Thoughts on Halloween

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Halloween, to evangelical Christians in Mexico, is normally thought of as very bad.  It shares a week with Dia de los Muertos, which evangelical Christians do not celebrate.  It also is a "borrowed" holiday from the U.S., and so far what has made it here are costumes to dress up as witches and demons, as well as a variety of ugly decorations that involve blood and skulls and, well, nothing cute. 

My students constantly keep me on my toes with their well-thought out, tough questions.  Today we had lots of discussions about Halloween, why many Christians in the U.S. celebrate it, and how it is different here than there.  Overall, we had an interesting time of sharing about how, thus far, the "bad" parts of Halloween have made it to Mexico, and the cute costumes and pumpkins and candy corn and celebrations of fall haven't.  Some questions fell into the "give me a list" category...i.e. "If I go to a party, but don't wear a costume, is that okay?" and "If I just eat the candy, but don't celebrate the holiday, am I sinning?"

Sometimes it would be easier if we just had a list, wouldn't it?  But, the Bible doesn't work that way, and Christianity isn't a religion of checklists.  We discussed this at great length today, and read Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 10:23-33.  I love seeing these seven-, eight-, nine-, and ten-year old students wresting over questions of how to follow Christ and be salt and light in a fallen world.

For the record:  in the States, I enjoy Halloween.  I enjoy the pumpkins and bonfires and candy (especially the candy!)  I enjoy celebrating fall with my church family and my friends and their children.  I love this blog post written by Wondergirl about why her family celebrates Halloween.