I just read an interesting post on the blog of someone I don’t know. It was about Halloween and how it’s NOT SO bad and how sickening it is that so many churches offer alternatives and how those snobby Christians who DON’T DO Halloween just make her so mad. She was completely judgmental about people who she was calling judgmental.
I wanted to comment so bad…I wanted to ram my typing fingers right up her nose and tell her to mind her own business and let us celebrate however we want and or don’t want and how dare she be judging me…when I realized…I didn’t really care. About her.
She got up on her horse about homeschooling too and then told the world that she is a born again Christian and she doesn’t think living in the wide wide world is all that bad. Maybe she doesn’t have kids and maybe she hasn’t seen what I’ve seen, so I’ll just let her live in her wide wide world and enjoy all that it has to offer. I don’t think trick-or-treating is going to hurt anyone’s kids…yes, we could stay home to avoid the wackos, but I’ll bet you’ll meet one eventually and it might be in August or something even more spooky like Christmas. The thing is, if I feel convicted about celebrating a holiday that has roots in pure evil, it’s my business, and if you have a conviction about shutting your doors to your neighbors who are out having fun with their children (maybe the only time of the year that you see them at all) that’s your business and I don’t necessarily think God is condemning one or the other. I think He leads us each to do what is best for the little tiny world we are in at the moment. That doesn’t apply to everything, there are certainly black and white issues, but Halloween isn’t one of them. It’s a black and orange issue.
That being said, we are celebrating costumes and family fun at our church’s Halloween alternative “Fall Fest” this year. It’s tomorrow night at Cornerstone and barring rain, we will be in our themed Adam and Eve costumes running the blow up games behind the youth building. Yes, that’s right Adam and Eve costumes. Each Sunday School class was asked to dress up according to assigned themes and we were assigned Adam and Eve. Who came up with that? Are you serious? I suggested we all wear trench coats. We decided to promote unity and all wear a t-shirt that has some reference to Adam and Eve. I came up with several ideas my favorite being this one:
But the class voted and we will be wearing this one:
I hope people get it.
Owen will be dressed as Woody and Ivan has a little tiger costume. Nothing too elaborate. I will certainly post pictures when we take them.
Thanks for saying it. I get so crazy when people try to ram their own beliefs into everyone else and they are the only one who is right. Can’t we just all get along?! -snif- Have fun tomorrow night. The shirst are pretty funny.
I love the shirt ideas! I love the post. Madison actually asked me recently why we celebrate Halloween. . . what’s the purpose, or meaning behind the tradition. I was glad she did. It gave me the opportunity to explain to her the evil origins of the holiday and then to explain that though that’s how it began, that is NOT why WE participate in the Halloween traditions. I told her that we do it strictly for the fun that we find in it. It also gave me the opportunity to give her understanding as to why some of her friends are not allowed to celebrate it or dress up.
Then she said, “If we do it just for the fun of it, then why can’t everybody else figure out that it doesn’t have to be evil or bad and they can do it for fun too?” If only our adult intellect was as simple and pure as that of a child. We grow up and make everything so complicated when it doesn’t have to be.
i feel the same way about santa claus. Let us have some fun with our kids!
The shirts are cute but without reading about Adam and Eve, I thought the red one referred to fall apples.
We didn’t really do Halloween over here but mostly because I don’t want Gabe to fill his tummy up with too much candy. There just doesn’t seem to be a point to it. You know how bad that stuff is for a kid? And for mom? (file under: suger high. It’s not pretty.) I think dressing up is totally fun and so are the traditions of Halloween, but if I ever let Gabe go trick-or-treating, like my mom did for us, I will not let Gabe dress up like a witch or a demon or a vampire or any other evil creature. I much prefer a fireman or mickey mouse or perhaps he could dress up like a toothbrush. I don’t care. I just don’t want him representing evil spirits.
I think you are right for not commenting. People who get their panties in a wad over how other people celebrate a holiday that is nothing more than a commercial effort to get people to buy more candy obviously don’t have much else better to talk about, and should probably be left to their own devices. They can find like-minded people and they can have an upset-fest over Halloween all day in their own spaces. You know?
Did you get pictures of the kids’ costumes? I’d love to see them if you did! Last night we made Red Barron pizza and watched Sleepy Hollow. I always want to watch Tim Burton films on Halloween somehow. I can participate without really participating.
Ciao! 🙂
Mich – Ha…A Toothbrush! I like that idea. Next year I can see Owen as toothpaste and Ivan as floss.
What do apples have to do with Adam and Eve?