A couple of years earlier I remember feeling completely exasperated following a conversation about Halloween with one of my friends. Surely carving a pumpkin lantern isn't going to make our children sign up to the dark arts any more than eating a hot cross bun is going to have them queuing for baptism?
Anyway, all this 'Happy Halloween' stuff is pretty ridiculous I agree, so for two or three years I decided not to engage with it and didn't answer the knocks. One year we even went out to give us an excuse.
It felt terribly uncomfortable though. Staying behind a closed door doesn't seem the best way to express my faith in Jesus, the God-man whose generosity knows no bounds. The Giver of Life who promises that 'everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened'! (Matthew 7:7)
The article I read pointed out that, rather than a threat, having small children traipsing up your garden path could be looked upon as an opportunity to bring light into the darkness, to welcome the chance to show practical love and generosity to these little ones.
So this afternoon I spent a happy hour or two baking batches of heart and star shaped biscuits and, once it got dark, lined the garden path with little night lights in jars. This evening our street has been full to bursting with the happy laughter and chatter of families and children. Without exception, they have been absolutely delightful ... "Did you just bake them?" "Thank you SO much!" "Which one would you choose?"
Our youngest visitor was the baby sister of two small (and very polite) skeletons, accompanied by their Dad.
However uncomfortable you feel about Halloween, I wholeheartedly recommend embracing it as an opportunity to engage with families and children in a way that diffuses darkness, brings light, and expresses the kind of neighbourliness that has the power to transform a community.
It really is as significant as that
... and you might even enjoy a 'happy halloween' next year :o)
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