With 2 very young kids, Mike and I are figuring out what we think about Halloween. I, personally, never liked dressing up when I was a kid; thus, Halloween was more of a cultural 'holiday' I had to endure. However, it seems like it gets more and more popular each year. And I can see how it would be fun for our kids to get dressed up and go around the neighborhood to different houses getting candy and seeing others' costumes (some of them anyway, some are pretty frightening!) - it is a fun experience.
I like this article from the First Things blog. It is a short little piece, but it puts Halloween in a perspective of Salvation History. The author suggests that Halloween needs to be celebrated in conjunction with All Saints Day (Nov. 1st) and All Soul's Day (Nov. 2nd). She explain how Halloween has a medieval feel to it and represents how we are born pagan and with sin. All Saints Day is our life journey striving to be saints, and All Soul's Day is a memorial the dead. I appreciate this viewpoint and it makes sense to me.
This year we are simply having dinner with some friends tonight. No costumes or trick or treating. Perhaps next year we'll venture out!
1 comment:
Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas
halloween has an interesting history
happy birthday in 30 minutes all saints sister
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