Halloween: Bah humbug!

As Christians, I believe we are all called in some way to express our beliefs through our gifts and God-given talents. Some are lofty like a ministry in a dangerous land. Others are blessed with the gift of music and praise. Then there’s one of mine: being a certain holiday party-pooper, which is something I never imagined and began unintentionally 10 years ago.

One day in early September, I was running through a party store the size of a giant barn in search of last-minute birthday paraphernalia. I found myself in the new Halloween costume wing alone and in full view of a massive display that caused me to look at Halloween as never before. With a 180-degree view, the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with full costumes on hangers, next to the model photo on the packaging. Starting with darling pumpkins, I smiled and remembered my daughter in a similar outfit when she was a toddler. Soon, little pumpkins and kittens became Disney darlings like Belle, Jasmine and Cinderella. Like the girls, the boys went from little sluggers to daring ninjas. All of these cute outfits evoked good memories of walking the neighborhood from Halloweens’ past, the children challenging each other to see who'd bring home the biggest loot of candy.

But the last wall was an eye opener for me. If you followed the path of progression, your little lion grows up to become some morbid chainsaw murderer; your precious pumpkin becomes a not-so-nice French maid or alternatively a grotesque witch.

Within seconds, the first thoughts that popped into mind: “So this is how they suck you in. This is wrong.” And those thoughts came during a decade when I didn't consider myself overly committed to my beliefs. Still, I couldn't get the experience out of my mind. I went home and researched the meaning of Halloween, its origins and how costumes and carved jack-o-lanterns came about: The Festival of the Dead, the Celtics, mystical beliefs and the like. Then, I read scripture that talked about how we shouldn't emulate the dark or be of the world and made what I thought would be an unpopular decision: no more Halloween for me and my house.

Instead of mutiny, my grade school children were okay. In fact, almost relieved. They didn't get why kids had to be subjected to scary things to begin with -- what was fun about the monster mannequin in the grocery aisle spooking little tykes? They gladly skipped the costumes and tricks as long the treats didn't go away.

My takeaway? Refusing to go along with traditional Halloween and possibly being branded as some religious fanatic was a big step for me. However, this was small in comparison to listening and obeying to what I believed God was personally telling me.

Do I condemn others who celebrate the day? No. Even the Vatican’s expert in exorcism reportedly said there was no harm in children dressing up as witches and devils for a day. Okay, a little ironic I think because Father Gabriele Amorth, an Italian Roman Catholic priest who founded the International Association of Exorcists, was quoted in a London Telegraph article titled The Devil is Gaining Ground. In his 80s, Father Amorth claimed as recent as 2010 that he had performed 70,000 exorcisms in his life. He also states that the movie The Exorcist is a real depiction of his work. (Who needs Halloween with this info?)

Is Halloween just a game as Father Amorth says? Is it a day pass for Christians? Perhaps, but I have to wonder why this message made such an impact on me? Can such a harmless event become a nightmare like the premise of my book?

Halloween is a $5+ billion industry and half of that is based on costume sales alone! What if we gave up the dark threads and sent the money to an organization like World Vision instead? Yes, I know goblins aren’t going away because one woman heard one still voice in a party warehouse years ago. But it does have me thinking and sharing this season: why all the horror, when we have the glory? Why celebrate death and darkness when we have light and eternity? Why not share the good Word that Jesus only treats ... something to celebrate every day of the year!

Love & Light,
Cheryl