Flashback to a fallback to October 31, 2007

Happy Friday, October 31, 2025, aka, Halloween 2025. I have family, friends, and acquaintances who are convinced that having anything to do with Halloween is to sell out to Satan himself. I respect their beliefs and I do know there are some folks who most likely do embrace the occult on this particular day. Today's not so well written blog was done 18 years ago, so, show a little mercy. It will give my mostly confused view of it all. But, what else is new? Right? Y'all have a great day, a great tomorrow, and remember, Sunday, November 2, 2025 gives you a brand new week and a brand new opportunity to show up at the place where folks gather to worship The Father, The Son, and, The Holy Spirit. May God add His blessings. Amen.

 

 October 31, 2007

 

Today is the day that we celebrate Halloween. Growing up it was a big deal for us because there were six of us and it gave us an opportunity to get a huge pile of candy and treats. Back in those days no one would have ever had a thought about someone putting a razor blade or laxative or poison in our candy. I’m not saying it would have been impossible but it was never something that even came up on our radar screens. Nearly everyone in the community back in those days participated by giving out treats. They used to like to stand at their door and look at each costume and guess who each child was. Many times our outfits were homemade but there were times whenever mom was able to buy us rubber masks.

I suppose the dark side of Halloween was never an issue because no one really participated in it that way. We never even thought about how that demons and devils were being celebrated. It was more like a big dress-up celebration where everyone got to enjoy going from door to door and receiving treats. Now there were some who couldn’t afford to hand out store bought candy. They, instead, gave out homemade cookies, fruit, or popcorn balls. Some, however, could not cook very well and the kids soon learned which houses to stay away from.

 

I was a part of quite a bit of mischief growing up but I cannot remember any tricks I pulled on Halloween. That’s surprising given the fellows I ran with as a young teenager. I have heard some really tall tales about some of the pranks that were pulled. I believe my mom tells the story about an elderly lady actually sitting in her outhouse when it got pushed over by some boys. It turned out to be a really bad thing because the lady was very frail. This may have been a real thing that happened or it may have been one told to warn us not to do things that could end up hurting someone. 

 

Our kids grew up celebrating Halloween with lots of energy and fun. Fairly soon we became a part of a variety of Churches that offered festival alternatives given how the holiday began to be a cause of concern. Many years ago we had this fellow here in the Southeast Texas area that actually poisoned his own child on Halloween to collect insurance money. Then we began to have folks discover different objects embedded in the candy. Hospitals began opening up their x-ray facilities for checking treats. Wow! My how times had begun to change.

Tonight our Church is having a festival called Heroes Unmasked. It will be something like a carnival along with games and prizes with snacks and, of course, lots of candy given out. Many of the children will be dressed as Bible characters. Many of the games where they compete for prizes will have a biblical theme. If it’s like it has been in the past we will be overrun with people as they seek a safe place to let their children enjoy this celebration. It won’t be the same as it was when we roamed all over the place going from house to house, but it will still be fun, and in the end, they, just like us, will still have the opportunity to get a big ole belly ache from eating way too much candy! ....More later.