Lately I have been reading some hilarious stories about this guy's life up to now. They are great, and he's a great writer! I've really enjoyed them and they have stirred up some funny memories of my own. I'll spare you the long, drawn out life of mine, but I have been thinking a lot about Halloween - seeing as I'm the party room mother and organizing parties - and my days at Gordon - given that teaching is a theme in the above mentioned stories and that was also my major.
With these two things in mind, I was reminded of the controversy surrounding Halloween for Christians. It's a touchy subject, which is why I should have never chosen that as my topic for a persuasive speech in college, at Gordon, when I really didn't know enough about it... You see, growing up, we celebrate Halloween with gusto in my house!! Or should I say, ghosto!! For my dad, it was certainly a highlight of each year. He had a ghouly mask, a dark cape (actually his college graduation gown!) and plenty of creepy ideas. He would play his haunted sounds record and sneak around our house spooking us out. My dad LOVED to scare his sweet little children.
Growing up, my parents were the youth leaders at our tiny Baptist church we attended only a short, short walk from our house. Each year they would set up a haunted house in the creepy basement of either the hundreds of years old church or our own hundred year old house. The basement door at my parents house still has neon spraypainted warnings on it! As a child, I remember sneaking out on Mischief Night armed with bars of soap, toilet paper and old tube socks filled with flour. After a night a pure mischief (LOL), while we would head back home reviling in our childlike pranks, out of the bushes would jump this cross between Big Foot and my dad! I don't know that I've ever screamed so loud in my life!!
These event would all lead up to the "funnest" night of the year - Halloween! Never was there a mention of Satan, or pagans, or any other evil that might lurk outside. It was pure fun and sugar and we loved every minute of it. So why, as I went off to a christian college, would I be so bold, or so stupid, as to choose to give a speech on why we, as christians, should not celebrate halloween. Whatever possessed me?
Most of it, I guess, was my exploration of my faith, my new surroundings unlike anything I'd ever experienced in public school but also of the creepy feeling we would all get around Christmas just on the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts. We were warned each year not to go to Salem, as witches from all over would flock to Salem to celebrate their high holy day. Stories would circulate around campus of ritual sacrifices found in the surrounding woods, of satanic displays found in dorm rooms, a crazy woman who lived in the area surrounding Gull Pond, and many more disturbing tales.
Halloween became evil to me there. In fact, I was sure something spiritual was stirring each year there. Every halloween that I was in college it rained. One year there was even a hurricane! Then my last year there, on the way to my pre-practicum in Lynn, I heard the most bizzare radio show. They had invited a Warlock onto the show, and right there while I listened he put a curse on the visiting baseball team. It was creepy!
My speech was a bomb, and I'm glad because I didn't really believe all the crazy facts I presented. Of course, there was plenty of material in that late 80's era of back masking and cult ritualism. In my heart, though, I knew there was some value to this "holiday", that it wasn't pure evil. Of course, my father may have taken it to an extreme and we don't aspire to that in our house! But we also don't lock ourselves up on Halloween, declaring that all our neighbors who partake in this ghoulish tradition are evil pagans. We welcome the opportunity to spend time with our neighbors, to meet our neighbors and to enjoy the children that this holiday brings to our door who might never find us otherwise.
In thinking about this subject, I came across and interesting article in Christianity Today that I found intriguing. Of course, the reference to those bad Gordon students who did not adhere to the warning to stay away from Salem was irresistable to me! I love it!! It challenged me to think about what my message is for Halloween, what can I teach my children about this tradition and how can we use it to reach out instead of pulling away. For this year, I'll skip mischief night. I'd rather not be cleaning up toilet paper and soapy windows for now! As christians, we have a message for those who do celebrate Halloween as a religious event. It's a message of hope and life, not fear and despair. I think that's what I want to display.
With these two things in mind, I was reminded of the controversy surrounding Halloween for Christians. It's a touchy subject, which is why I should have never chosen that as my topic for a persuasive speech in college, at Gordon, when I really didn't know enough about it... You see, growing up, we celebrate Halloween with gusto in my house!! Or should I say, ghosto!! For my dad, it was certainly a highlight of each year. He had a ghouly mask, a dark cape (actually his college graduation gown!) and plenty of creepy ideas. He would play his haunted sounds record and sneak around our house spooking us out. My dad LOVED to scare his sweet little children.
Growing up, my parents were the youth leaders at our tiny Baptist church we attended only a short, short walk from our house. Each year they would set up a haunted house in the creepy basement of either the hundreds of years old church or our own hundred year old house. The basement door at my parents house still has neon spraypainted warnings on it! As a child, I remember sneaking out on Mischief Night armed with bars of soap, toilet paper and old tube socks filled with flour. After a night a pure mischief (LOL), while we would head back home reviling in our childlike pranks, out of the bushes would jump this cross between Big Foot and my dad! I don't know that I've ever screamed so loud in my life!!
These event would all lead up to the "funnest" night of the year - Halloween! Never was there a mention of Satan, or pagans, or any other evil that might lurk outside. It was pure fun and sugar and we loved every minute of it. So why, as I went off to a christian college, would I be so bold, or so stupid, as to choose to give a speech on why we, as christians, should not celebrate halloween. Whatever possessed me?
Most of it, I guess, was my exploration of my faith, my new surroundings unlike anything I'd ever experienced in public school but also of the creepy feeling we would all get around Christmas just on the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts. We were warned each year not to go to Salem, as witches from all over would flock to Salem to celebrate their high holy day. Stories would circulate around campus of ritual sacrifices found in the surrounding woods, of satanic displays found in dorm rooms, a crazy woman who lived in the area surrounding Gull Pond, and many more disturbing tales.
Halloween became evil to me there. In fact, I was sure something spiritual was stirring each year there. Every halloween that I was in college it rained. One year there was even a hurricane! Then my last year there, on the way to my pre-practicum in Lynn, I heard the most bizzare radio show. They had invited a Warlock onto the show, and right there while I listened he put a curse on the visiting baseball team. It was creepy!
My speech was a bomb, and I'm glad because I didn't really believe all the crazy facts I presented. Of course, there was plenty of material in that late 80's era of back masking and cult ritualism. In my heart, though, I knew there was some value to this "holiday", that it wasn't pure evil. Of course, my father may have taken it to an extreme and we don't aspire to that in our house! But we also don't lock ourselves up on Halloween, declaring that all our neighbors who partake in this ghoulish tradition are evil pagans. We welcome the opportunity to spend time with our neighbors, to meet our neighbors and to enjoy the children that this holiday brings to our door who might never find us otherwise.
In thinking about this subject, I came across and interesting article in Christianity Today that I found intriguing. Of course, the reference to those bad Gordon students who did not adhere to the warning to stay away from Salem was irresistable to me! I love it!! It challenged me to think about what my message is for Halloween, what can I teach my children about this tradition and how can we use it to reach out instead of pulling away. For this year, I'll skip mischief night. I'd rather not be cleaning up toilet paper and soapy windows for now! As christians, we have a message for those who do celebrate Halloween as a religious event. It's a message of hope and life, not fear and despair. I think that's what I want to display.
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