Tuesday, October 23, 2012

and I'm back

Been a long time since I wrote my blog, yeeeeahhhh~
Ok, so the appeasing rock'n'roll intro should have taken the edge off the lack of posts around here.

The rain has started again. In the fall, it rains and rains, and slowly the days get colder. One day you wake up, and the rain is now snow.  But for now, we are still oooo-ing and ahhh-ing over the beautiful colours of the turning leaves, and scuffling through the fallen leaves on the sidewalk as they crunch underfoot. My neighbours have Hallowe'en (All Hallows Eve- Oct 31, as Nov 1 is All Saints Day) decorations up. There are mock gravestones, and ghosts and monsters in many porches. On the evening of Oct 31, as it gets dark, the children start coming around door to door for candy.  They say 'trick or treat' but they mean 'Please give me candy'.


I am no longer in favour of this seemingly 'harmless' tradition... Here is the background:

Many years ago.. it was believed that the night before All Saints Day all the goblins and ghosts would roam the earth. So if anyone went out, they had to disguise themselves as a ghost or goblin or they would be attacked.  It is also the date of the pagan holiday, Samhein.

This intimates that we must live in subordination to the ghosts and demons on earth.  This is in direct contradiction to II Timothy 1:7 which states that God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Now there is conflict in the house because darling Hubs still thinks it is a harmless wonderful day and a chance to see the babies in costumes. Throw in candy, and you've got him - hook, line, and sinker!
The same thing will happen at Christmas. Purportedly the 'birthday of Jesus', the date is the same as the pagan new year. Many of the 'Santa Claus' details match or are only slightly varied from the pagan tradition.  Again, DH thinks it is harmless and a chance to give presents to the babies.

While I do not think this is the time of year that Jesus was born, it is possible that this is the time of year when the Magi arrived with their gifts for Jesus.  [Jesus was born when the shepherds were spending the night out doors, not something you'd be keen to do in December..]

It's all going to come around again in the Spring, when the pagans worship Ostara (fertility goddess- where the name of Easter comes from).  I celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on Passover, which does not always occur on the 'Easter' holiday.  Again, some clever devil has woven a bunch of children's treats into the holiday, so if you stand against it, you're accused of 'hating children'. Insidious.


How does a Bible believing Christian wife reconcile all these differences?  Enjoy Thanksgiving, and decorate with plain, uncarved pumpkins (instead of grotesquely carved ones). Focus on Jesus, and giving gifts (especially handmade or service related gifts)and disregard the Santa Claus part of Christmas [much easier to do now that the babies are adults]. Celebrate Jesus' resurrection and forget the 'Easter eggs'.
Pray for DH. Pray some more. Love everybody. Because "God is love, and we're His little children! God is love, and we belong to Him".


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