Halloween

Since both Christmas and All Saints Day are originally pagan holidays that Christianity is still trying to influence I think there is a place in both Christmas and Halloween for Christians to add to the potential cultural shifts. I have memories from youth about the fear that was created around this time because many of my Church influences focused on how Satan was honored in Halloween. While this may be the case in limited situations, the holiday is generally benign in our culture. For this reason I and my wife have allowed limited involvement in trick-or-treating (in fun and not scary costume), and carving of pumpkins. Our goal is to avoid the fear that even those in God's house feel during this time, and also to add to the cultural shift to fun at Halloween and not pagan mischief. As my children develop a higher awareness of their history I want to take full advantage of the history that the Christian Church has remembered on the sunset of the 31st of October and continue to teach it to our children. We don't spend enough time telling the stories of Corrie ten Boom, Martin Luther, and Eric Liddell in between stories of Moses, Noah, and Paul. Instead of hiding from Halloween, let's use it for the purpose our Church fathers and mothers intended.