Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Bitter-Sweet Truth About Halloween

Sometimes I think that Christians get it all wrong.

Now, don't get your undies all up in a wad (sorry, we don't use the "p" word around here)...hear me out.

We get so wrapped up in things that, quite honestly, don't matter.

Here are a few examples:

Santa Clause.  We, personally, don't do the whole Santa thing.
Do we think it is evil? No
Do we think it is a sin to play "Santa"? No
Do we think any less of the families that do the "Santa" thing? No
We've just chosen not to go that route

Tooth Fairy. You know we do this one:)
Are we lying to our kids? No
As a matter of fact, when she asked if fairies were real we just told her that they were fun.
Oh, and did I mention, the money she got from her Meme for her tooth was given, in full, to Jesus that next Sunday and after Josh shared from the stage about how soft her heart had been to the Lord as she gave Him everything, it led to several other's hearts being softened to give whole-heartedly.  We heard of one teenager who gave all her gas money in the basket...because of Areyna!

And then there is Halloween.
Oh the controversy that surrounds this holiday.
To us it is about the heart and what we focus on.  I'm sure there are a million other not-so-good holidays that we don't even know about that we somehow participate in without even knowing about.  But why do we get so bent out of shape over allowing our kids to dress up (I mean, mine do on a daily basis!) and get candy after they should actually be in bed:)  For us, it has led to some lasting friendships in the neighborhood.  For us it is a fun, exciting time to celebrate the fall.

That's all...

But while we are on the topic of candy...

Here is something that should get the blood in your veins fired up!  Did you know that "most of the chocolate consumed in America is made by African children who are trafficked and sold into slave labor?"

Here are a few articles to read, in your spare time of course, to get you fired up about something that DOES matter!  Read about the Dark Side Of Chocolate HERE and HERE.  I had NO idea, but now that I do know I will be held responsible for my reaction.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This world ...

:sigh:

Tony C said...

Kudos!

I completely agree we focus too much on 'should we/shouldn't we?'

Thanks for being candid and putting the spin on this subject it deserves.

I actually know a Christian family that doesn't do the Santa thing because they want the credit for what their kids get instead of Santa. Geezzzz!

Last part was very troubling...

Susan Sene said...

I've gotten looks already because we're going trick or treating. I did it when I was younger and never associated it with things that were "evil". I think it's all a matter of how the parents do it.

Oh, and we don't do Santa either. :)