Halloween : Why Christians should celebrate without fear

Growing up Christian, I was often held back from the Halloween celebration. I remember feeling bad watching all the other kids dressing up, collecting sweets, and having fun. Another thing I remember is hearing all sorts of ideas and theories about Halloween, some of which did use to spook me. I know many people are wary of Halloween and don’t want their children to take part in it. I understand being afraid and feeling the need to protect your children from what you consider to be evil or from people who are up to no good. However, I have realized that if there’s one thing I need to protect my children from, it is fear itself.

Fear might have been useful for our hunter-gatherer ancestors. They needed to be constantly on guard to survive. A predator might jump out at any moment. Fear was necessary to tackle these dangers. However, in the modern age, the fear that we feel is often unnecessary. For many of us, this fear is more dangerous to us than the thing that has invoked it.

There is an acronym that I have talked about in my book which goes like: FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Sometimes, the thing we are afraid of is not as big and menacing as we think. Sometimes, that thing is not there at all. It is a trick that our mind plays on us.

Darkness is only an absence of light. It has no power of its own. Light can make the darkness disappear but this does not happen the other way around. I like to think about the concepts of evil, wickedness, or sin in the same way. They are an illusion, a smokescreen, an error in judgment.

Fear makes us feel that we are all alone and the world is out to get us. It somehow convinces us that there is danger waiting for us at every corner. Fear is a pernicious weed that will keep multiplying if you don’t pull it out. It will penetrate and damage all areas of your life.

Faith is an effective remedy for fear. Trust that God, the universe, a higher intelligence, goodness, or anything that you believe in will not allow real darkness to exist. Just like light does not allow darkness to exist. Have faith that you are safe and taken care of.

To conclude, I want to say that you need to trust your own experience and instincts. However, don’t let fear influence your decisions. It is important to realize that sometimes, we are afraid of things that we don’t completely understand.

Try to go beyond the surface level. Dig a little deeper. Once you know more about something, you will likely fear it less. I hope that you celebrate Halloween this year in the best of spirits and without an inkling of fear.

If you’re interested in reading more about similar ideas, check out my book on love, loss and spirituality. Get your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BZTCJ1Q