The "Spookiest Halloween" is a very interesting summary. I have fixed feelings as to whether we as Christians should be a part of the Halloween traditions. Probably the key is to evaluate our own level of committment and perception of the traditional events.
I remember that as I was growing up back in Chillicothe, Ohio, the Mayor would make a decree that a specified date is to be "Beggar's Night". We did not go "trick or treating" on Halloween, but went out on Beggar's Night. This year Beggar's Night was probably Saturday night, October 28. We would go around the neighborhood with our "Halloween" costume or disquise and a candy bag and say, "Tonight is Beggar's Night, please give us a bite to eat".
I don't remember that my parents ever went with us on "Beggar's Night". That, however, is probably more a sign of the times in which I grew up. There seemed to be very little fear that anyone might do as harm as we went around the neighborhoods. I have some very fond memories of those times.
I was never aware of any association with witchcraft or any religious connections whatsoever. I tried to go about observing Halloween with my own children in the same manner, but somehow it was never quite the same. I know that through the years that it has become more the "trick or treat" version as we typically see now.
Just recently I asked my parents, who still live in Chillicothe, if the same tradition is still observed. They said that the mayor does still decree the night that was to be Beggar's Night.
Chuck
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