The true meaning of Halloween

People talk about how we forget about the “true meaning” of Christmas and of course this is a very important issue. We should not allow society to alter the basic fundamental reason for and acknowledgement of Christ entering the world. But what about other holidays? There are plenty of stories about the origins of Halloween, but it seems OK that this night has transformed into something more modern – or at least is treated much differently than in times past.

Last night it was a time for children (and kids-at-heart) to loosen up, to be excited about doing something frivolous, to plot and plan about something that has little meaning and likely has no consequences. My little ones selected costumes and make-up (there was no fear of being “wrong”). 15 year old Julie and friends (without direct parental supervision) determined which streets to trick-or-treat on (they are all nearby side streets, mobbed with little ones and parents, and aside from a few mouthy middle-schoolers trying to be cool – totally trouble free). 21 year old Timmy’s goal was to be home from college in time to not miss any trick-or-treaters. 22 year old Mary talked 22 year old Katie (her bridesmaid) into dressing up and going out, then raced home from post-grad college classes to catch up with the gang. Corey casually went to work because none of his friends were going out this year (too old), but when he got let out early – raced to catch up with Mary. No house refused them candy on the grounds that they were too old. 32 year old Yon lost the battle with Katie over who got the cow costume, and settled for the clown suit – and then had to battle Tim over who passed out candy to the next group.

1/4 mile away is “the development” with 8 intersecting roads, hundreds of kids and hundreds of dollars of goodies on every street. Parents are dressed up, yards are dressed up (the merging of art & technology is impressive). Jeeps & ATV’s towing tricked-out trailers (expanding the range of youngsters whose little legs would never take them so far) are equally impressive.

I loved that even my “too old for this stuff” kids could throw caution to the wind and decide to not be too old. And it occurred to me that this is something that society desperately needs. A chance to be silly, creative, young, carefree, out after dark, mingling with strangers, getting rewards for no logical reason or accomplishment (other than for making the afore-mentioned choices). Our lives and our kid’s lives have become so intense, so focused on advancement, so fearful of failure, so devoid of pure fun – we need this night. We need to be ghouls and pirates and ninja’s and cows and clowns for a foolish night – just to get a break from being US. We need to make decisions that DON’T affect what college we might get into. We need to put on a uniform that won’t come with a critiquing coach. We need to step outside of our established boxes and be creative and artistic in whatever medium we choose.

As much as I wish Christmas would stay true to it’s origin, I am very pleased that Halloween has evolved into what it is today – meaningless, foolish, lavish, fun. As much as we need our lives to have deep meaning for our souls sake– we also need it to have moments that are free from any deep meaning for our sanity’s sake.
Happy Halloween!!!