As a child I loved Halloween.
What a fantastic fall celebration for a kid. Dress up like any kind of thing you want, real or imaginary.
Go around the neighborhood, knock on your neighbor’s door and get free candy.
Parents let kids eat all the candy they can hold, plus you get to trade candy with your siblings or friends for days on end.
Every kid is like a Willy Wonka on steroids!
Well, in a perfect world, that is the way it should be, that is the way it “almost” was when I was a kid.
Yeah, it took some effort on my Mom’s part to make sure we only visited the people our family really knew well. Even after I became a teenager and had more freedom mom still instructed us on how to know what type of candy to keep or throw away or how to know if the candy had been tampered with. It is not so easy today to let kids celebrate the fall season with a candy free for all, but it is still possible, under proper supervision.
Many local church organizations have started “Trunk or Treat” events at the churches' parking lots or field.
Some people struggle with churches putting on these types of events, because they suspect that Halloween originated from some Celtic pagan ritual or festival. Most likely these people are correct regarding the beginnings of Halloween. A glance at the internet will tell you that the Roman Catholic Church Celebration of Saints had something to do with Halloween being celebrated by the general public (see “all Saints Day”). I don’t know all about that, if you must know, ask a Roman Catholic—they keep very detailed records regarding Roman Catholic Church history.
When America was founded the Puritans had a big beef with celebrating Halloween. Of course, the Puritans where some pretty uptight people who were opposed to just about everything. The following statement pretty much sums up the Puritan beliefs in a nut shell: If it’s remotely fun, it’s probably a sin!
This article is not really about Halloween's history. It's not even about arguing the merits of celebrating Halloween or not celebrating it. Shoot, most celebrations or holidays we have can be linked to a pagan festival in some way, including Easter and especially Christmas. This article is about “Curious Beast”, not the costumes our children might wear on Halloween, but rather the wolves in sheep’s clothing and the roaring lions, which deceive us simple sheep. It is about time we quit being sidetracked by something that amounts to no more than a pile of candy that will be gone in a few days, and begin to eat the treats contained in God’s Holy Word.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” ꟷ Matthew 7:15
Trick or Treat?