halloween hospitality

Well, depending on your perspective, today is one of the best or worst days of the year for Americans--Halloween. For me, I'm excited it's Halloween, and I'm looking forward to celebrating with my family and neighbors.

Sure, there are some who will object by saying that Halloween has pagan roots and is the day on which most satanic activity happens, which are probably both true. But, in our culture and time, I think Halloween is a good thing, and I will joyfully participate. My wife and I have had many conversations about this topic since she went to Christian school and learned about the history of Halloween. As a teenager, she went on a one-woman mission to get her family to stop participating. But since then, I think she's adopted more of my approach to the day.

Here are some reasons that I will joyfully participate in Halloween:

1. Halloween is the only day of the year (at least in suburbia) when all the people come out of their fortresses...I mean...houses...and interact with their neighbors. In our day of "crowded loneliness," Halloween is a time for neighbors to get to know each other, laugh together, show hospitality and build trust and friendship. This is a good thing that we should celebrate.
2. Halloween is a great opportunity to love children. It's generally accepted that if you love a child, you are loving his or her parent as well. Children are experiencing increasingly difficult lives--and Halloween gives you the opportunity to know and encourage the kids in your neighborhood.
3. It's payback for how the pagans have hijacked Christmas. For believers, Christmas is one of the most important days of the year. Yet, the culture at large has hijacked the meaning of Christmas until the original celebration--the birth of God the Son--is almost totally forgotten. So, by celebrating Halloween with fun and friendship and candy, we can hijack the original meaning of this pagan holiday.
4. Candy. I love candy. Jerry Seinfeld says it best.

These are just some of the reasons that tonight you'll find me outside with my neighbors eating chili, drinking cider, handing out candy, and thanking God for this unique opportunity to love my neighbors as myself.