wrote about is worth celebrating. But what the day has become is not. The things I see are creepy and evil and I’d rather not have anything to do with it.
Lilly,
I agree that it has become a very dark symbol and is frightening. But that doesn’t change the truth. God is in control and we as His people need to cast off the fear and shine into the darkness. I am tired of watching as Christians charge forward in areas of politics, trying for places of position in order to set policy and yet retiring from the fight on a personal level, cutting themselves off from the day to day battles of right living and interacting with their unsaved neighbors, friends and relatives.No where in the scripture does it say we need to fight political battles- but it does say that we are to be involved in the world- showing the face of Christ to an unbelieving world.
Sorry- I’m not trying to preach here- but I think it is past time to evaluate HOW our light is to shine.
You’re allowed to preach; after all this is your blog. Thanks for the reply.
Heidi, I like the Halloween you talk about, but that is not the Halloween we celebrate today. It would sadden me to watch parents encourage their child to participate in dressing for the darker side of the holiday.