As with so many relatively peripheral things, Christians tend to go overboard when it comes to Halloween. One group shuns and denounces any acknowledgement of the day whatsoever, as a celebration (naïve or otherwise) of evil and the things of the devil. Another bunch is so head-up to prove their freedom in Christ that they go all-in-and-then-some to show the devil can’t corrupt their candy collecting.
And, of course, each group has its point. Most Christians underestimate, and so are tone deaf, to the profound spiritual war going on all around us (Ephesians 6:12), and a little cavalier about giving the devil a foothold in unguarded corners of our lazy minds.
On the other hand, sometimes trick-or-treating is just trick-or-treating, and a delightful excuse for strolling with one’s children in the cool autumn evening.
But it’s always seemed to me that many of the personages we associate with Halloween have their own implications for people of faith, and that it wouldn’t hurt Christians at all, to look at those figures, now and again, in a different, more personal light.
For instance, while I‘ve never met a mummy, I‘ve been truly frightened, more than once, at the spectacle of individuals completely wrapped up in themselves, and utterly careless to the deadly harm their self-absorption is having on the people around them.
Never crossed paths with Frankenstein, but I do know what it feels like to create a monster – to let a bad idea (and even some good ones) get away from me. Ask the folks who built the Tower of Babel how that kind of thing works out.
Haven’t run in to any actual vampires, but I have fallen prey to certain sins and attitudes that very nearly drained the life out of me. Some bad things have gotten me by the throat, and sunk their fangs in deep.
Haven’t seen anyone soar on a broom – but have been bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by a lot of what I see, sometimes, in myself, and in those around me. Never happened on a zombie, but sadly, I’ve seen a lot of dead souls walking, hungering for the abundant life that is so much closer than they’ll know.
And, while I’m disinclined to believe in ghosts, I know as well as anyone what it is to be haunted by the bad choices, failed relationships, missed opportunities of my past.
Those of us who believe and abide in the living God are necessarily limited in how far we can go toward enjoying a holiday immersed in the things of death. Then again, perhaps the “pretend” horrors embraced by so many around us could offer us a foot in the door …
… a chance to shine the light of His love into the more genuinely dark corners of lives possessed by evil, cursed with fear, and under the cold, cruel spell of mortality.
* * * * *
Lost for most in the spookiness and goblin-dy gook is the origin of this oddly popular holiday.
Halloween is a condensation of “hallowed evening,” a traditional remembrance (in some faiths and some countries), on the eve of All Saints Day, of the godly ones who have gone on before us … a kind of Memorial Day for those who fought the good fight in the service of their Lord.
I don't want those dear souls to be lost in the shadows, or become just names on cemetery headstones. And so, with thankful heart, wistful smile, and maybe a gentle tear or two, I'd like to set aside the pranks and sweets to hallow my warm, enduring memories of Dale Keith, Aireci, D.C. Martin, Martha Baird, Gary Young, Sydney and Diana Browning, and Ione Potts … along with so many others who “brightened my pathway awhile.”
Thanks be to God that such have been
Though they are here no more …
They cannot be where God is not
On any sea or shore
Whate’er betides, Thy love abides
Our God, forevermore.
– John White Chadwick
Happy hallowed evening, and may the saints rejoice to go marching in.
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