Why Halloween?

 

My first costume at one year old. I was a little hobo!

I've had a lot of people over the years ask why, as a Christian, I celebrate Halloween. Or there are those who don't ask, but cast an eye at me askance. Well, I wouldn't say I "celebrate" it. Yes, I decorate the house up like the set of the Adam's Family, and I have never gone a year without dressing up in costume. But what I really do is remember Halloween.

People are in such a hurry to forget uncomfortable things these days. They think if they say that the Nazi Holocaust was a hoax and never happened, that it will somehow make it like all those people never really died. They think if they tear down a statue of a Confederate soldier that it will somehow make the war that killed the most Americans in our history, go away. But any gardener knows that to bury something is often to keep it alive. And sometimes that long forgotten seed comes up and is not what you expected at all. Try to cover and forget a physical wound and it is bound to fever and fester. To turn a blind eye is not always the best answer.

But don't I know all the pagan things attached to the holiday? Yes, I do. Almost all of my ancestors, on at least four sides of my family, came from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The very Celtic areas where Samhain was celebrated far back into antiquity. It was my people who set bonfires on hills in hopes of encouraging the sun to return to it's full power. It was my ancestors who would cook a supper and leave it on the table for any dead loved ones who might return. And when they became worried that those spirits might be unhappy ones, they took to leaving the food at home and walking the countryside in costume, so the dead could not recognize them. This is also when the jack-o-lantern came into play. Only they were originally turnips carved out to hold a candle to light the night-time walk, and eventually carved with a scary likeness to frighten away anything that might approach. Those were my people who lived a day and a night in fear and superstition. I made sure all my kids knew the history of the holiday, so they too could understand what the people went through.

Why would I want to forget that? I can look back on it all and understand their fears and wonderings completely. Even in the modern day there is so much unknown and unexplainable. And as a Christian I can imagine how it would have been to be able to tell these people that they didn't have to fear. That the dead lay quietly, and there was hope beyond the grave. That God had fixed the sun in its rotation and in his great wisdom planned out the seasons. And most importantly, that they did not have to cling to ritual any longer because Jesus had died to save them.

Of course, for centuries there was no one to tell these people of God's plan. And much of that time was before even the birth of Jesus. So when I envision the pagan fires and rituals I don't feel revulsion and horror, I feel sadness and a desire that they could have known what I am fortunate enough to know.

I was grocery shopping in Aldi one day and was befriended by an elderly man. I try to smile at everyone I see, and so I frequently find myself the recipient of instant kinship. This little man was delighted to toddle along beside me, regaling me with his life, until he saw me pick up a large sack of Halloween candy. His face immediately soured, his good opinion of me gone. He said, "I see you celebrate Satan's birthday."

I am a very non-confrontational person and I was shocked by his words. Normally I would have stammered some sort of apology and stumbled on red-faced. But something about his words fired my spirit and I found the rare ability to answer back. I told him that the candy was actually for my church's Halloween Carnival. And that I had read the Bible and knew how it ended. Jesus is Savior and the Conqueror of both Satan and death. So, I told him, in my book the devil doesn't get to have a day.

All he could say was, "Well...", and look shamefaced as I swept on with my shopping, fueled with righteous indignation. Right or wrong, that is how I feel.

So again this year I will decorate; I will dress up; I will have a party with my family and friends. It's going to be fun and I will enjoy all of it. And all the while I'm going to be grateful. Grateful that I got to be born in a time where I know the Truth and can be free of the superstition and fear of my ancestors.