The Transformation of Halloween

As a little girl, I always dressed up in costume, and celebrated Halloween. There was no thought put into it at all. That is what you did. We lived on a long street that ended in a cul-du-sac, and it would take a couple of hours to travel all the way up and down the street collecting candy, visiting 'haunted houses' and 'magic' shows put on by all our creative neighbors.

When I grew up and had children, I truly looked forward to sharing Halloween with my kids. I mean, you teach and enjoy your kids every day, but there are just a couple of days a year just to have childish fun. Halloween was one.

Then I became a Christian. I didn't want to be a mere 'church attendee' but a true 'Christ follower'. And there are opinions running rampant through church about Halloween. I was informed that Halloween is evil by some. I was told by others that Halloween was fine as long as your kids dressed in 'nice' costumes, not 'evil' ones. I was told by others that Halloween was fine as long as you went to a church event ie. fall festival or trunk or treat. The worst that I was told was that Halloween was not only evil, but that children born on Halloween were evil, children of the devil, with no opportunity for redemption.

I have studied my Bible profusely. I have looked into the history and lore surrounding Halloween . With opinions abounding, all I can do is practice discernment. Here is what I have decided for my family. Halloween is not a pagan holiday. True it does not celebrate Christ - neither does Independence Day, or Thanksgiving, or Valentine's Day, or many other holidays. I will never have the significance of Passover. I will never love it like passover. It doesn't serve a purpose. It is fun. It is about imagination.

Everyone loves make-believe. As we grow up so many of us allow our imaginations to atrophy. We get caught up in the cycle of living and providing, that we don't allow our imaginations to exercise. Albert Einstein said that imagination was greater than knowledge. Exercising our imaginations allows us to create and invent. To me, Halloween is an opportunity to exercise that imagination, to have fun, to play.

I used to be concerned about my girls wanting to dress as something that I believed to be 'bad'. You know, it was okay to be Wonder Woman..... but a witch? I dunno! Doesn't that fall into the evil category, right alongside vampires, goblins, zombies?! Then it hit me. I don't believe in those things. They are make believe! Just like fairy princesses, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Winnie the Poo, and Superman! They are scary, but not evil. Some people like to be scared. After all, isn't that the appeal of roller coasters? The adrenaline rush comes from fear and excitement. For now, I don't want my girls to dress scary either. They are just too young. But it is not an issue of good versus evil. Now, if they were to want to dress as the Devil, I would say NO WAY! He is real and he is evil!

I don't think my way is right or wrong for everyone. We have very close friends who don't celebrate Halloween. We still love them-and we respect them as Christians. We have very close friends who dress up and go to 'haunted trails' and 'haunted houses' for a good scare. We still love them - and respect them as Christians. God gave my husband and I only one family to manage during our time here on earth. We can only use our knowledge of the scripture, and our abilities of discernment to make choices for ourselves. Sometimes we are right, and sometimes we are wrong. Our goal is to keep traveling forward on our journey to be Christ-like.