Angela Chininin Buele

As a kid, I really enjoyed Halloween.  Obviously, the candy and dressing up as my current favorite character or animal were favorite traditions.  I even tested the waters of scary movies, but I couldn’t – and still can’t, or won’t – do it.

As a parent now, I wonder how the whole Halloween thing ever became widely accepted.  I mean, we spend all year teaching our kids not to walk along streets in the dark, wandering into unknown neighborhoods, taking candy from strangers.  And then, for one night, should we tell them all of that is OK.  I never thought of this as a contradiction when I was a kid, but that’s what stands out to me as a concern now.

Now, you might like to know that our kids dress up almost every day, so they get in more than their fair share of play.  And as for our porch light on October 31^st, sometimes it’s on and sometimes it’s off.  Sometimes we have a bowl of candy, and once we might have had boxes of raisins.  Did you judge me just then?  Easy, now.  We don’t have a hard and fast rule against Halloween, nor do we lean into the current practices.  In fact, I’ve actually had an idea bouncing around inside my head lately about something different for our family to do this year.  I won’t bore you with the details here, but you should know that there are Christians thinking about how to meet new people during this time of year to bless them.

I guess I never thought that the cloud of terrorism would be identified as an issue surrounding the observance of Halloween.  I mean, people have been making lots and lots of money for decades on horror and gore of all kinds.  Schools have, thankfully, banned such grotesque costumes.  But the truth remains:  The skeletons, the witches, the chainsaws, and the severed body parts are all part of the celebration of death.  But, apparently this year, it’s the clown that is the real bad guy.

People have recently been dressing up and acting like the character from the 1990 movie It, and Stephen King has made a public statement trying to get them to stop.  The author who has profited from this writing for over 20 years now seems to want people to not be terrified by his work of horror.  It seems a bit audacious that he would act as a figure leading away from terror and toward security.   This seems more than a little shady to me.  And, in the meantime, poor Ronald McDonald has had to suspend public appearances because of the scary clown sightings.

The story is quite similar at Planned Parenthood.  They have been making money by dismembering unborn babies and piecing them back together for decades.  Last year, their staff members were shown to have discussed the profits and procedures behind distributing these body parts.  Then, Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the nation, presented itself as a victim, a philanthropic organization invested in saving women’s lives, and misrepresented by the videos released by The Center for Medical Progress.  Planned Parenthood can’t be proud of what they do in rhetoric and yet act as if they were victimized in the revelation of their practices.  The culture of death and darkness will be defeated.  You just have to turn on the Light.

Key Question: Are you drawn to enjoy the darkness or the light?

Unshakable Truth:  “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”  (John 8:12).

This verse comes at the end of the story of the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus saved her from the bloodthirsty crowd, ready to stone her for her sins.  Then, he set her free to “go and sin no more.”  There is hope, forgiveness, mercy, a warm embrace ready for those who turn from the celebration of death to the love of life.  You are welcome in the light.

The Real Choice:  Will you come into the light?