So, the whole Halloween thing has been a struggle for me. Alan and I both grew up celebrating it - decorating, carving jack-o-lanterns, dressing up and trick-or-treating. I have great memories of Halloween. Except that one year when my mom made me a clown. (You totally made up for it with the years of cool dragon and crayon costumes, Mom.) But I digress...
As I have matured in my Christian faith, I have personally felt convicted about celebrating Halloween. It's a grey area and I don't think anything of the family sitting next to me on Sunday morning who will be trick-or-treating tomorrow night. I just know what I feel about my kids participating right now. I can't even take them into Walmart without seeing eyeball cupcakes and vampires hanging from the ceiling. (Thank you, Target, for your non-gruesome decor.)
With a kid in school, the subject of Halloween is unavoidable, though. Connor came home more than a week ago asking to carve, "Scary Pumpkins." So, we had to re-evaluate where we stand and why. Is it still grey? Yes. Might it change as our kids grow? Yes.
For this year, we have decided: There is no reason to celebrate "Halloween." What would we be celebrating? And there is no way I am letting my kids say to people, "Trick or treat," because it's plain sassy and rude. Yes, most giggle when I say this, but think about it! Who thought of that?! And even though they could simply say, "Treat please," we aren't trick or treating, going to the squadron party or even going to a fall festival this year because we want to protect their eyes, minds and dreams from the gruesome, scary costumes and decor they would see. We can only protect them for so many years...
BUT, there are opportunities surrounding the holiday to do some fun activities that aren't dark or scary and can glorify God. One of those is carving, as Connor would NOW say, "Happy Pumpkins." We drove a ridiculous distance today to pick up a copy of the book, The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. Then we enjoyed an evening with a new family tradition that we will definitely carry from year to year: We had friends over to carve and eat dinner!
We sat the kids down before going out to carve and read the book to them. Then we went outside and carved. Then we read this tidbit that further explained the book to them:
The Meaning of the Parable:
Just like us, all the pumpkins were different. But there was something the same about every one of them - that yucky, slimy pulp on the inside!
The yucky, slimy pulp is like the sin that's in us. Romans 3:23 says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That's every single one of us.
God has made a way that all our sin can be forgiven and washed away. God even says He'll cast them as far as the East is from the West. Romans 5:8 says: "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
John 3:16 goes on to say: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
After cleaning out that pumpkin, the Farmer gave the pumpkin a new face! The Bible says God can make us a new creation too.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Then came the really special part. The light was placed inside that pumpkin and it glowed for all to see!
2 Corinthians 4:6 says: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
And Matthew 5:16 says: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
So we can become like that pumpkin in the Christian object lesson - a glorious sight for others to see the love of Jesus!
And we ended with this prayer because it was impractical with toddlers and multiple families to do it while carving:
"Pumpkin Prayer"
{cut off top of pumpkin}
Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.
{remove innards}
Remove the things in my life that don’t please you.
Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.
{cut open eyes}
Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me.
{cut out nose}
I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good food you provide.
{cut out mouth}
Let everything I say please You.
{light the candle}
Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do. Amen
By: Liz Curtis Higgs
4 comments:
Thanks for this post Kelly. I am a little convicted about the Halloween thing, but Mitch is mega convicted, so I submitted and this year and we did costumes to a fall festival, but no trick or treating. However he already mentioned that he didn't want to carve pumpkins next year b/c the origins were to scare away evil spirits. Silly me I started crying. I just love some of the aspects of Halloween that to my symbolize FALL, not evil spirits, and to me carving pumpkins had nothing to do with spirits (I had no idea!!). So maybe this would be a good middle ground for us. Anyway, all that to say thanks for sharing your thoughts and link to the book.
Kelly...what a great idea! Ben has a seminary professor who talked about watching his new neighborhood one year and all the houses with lights out. After Halloween, he discovered that all the lights out houses were Christians. His take was that it was a shame that people were coming to their homes, right up to their front doors, and Christians were not taking advantage of it! So many different ways to think about it and engage the world around us. I like your idea and having neighborhood kids over for a party. THanks!
We feel the same way, and we love that book as well! We have gone back and forth with this subject, but have agreed for now we will focus on hunting pumpkins in a pumpkin patch, celebrating fall, carving pumpkins and not the rest that comes with Halloween. So glad to hear of another family who feels the same!
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing! I meant to ask you yesterday what you guys did, but somehow it slipped my mind! Love this!
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