JUST CALL ME A HALLOWEEN "SCROOGE" - Passing Down the Faith

Year after year my children, husband, and I would grab a bag of candy of everyone’s choice, then after a warm bowl of chili, we would retire to the basement, turn off the lights in the house—porch lights and all, and settle down for our traditional movie night with Ghostbusters! This is how we as a Christian family did Halloween celebrating one of the evilest nights of the year—hiding!

Just like in the movie the Christmas Carol when Scrooge would not open the door to carol singers, this was us with the trick or treaters. I guess you could call us cold-hearted misers who despised Halloween. Ebenezer Scrooge didn’t have much enthusiasm for Christmas and I did not have much for Halloween.

“If I could work my will,” said Scrooge…, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

This was how I felt. Maybe instead of pudding and holly, it would be candy corn and rice crispies, but you get the point.

This was a night I never thought about standing up against this night of darkness and dispelling it with light. I was just bitter with all its nonsense and the worship of stupidity and wished it would go away as I nestled under blankets counting down until the knocks on the doors disappeared and it was ‘safe” to once again surface.

DEATH WAS NOT TO BE OBSERVED

Our righteous forefathers refused to celebrate Halloween and similar festivals originating from Satanic worship. This celebration of death and fear was not observed by the Separatist Pilgrims, the Puritans, the Scottish Covenanters, the Founding Fathers, and the early Pioneers. They also felt that due to the holiday’s loose pagan origins, celebrating it would constitute idolatry. Setting aside a day to celebrate evil, darkness, witchcraft, fear, death and the demonic brings disdain to God. A Christian celebrating Halloween would be like a Satan worshiper putting up a nativity scene at Christmas while singing, “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” The two just do not go together.

Scripture and modern-day prophets have repeatedly emphasized that we are to avoid even the APPEARANCE of evil. I have always felt Halloween fits that description better than nearly anything else. We as Latter-day Saints need to build a culture of refinement, inspiration, and constant praising of the Son of God. “Eliminating” every tradition or element associated with the appearance of evil, sectarianism, sex, or paganism.

Christ said:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Here it reads very clearly that we are the light of the world—not the light of the church. That means we have to get beyond the church walls and take the light out to where it is dark. We as Christians are not to celebrate death and darkness, but we need to share light, life, and holiness and come forth out of our basements even when it is easier to hide.

AN ALTERNATIVE

It was not until a few years ago some of us ‘scrooges’ decided that it was time to stop ‘hiding’ and that as Christians it was time to claim lost territory that had been taken from us. We decided that as God’s ambassadors knowing someday we would stand before God and be held accountable if we do not raise our voice and protest in word and deed that it was time to do something. Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery are REAL. It is not an imaginary game “conceptualized for fairy tales”. The Lord’s power is real and the power of Lucifer is real.

As a family we decided to invite people over for dinner, opening our doors to others, we then gathered around for a sing-along of beautiful songs of delightful praises, ending with prayer. We also lit up our front porch with white lights and turned on all the house lights making a point to “stand out” a bit stronger. This was the first year we lit up our home in 25 yrs rather than making it look cold and lifeless. I wondered what old Scrooge would have thought had he joined us. Would he have cursed such “foolishness”? Or would he have been, like me, profoundly moved?

We decided to call this night spent together in holiness “Shekinah”. NO this is not a “fall holiday”, “repackaged holiday” or a “clean” version of Halloween but a night of holiness.

SHEKINAH

The word “Shekinah” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “God’s manifested glory” or “God’s presence.”

Hebraic literature records that “Whenever ten are gathered for prayer, there the Shekhinah rests” and “the Shekhinah rests on man neither through the gloom, nor through sloth, nor through frivolity, nor through levity, nor through talk, nor through idle chatter, but only through a matter of joy in connection with a mitzvah.”

Christ talked of the strength of collective light. Each home in a city with its lights on cast a glow across the sky. As Christians come together, there is a light for the Lord that we cannot create on our own. We shine the brightest when we shine together.

NO MORE A SCROOGE

The final paragraphs of A Christmas Carol read that Scrooge “knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge.” To this Charles Dickens adds, “May that be truly said of us, and all of us!”

What would it be like to keep October 31st well? For Ebenezer Scrooge, this was primarily a matter of generosity, joyfulness, fairness in the workplace, and care for people in need. Scrooge “became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world.” For my family doing ‘well’ meant another day that we would honor God, in hopes that “God’s manifested glory” or “God’s presence” would shine down on us as we stood with other Christians to light up our homes.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS A FAMILY

Families and individuals across the world can bring light and life, peace, and joy during the darkest period of the year by lighting their homes and celebrating light and holiness in the way that works for them.

-Turn every light on in your home

-Decorate the home and front yard with white lights and decor

-Display a “Holiness to the Lord” placard on your front porch (Exodus 28:36, Isaiah 23:18, Zechariah 14:20-21)

-Dress in white

-Play peaceful, joyful music or bring others over to sing together

-Eat white foods with white table settings, tablecloth, and centerpiece

-Bring order from chaos, clean your home

-Pray with others for the courage to keep standing and for the innocent ones this night.