Friday, October 27, 2006

Halloween

It's Halloween weekend. Okay, that may be stretching it a bit since Halloween is on Tuesday, but why not? This time of year, you hear lots from the wackos who speak out that Halloween is evil, and it's a Satanic holiday, and we should do away with it.

I'm a Conservative Christian, and I'm here to tell you that's a bunch of bunk (my personal opinion, but hey, that's why you're here). Do Satan worshippers and wiccans and whatever those Earth/nature/tree worshippers call themselves do anything special on Halloween? It wouldn't surprise me at all. But does that make it a Satanic (or otherwise evil) holiday? I say absolutely not. In fact, I'm not even sure you can call it a "holiday" any more than Earth Day is a holiday. No one is off work or school just because it's Halloween. The mail still runs. You can still go to the bank.

So what is Halloween? I could give you the historical version, but you can get that on Google or Wikipedia. What you can't get from them is what I think Halloween is (not until Google adds this post to their index, anyway).

Halloween is like going to an amusement park in July. It's like running down the street after the ice cream truck hoping to get a Froze Toes or other cool creamy confection. It's like splashing in puddles after a hard summer rain. Halloween is fun. It's fun for kids, and can be fun for parents, too. It can be fun for everyone, really -- just keep it clean and safe.

Halloween is the first big thing kids have to look forward to after summer ends and school resumes. It gives kids something to look forward to as they sit in a classroom watching the leaves fall, remembering an all too short summer break. Halloween is what you make it. You choose whether it's good or evil. You choose whether it's fun or just another day. For me and my family, it will be Fun (that's fun with a capital F).

My son chose his costume earlier than usual this year: a bat. My daughter will be a flower. We'll give out candy and go trick-or-treating, then stop by my wife's parents' house to show off the kids' costumes. When it's all over, my son will trade in some of his candy for Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, which are much healthier, less fattening, and don't cause tooth decay. My wife and I will probably take enough pictures to fill a CD.

Over the next few days, I'll have a little Halloween fun here on the blog, as well. I'll be sharing with you some ghost stories that are actually based on true stories. You may not find them spooky or scary, but they all have an element of the unknown. I hope you enjoy them. And if you've got a ghost story to share, send it in to averagejoe.blogs@gmail.com.

And I hope you (safely) enjoy Halloween, as well. Here's wishing you a Happy Halloween, whether you want it to be or not.

Joe

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