HEAVY LIGHT BLOG: October 2013

HALLOWEEN.

THE DAY of “Ghosts and Ghoblins”.

A Time of Pranks and Downright Acts of Meanness.

And where do my first remembrances of Halloween begin….. errrrr welllll in my church.

I remember that we all would gather together in the basement of our Brethren Church for a Halloween Party which consisted mainly of a contest for the best costume.

Now…. Here I am, a very young preschool boy…. Who had given himself to the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Master when I was a mere five years old. I was someone who responded to the call of Jesus during a Revival Meeting. I walked forward to commit myself to Jesus as the last chorus of “Just As I Am” was sang….. And not only did I feel that Jesus was calling me to him…. I could feel his hands upon the lapels of my shirt…. Pulling me forward…. To make a Physical and Spiritual Commitment.

Now I always had been spiritually sensitive. Not only was I aware of Jesus and his angels. I was also aware of the Dark Side. For example, for years I had seen a skinny, black form sitting in a rocking chair in back of our upright piano. This figure in black was cold and scary….. and this was not the only place and time that I saw his form….

So when I found myself at church…. Celebrating Halloween….. in effect celebrating blood and guts and gore and DEATH….. I was very uncomfortable. This did not seem right. And this feeling has followed me all the days of my life.

This particularly played out when it came to raising my kids. What do you do when everyone in the family seems to have no problem with going along with the whole Halloween thing.…. And your kids are excited by the Holiday both because of the dress up part and because of the peer pressure part from classmates. I must say that I was particularly proud of my daughter one year as she dressed up as an Angel of the Lord….. and somewhere I have a photo of her on our "Trick or Treat Neighborhood Journey" as she was at a neighbor’s door and she was receiving candy from the devil. Oh the Irony of it all…. An Angel Receiving Candy from the Devil!!

And then there was the time I accompanied my children Trick or Treating…. And I was wearing the Blessed Robe of an Actual Priest….. and many times on the sidewalk, people would actually back up and get out of the way wherever I would walk. That experience in particular taught me that indeed there is something more to Halloween than generally meets the eye. Many people still believe that Halloween is a Harmless Fun Holiday..... and this belief has catapulted Halloween into the Number Two most popular Holiday in our world today.... second only to that of Christmas.

Or is Halloween actually about a real power play between good and evil in this world around us.

"Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does." 1 Peter 5:8-9 MSG