While out trick or treating with my kids this Halloween, I was extra aware of the "horror" type, costumes and decorations. And I have been pondering some questions to my myself for the last couple days. What do I say to my kids about Halloween and Magic and sorcery. (you'll see where I'm going with this second part in a second.)
For the sake of background, I was raised in a home tha did not Celebrate Halloween. Not only did we just not celebrate it, but we went to a christian school that showed us videos about Satanic cults and told us that babies were killed and sacrificed on Halloween. My mom wouldn't even let us look out the windows at the other kids that were trick or treating. We also were not allowed to watch any movies that contained magic. (No little mermaid, sleeping beauty, Care Bears) Now I want to clarify that I am not making any judgments on anyone elses decisions for their own family I am simply trying to show the different sides.
I take my own kids trick or treating, I think it's fun, they think it's fun. They're adorable in their little costumes. But Brooklyn asked me why we didn't decorate for Halloween and I didn't really have a good answer for her other than that, I just didn't want to. (My friend Heidi has since given me a really great answer that Brooklyn and I talked about: Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving-those are all things that we are celebrating about God and they are special because they teach us about God, but halloween is just fun to dress us and get candy and it's not really special)
But I also don't want to be ignorant. For a lot of people Halloween is about celebrating darkness and fear. I am just trying to figure out for myself where the balance is. I don't want to shelter my kids, I don't think that their relationship with God or their holiness is going to be affected either way by participating or not in Halloween. But I don't want to glorify fear and darkness either. My kids are smart, they are going to have lots of questions.
The second but, pairing aspect with this is the 'magic' I have no problem whatsoever with Brooklyn watching Disney and Barbie movies ( lot's of magic and spells) but when she is playing with her Barbies and I hear talking about 'the evil queen is trying to put a spell on the princess' I know that we need to talk about the difference between magic and miracles, and spells and withcraft. The main point of this post is to put the questions out there. What do you say to your kids? Where do you draw the line? How do you deal with the 'darkness of Halloween? I really do want to hear thoughts and opinions. Let me know! Let's just all remember to be respectful of other peoples choices and opinions in our posts. This is not a black and white issue. I'm pretty sure that the Bible doesn't say "Thou shall not Trick or Treat" so let's not try and be every one elses personal holy spirit :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey girl, I often wonder about this myself. I wish I also had better answers for you. Until I research it further, and can give you biblical direction, I can only give you my opinions as a mom. Growing up, I did get to partake in Halloween festivities, but was NOT in a Christian home and I think that there-in lies the difference. I don't believe you have to "celebrate" Halloween just by dressing up and getting some candy. I chose to let my kids have fun by attending Godly activities (like my church has the Orange Fest for kids) or KID activities. This year we went to Mickey's-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Our family does NOT condone the prospect of ugly Halloween crafts, decorations, or scary movies. Nothing of the sort!! If anything, decorate with lots of orange, pumpkins, and anything related to fall. The fact that many churches have activities designed around trick or treating and dressing up gives me the idea that we Christians can have fun too without celebrating any pagan holiday. I think this would also be a great question for your pastor. :)
ReplyDeleteTo celebrate or not to celebrate; that is the question. The most important thing is that each family commit the matter to prayer and listen to the Holy Spirit's direction. He is the only One that knows what is best for you and your family. And, when you stand before His throne, the only opinion that will matter is His. Thank you, Alicia, for not passing judgement. We, after committing it to prayer, were obedient to His instructions for our family. BTW, this is Mom, I can't figure out how to post as me.
ReplyDeleteNext year I'm going to spend some time pondering how to redeem the ugly focus on darkness that surrounds Halloween. Admittedly, I am extremely sensitive to anything that can possibly be construed as glorifying darkness, but I do believe that instead of hiding away from it, there's certainly a way we can communicate the fun of halloween to our kids while still rejecting the evil that surrounds it. I think we will scrap trick or treating and do some kind of fall/costume/candy celebration - maybe at a church? Also, maybe read the Easter story or something like that and celebrate how God has overcome everything that is scary and evil through Jesus Christ. I wonder if we can have a Redeeming Halloween party? That might be fun. That still communicates a spiritual principle while having fun and not burying our heads in the sand. I don't want to over-spiritualize everything, but since there's no way in our culture to avoid the glorification of death/evil that surrounds halloween, it seems like a golden opportunity to communicate to our children that there's nothing to be afraid of - the Light has completely broken the back of darkness.
ReplyDelete