On the first day of October, I was sure to wear my Snoopy shirt with all the pumpkins to remind everyone that it is the season of Halloween. It’s a great month. It begins to be fall, and it’s the only socially acceptable time for Christians to talk about death.
Admit it–it’s a taboo subject. We’re all supposed to be full of faith, hope and love right to the very end. We’re supposed to act like it will never happen. And then it does.
When my kids were young and would still do family devotions, I had a whole month’s worth of material for October. We talked about death and heaven. We talked about spirit and the Holy Spirit. We made ghosts for people who had died during the previous year. We had a special pumpkin named Fred, and every year Fred met Jesus.
The reason Fred was named Fred was because one time I brought him to a Sunday school class, and the teachers freaked out. I had a carved pumpkin <em>in church</em>!
So when I asked the kids what the pumpkin’s name was, they naturally said, “Jack!”
The teacher glared at me with horrified eyes.
I recovered quickly and said, “No, this pumpkin’s name is Fred.”
And the kids thought that was hilarious. Fred the Pumpkin.
My son has completely outgrown Halloween, but my daughter loves it. She’s in charge of decorating now. This year we have spiders and crows on our front porch, plus three pumpkins. One of them will become Fred.
We worked on our pumpkins on Saturday. Tonight, a lot of kids will come to our door because we live in the kind of old-fashioned neighborhood that invites trick-or-treaters. As my friend, Angela, used to say, “It’s the only time of the year that the lost come to your door.”
Happy Halloween, everyone!