Trick... Or, treat?

Recently, some of my friends had hesitated to invite me to Halloween parties and the like, assuming that because I'm a Christian, I don't "celebrate" Halloween*.

* Despite Husband claiming quite openly on Facebook that he is uber excited about Halloween, and has even posted photos of his costume, ordered to match our son's, for an enjoyable evening of door knocking, and, as he puts it: 'hyperglycaemic sociopathy'.

I'm curious about what Halloween means to you, because whatever its purported origins, it now seems more about an excuse to carve faces into pumpkins, swap ghost stories, and raid people's lolly stashes. Which, y'know, is pretty fun.

This week on Facebook, many of both my Christian and non-Christian friends have expressed their views and opinions on Halloween. They see it as either un-Christian, or un-Australian.

I just want to make it clear, that I do not find my identity in Halloween...

I find my identity in Christ.

Perhaps it is Husband's influence, as he dresses up as a comic book character this day, or, perhaps it's because we are a big part of a church plant in the suburb we live in; but each and every year, I find Halloween as a great opportunity to get to know my neighbours: To spend time with people in their environment. To chat to them in the street; to hang out with them as our respective kids collect treats; and to have a conversation with them about, perhaps, what Halloween means to them.

Husband lived in the United States when he was little and regales me with tales of Halloween from when he was a kid: the entire neighbourhood being out and about, parents taking the opportunity to be silly and, I guess, for one evening, delving back into the world of fantasy and storytelling in a way we have lost in our increasing corporatisation. I have to be honest, I rather like the sound of that. 

The Bible tells us to be a light to the world, not to hide away from the world, and wait in our cosy lounge rooms until Christ returns. Last year, I posted about some creative things I'd made for previous Halloween nights. This year, I decided to use some of the skills I have developed over the past year and make something unique, in copious quantities.

Which ended up as these:

I did attach the same tracts that I also used last year with treats handed out, since, well, I am a Christian, and sharing that is important to me. Plus, maybe it distracted me from Husband running around wielding a sword. No-one called the cops, which I put down to excellent tract-work.

It was wonderful hanging out the front of ours/other people's houses; meeting new friends and folks who had recently moved into the new housing estate we live in; watching our kids get into character and have a make-believe adventure starring a wizard, a Pokémon, a cat, and Bob the Builder.

There's also nothing like a bit of self-promotion, so I happened to also attach the same card I attached to the Top Chick biscuits, so that perhaps someone in our community might click on my blog, see this post, and read about my stance on Halloween and Christ.

And, as you've probably been itching to see, since I mentioned 'Husband' and 'costume' in the same sentence, here's some of the craziness that he and Ben got up to. Reactions varied from "are you Spiderman?" to "No, you're Flash!" and "Could it be a caterpillar?" ... No, people. It's Deadpool.

I'd like to take another moment and mention that I, myself, created those super sexy sword holsders on each of their backs... Out of knotted strips of fleece :) - feeling proud.

Out of the close-to-a-hundred photos I took, this one was probably the best. #somehowthisalwayshappens #whyamiusinghashtags:

The kids, young and a bit older, all seemed to have loads of fun dressing up, travelling around the suburb, gathering edible loot, and causing mischief. Once my family had been trick-or-treated out, we all went and got drive-thru KFC for dinner. Husband was still... in character, and still causing mischief:

Happy Halloween!

I hope you either met, or pretended to be someone new today :)