Halloween™
It’s almost Halloween (or “Hallowe’en” if you are strange). I think I have some good reasons for NOT being excited. One, I have a friend who has a painful past and horrible memories associated with the day. Two, I am too old to ask people for candy. Three, if someone eggs our house, my dad is NOT going to come and clean it up.
Other than that, I’m pretty much OK with October 31. My friend with the past, even she is understanding of the “traditions” and doesn’t look down upon anyone who participates in Halloween festivities. But what has been rummaging about through my brain the last few days is the disconnect a lot of Church People have with the way Halloween is celebrated.
Every year around Christmas time we start freaking out about America. We worry that Christmas has become commercialized, how it has become about presents and Santa, and how we’ve lost the true meaning, which, of course, is Peppermint Bark from Williams-Sonoma.
Every year around October we start freaking out about people dressing up as Harry Potter. Somewhere, we assume, people are celebrating Satan (this is probably true). But guess what, America: most people are just celebrating Sugar. Halloween is as commercialized as Christmas, meaning that on October 31st millions of people are running around celebrating Nothing, just like they celebrate Nothing on December 25th.
At Christmas we are worried that the People aren’t taking it seriously. When Halloween rolls around we start worrying that maybe they ARE taking it seriously and they are all PRAYING TO THE DEVIL! OH MY GOD!
I’m not trying to promote Halloween. If you don’t celebrate it, fine. No big deal. I don’t want to dress up anyway (I did actually dress up this year. I was a “Youth Pastor.” In real life I am a “Youth Director.”) All I’m asking is for a little Respect (Give me just a little bit). Halloween ‘aint gonna do you wrong. So leave the children be with their candy.
The only way we will benefit in eliminating Halloween from American Culture™, is that there will be a huge surplus of chocolate, meaning the price of Fifth Avenue bars may come down. And this would be a good thing for the world.
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