Dear Grace Family
Over the last two days I have had a number of interesting conversations and queries about Halloween.
I have put links to two useful perspectives below and I think they are balanced and helpful. Allow me also to offer my brief perspective…
There are negatives around the historical foundation of Halloween, namely the Celtic feast of Samhain and the Roman Feast of Feralia which both had to do the the dead and evil spirits. (NeoPaganism still observes Samhain) At the time Halloween concerned the church so much that they introduced All Saints Day on 1 Nov in an attempt to shift the focus. This enough should be food for thought.
But beyond this my concern with Halloween lies in the obsession with the dark and the ugly. (I have a similar concern with horror movies that seem to be so popular.) I think our society is violent enough. I think we should not partake in anything that lifts up or exalts fear, darkness and death.
If you have kids, dress them up as heroes and not ghouls, celebrate the victory of light over darkness and point them toward Jesus as the one who defeats darkness. Trick or treating at doors etc can be a community builder and can bring cohesion to a neighbourhood and so there is some positive to glean from this and we as Christians should be the yeast in the dough spreading the light. Use the event to have fun and family time, but don’t buy into the darkness, fear and violence so prevalent in much of the marketing. This calls for pro-active parenting and grand-parenting.
Have a look at the links:
http://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/Families/Parents/Talkingabout/Halloween/1198.id
http://www.focusonlinecommunities.com/blogs/Finding_Home/2012/10/30/an-open-letter-about-halloween
Incidentally, in spite of all the halloween debate, today is also REFORMATION day – where we celebrate the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenburg and brought the beautiful truth of Salvation by Faith through Christ Alone into crystal sharp focus. (How’s that for Divine Irony!)
God bless and Much Love,
Theo