Archives for October 2010

[Here is the note we are sending with plates of caramel to our neighbors on our street.]

For many families, Halloween brings back wonderful memories. We love to see children dressing up and enjoying themselves, eager for a day when they can come home with more candy than they can possibly eat in one sitting.

Halloween is also a time when people think about scary things: ghosts and axe murderers, death and darkness. Although the sight of a mummy hanging from a tree isn’t exactly terrifying, some things in our lives do bring chills of fear: a diagnosis of cancer, a bad economy, crime and drugs, relationships grown cold and hard.

We cannot let a holiday that reminds us of fear go by without telling you that the Bible addresses that fear head on, without flinching, and gives hope. The Bible tells us that perfect love casts out fear.

And then, the Bible defines a standard of perfect love that is unthinkable. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton son.

Because God has given something precious to us, we enjoy giving out candy to the children who come to our door. We would also like to give to you. It’s our reminder to ourselves that perfect love casts out fear.

I had an interesting discussion with David yesterday morning. I’ve been reading a book about Pocahontas to the children in the morning. In the book, Pocahontas disobeys her father to warn some white men about an impending massacre.

David commented that he thought maybe she should have obeyed her father. He was surprised when I disagreed with him.

Here is what I said, “When an authority tells us to disobey God, then we should disobey the authority.”

I don’t think the children really understood that I hadn’t answered the specific situation. In the story, Pocahontas simply knew about the plan. She wasn’t asked to DO anything. She merely had the ability to stop the massacre. But even in our secular culture we recognize the responsibility a bystander holds in a crime.

The end result: Mommy is thinking through it all far longer than the children seem to be.

Here is the verse I’ve been meditating on and trying to put into practice this week:

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:23-24

What have I been doing?

• Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about “saving my life” and how often my choices revolve around my comfort, even good choices that appear [gulp] spiritual. I know how often I need to act based on what is right first, not what I feel like first. There’s a time for acting based on feelings, but truthfully, I don’t have any trouble with that.

• I also wrote the verse out and have carried it around with me several days. Writing out a verse (even if it’s just in a notebook) seems to help me take thinking about it seriously. I need to be doing it more.

• And… remembering this verse helped me to clean the kitchen when I felt like sitting down for a cup of coffee (coffee first, housecleaning second, right? except sometimes I don’t get to the second part). Making lunches and coffee for my husband at 4:00 am sometimes takes deliberate thinking (although this week it’s two hours later, hurray!). My daughter asked me this week “Mom, why do you sound angry when you call me?” and I had to consider whether I was being angry when I called my children. I learned I needed to be deliberately taking a breath of patience when I call them. And I need to be praising them more than correcting them. That takes work!

• I’m also looking at the rest of the coming week and month to plan to deny myself and follow Christ. I need to deny myself when I take care of my responsibilities even though my husband is home more this month. I know that I’m going to need to use my mornings for work, not ease, in order to rest in the afternoons and evenings. This morning, I need to be faithful to do laundry and finish cleaning the kitchen. I need to be faithful in my Bible reading. I need to be deliberate in how I make contact with my neighbors.

So, how is God’s Word and the Holy Spirit changing you this week? What are you putting into practice?

Thanks to all the good comments on the recent trick or treating post, I’ve been lingering a little longer, thinking about the process of thinking. Here is one passage I’ve been pondering.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. I John 2:15-16

• How does this verse apply to a Christian child approaching Halloween?
• If I apply this verse to this specific situation, will I be obviously different than the world?
• Will the difference itself be offensive to unsaved people? (how can I adorn the gospel with my choices?)
• Will the difference itself be offensive to saved people? (will my actions be labeled legalistic?)

Here is another passage:

If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

²²That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

²³And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

²⁴And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:21-24

• What specifically am I “putting off” as I approach Halloween?
• What specifically am I “putting on”?

This last passage helps me conclude that Trick or Treating isn’t a hill I would die on. For example, if I had a ten year old who has gone trick or treating every year with his grandparents and cousins, I’d probably not force the issue. I still think not trick or treating is the best option, but it’s not the only way to approach the holiday. Challenging greed, replacing it with thankfulness and a giving attitude: that’s not optional. It’s biblical, and we should be teaching our children what God’s Word says about those things, regardless of whether we take them trick or treating.

This passage also reminds me of why I don’t mind the “replacement” of an objectionable holiday with a better one. What we object to sometimes is that the replacement is a poor quality. But the idea that sometimes (and I don’t know exactly when) it is good to show our children, “God’s Ways are better” by providing an alternative I think is a good one. At some ages, making a distinction between our fun and the world’s fun ON THAT DAY can be helpful. It gives children something to say when their friends ask them why they don’t go trick or treating.Compare the following:

How come you don’t go trick or treating?

Um, well, my parents don’t like Halloween. Halloween is evil and bad. Devil worship and all that.

How come you don’t go trick or treating?

Um, well, my parents don’t like Halloween. But we still get plenty of candy. And we can have friends over at our house and have fun. We even have a bigger party at our church sometimes, with a bunch of kids all together.

At an age when the interest in trick or treating is at its highest, having a replacement activity can be a good thing if it clearly makes a distinction between the world’s ways and God’s ways. I’m wondering whether the bad experiences people have had are a result of poor thinking about what we’re avoiding, and poor teaching about what we’re replacing. Perhaps later we’ll think about replacements in our Christian culture in general.