HALLOWEEN: A SECULAR HOLIDAY? -- Devotional for October 30, from "Good Seeds"

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against evil powers, against the rulers of this present darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12-13)

Today is the eve of Halloween Day, which in turn is, of course, the eve of All Saints Day. I say “of course” as if I expected this to be common knowledge, at least among Christians. But, sadly, it is not. Many of us do not know the spiritual roots of this supposedly secular holiday. The Holy Day is actually November 1st, formerly called “All Hallowmas.” The word hallow means “to make holy, to set apart for sacred use.” Did we say Halloween is considered to be a secular holiday? Well, it is, but only in this unfortunate sense: The day set apart for the honoring of great men and women of the faith, both of Bible days and since, certainly is a holy day. But how many Christians these days pay it even the slightest notice? Instead, they, along with the unbelieving world, have been swept up into the hype given to the day before that day: All Hallow’s Eve. This is the day, supposedly, when evil comes out to play, when the forces of “this present darkness” shout their last hurrah, before righteousness returns to restore order. And so Halloween, at its roots, is not about innocent, ”secular” evil (is there even such a thing?) No, it is rather the day when the Arch-Enemy of God, Satan himself, and all his pawns, cronies, demons and agents are given free reign in the hearts of men. And they’re given such permission seemingly with impunity since, after all, it is THEIR day! Compare Halloween with Mardi Gras and you’ll have it about right. Lent, on the calendar of liturgical churches, is the forty day period before Easter, when the faithful give up pleasures of the flesh to prepare themselves for the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection. “Fat Tuesday” is the day just prior to the beginning of that time of enforced seriousness when permission is again given, even to professed God fearers, to indulge themselves in ways they would never normally do. Of course, when people of the world see their religious friends dancing in the streets – and dancing with the devil! – they are overjoyed, and join right in, saying, “Now this is a religion I can live with!” But is it true religion to barter with God, promising to be good at certain times in exchange for His looking away at other times? And does it please God when we take the things representing mankind’s undoing and make them our playthings, even if only for one night? “Woe to those,” wrote Isaiah, “who call evil good and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, and who are heroes in drinking wine” (5:20,22). Could you find a better definition of Halloween than that – and a better reason to turn away from it?