Halloween: What it is and what we've made it

Halloween: The " Hallowed Eve" of All Saint's Day. What is All Saint's day? This is the day where all Saints, known and unknown, who have obtained the beatific vision in heaven are celebrated/commemorated. What's the beatific vision? A visual perception of God. So, where do we get whatever it is we do on October 31st? Check out this line of history:

The Celtic holiday "Samhain" was celebrated October 31st - November 1st and it was a symbol to mark the end of the harvest. The people believed that the border between this world and the spiritual world became thin on Samhain; because some animals and plants were dying, it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living. The Gaelic custom of wearing costumes and masks was an attempt to copy the spirits or placate them. Turnips were hollowed-out and carved with faces to make lanterns and were also used to ward off harmful spirits. This holiday eventually became associated with the Christian holiday of All Saints Day.

So here we are. LOOK HOW CUTE! The little ghosties and pumkins and crossy in the graveyard! Don't forget the little bunny with the skull on his ear.

The world has taken this spirit-placating ritual and turned it into something scary. I mean, fun. We carve pumpkins because it's easier than carving turnips. We dress up as characters, ghosts, witches, and whatever else society has told us we need to fear or placate, such as murderers with chainsaws.

TRICK OR TREAT! Hey mister, you gimme candy or I throw eggs at your car!
Good times, eh?

The first time I experienced western, commercialized Halloween was in 6th grade. I was in Canada going to public school and my Mom called up another girl's mom and asked if I could go trick o' treating with them. (Yep. That's how popular I was) I dressed up like a Renaissance princess and threw on my winter coat and got out there! It was great. I got candy in my pillowcase from little old ladies that smelled like prunes. I was enjoying myself, until we went to the haunted house. I can still feel the fear clutching my insides to this day. We descended a long, dark staircase into a red lit room. There were body parts all over the floor. (I was eleven, guys, gimme a break.) The mom I was with started to clutch my arms harder as we shuffled through the disgusting mess. My heart raced and pounded in my ears as things moved and jumped all around us, but everything stopped when we got to a large room with nothing but a chair in the middle. A chair with a dark, hooded figure slumped over. You couldn't see it's face. We could see the exit just outside the room and we were headed straight for it, inching around the thing in the chair, when I lost my breath. It disappeared. You know that scream that isn't really a scream? It happened. The thing in the chair raised only it's head. A skeletal, flesh-stretched, empty head with wide bulging eyes and a grimace ready to devour. "I am the evil one," it whispered, moving only it's mouth. At that moment the mom who was digging her claws into my arms gave a guttural cry and harshly shoved me towards the door. I scampered as fast as I could to get out but I could feel it watching me, chasing me even. I knew it was right behind me I could feel it! Closer and closer it almost had me! Then I was outside. And it wasn't behind me. I was eleven. Canadian Halloween wasn't fun anymore.

I grew up in Ukraine. You know what their decorations are for Halloween? No pumpkins with happy faces, colored leaves, cute little ghosties and funny dancing skeletons. They had decapitated dolls with blood smeared on their faces. Satanic symbols. Statues of demonic creatures. Posters of possessed children with white eyes. You know why? Because they wanted to be like North America and celebrate this awesome time of fright and bite, but they missed the memo that everything was supposed to be fake.

Halloween therefore became a celebration of all that is dead and/or evil. Does that sound like something Christians should be associated with? And you wondered why your church always threw a "fall/festival/party" thingie in their gym on October 31st.

What people don't realize is that while they're eating candy corn and telling spooky stories about hooks being left on car doors is that in other parts of the world girls are being abducted and sacrificed to Satan by witches and warlocks because they know it's their night to shine. Oh yes, it happens. Shocked? Halloween is not all fun and games. It's real. Just like ghosts are not just happy whispy sheet things, they are otherwise known as demons and they have real power. And you know what's even scarier than that? It here. In your America. It's infiltrating the happy holiday you've created and turning it into something else and you don't even see it. But those of us who know what it could be see it behind every corner. Be on guard.

What's wrong with candy? Everyone eats candy. - Nothing.
What's wrong with costumes? It's just dressing up! - Nothing.
What's wrong with pumpkins? They're just lit-up gourds! - Nothing.
What wrong with being spooked? Everyone likes a good scare! - Nothing.
What's wrong with pretending that it all means nothing? - Everything.

The meaning behind Halloween is huge. For some people it's a festival of orange and black. For others, it's a thing of great evil that they've seen. Don't forget that what you take delight in could be somebody else's nightmare.
Is it possible that it might not really be worth it?

REMEMBER WHAT WE ARE REALLY HERE ON EARTH TO CELEBRATE.

And who's celebration is Halloween? Do you think it matters to him how you've changed it? It's still his day. Isn't it? Think about that.

So go ahead. Have fun. Trick and treat, scare and scream, get decked out to your hearts delight, but don't forget what you're doing and what it could mean to the person next to you on the street; the person who you could be sharing Christ with.

Hey, here's a thought. If Jesus were to hang with you on Halloween night and go all trick 'o treatin', what would he dress up as?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Phillippians 4:8

"The best laid plans of idiots and men often go astray."

A plan: a system for achieving objective, a method of doing something that is worked out in advance.

To plan: to intend to do something, to make arrangements to do something.

To change: to make something become different, to exchange/substitute/replace something.

Change of plans: when God smacks you upside the head for making your own plans.

Being at Moody Bible Institute is a privilege and an honour. It’s considered one of the best schools for preparing the future Christian leaders that the world needs. Wherever I go, people ask about my experience at Moody.

“Do you like it? How do you feel about living in downtown Chicago? What’s your major? What year are you in? What’s your favourite class?”

But my least favourite question is this: “What do you plan to do after you graduate?”

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? I want to shout...

But I don’t...

My freshman year I knew exactly what I wanted to be. A worship leader. Why? I don’t know. I just did. So I’m in the 5 year music program because it’s the best I can get out of Moody and things are going well. Then I realize I don’t want to spend 5 years in school. So I switch to the 4 year program. Then I get introduced to different aspects of classical music, and try my hand at singing on a more academic level. I try out for solos, I don’t get them. I look for a church to get involved on the worship team with. Can’t find one. Is there a group of students that want to form a chapel band? Yeah, but they don’t need me. Getting a little discouraged here...

2 years I search for a church to get involved with. The result? I was inundated with poor theology, self-praising worship bands, and cold-hearted church-goers who were only interested in the latest gossip. The decision? I don’t want to be involved in church ministry.

OOPS.

“um... cheri... you can’t say that... you’re at moody... this is where the church leaders of tomorrow are trained... you have to do church ministry. why else would you be here?”

So now I’m in my third year, which is also my senior year because I crammed everything, and I don’t want to do the job my degree is preparing me for. What if I want to be a behind-the-scenes person? What if I don’t want to be the leader? Or what if I’m just afraid to be because I’ve never done it before?

Earlier this week I had a meeting with a post-college/career development person here at school and I told him I had no experiences or skills to put on my resume. Never led, never prepared, never planned or organized anything—unless you count in-class projects or book learning, which isn’t experience anyways. He looked at me like I was from another planet. (For some reason some people don’t get the fact that it's hard to find opportunities to lead something in a community of 1000+ leaders.) I then spent the rest of the week wallowing in the fact that I was a total loser, completely unprepared for anything, even the ministry God has called me for (whatever that may be). The other day one of my friends had, jokingly, said that’d I’d probably end up working at McDonald’s after I graduated. That prospect started to look a lot more plausible and it freaked me out! I started to think about my other skill sets such as organization and multi-tasking that might end up being the breadwinners in my life and a vision of myself in a suit and heels sitting behind a desk popped into my mind—with the occasional specialty-coffee-order-pickup-run.

HOLD IT! THIS ISN’T WHAT I’D HAD PLANNED!

Well... does it really matter what I want? Does it matter what I’d planned for myself? Not really. I just think it does. Sometimes I forget that. My best advice that I often give people is the one thing I just can’t seem to do: chill out. Calm down. It will work out. God’s in control. I promise you it won’t be easy, and it will suck BIG alot, but in the end God will accomplish exactly what he wants to, and if you’re in tune with him it will be what you want too. Easier said than done, friends.

Life is a rollercoaster operated by God. You go up and down and over and under and sometimes it gets so bad you even lose your cookies—but God will never let you derail. If he did you’d die. And that won’t happen because he’s already saved you. But hey, if you don’t get on in the first place, you’ll miss the ride.

Late this afternoon the church I’m doing my internship at called me and asked if I would lead worship tomorrow (Sunday). Well pin a tail on me and call me a donkey!

“So, Cheri... what will you do after you graduate?”

“No clue. I don’t make my own plans anymore. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”