My husband, my 16 year old daughter, and I are in the car. My daughter says she's invited to her friend's Halloween party, reminding me that I haven't given her an answer yet. Then one of us uses the words "holiday" and "Halloween" in the same sentence. I probably said something like "Halloween is [name of beloved person]'s favorite holiday."
George says, "Halloween isn't a holiday."
Jenny and I look at each other.
I say, "It's on the calendar. It's a holiday. It's not a bank holiday but it's a holiday."
Jenny says, "Dad, it's a holiday."
"It's not a holiday," he says. "Halloween isn't a holiday. . ."
How is it that in 26 years and 5 kids we've talked about Halloween, but we've never had this particular discussion?
George and I rarely, if ever, fight. We differ on almost everything, but I don't think we've ever really had a knock-down-drag-out-fight. Some people will tell you that fighting and making up is healthy but we're so different that our energy is better spent talking about the things we agree on. And we've managed to stay both happy and married.
So, I offer to look it up Halloween on the Internet to see if it's really a holiday. [The Internet - the final word! LOL!] Search "Halloween Holiday?" (without the question mark, then with the question mark). I ask you. Is there any doubt in your mind that most people consider Halloween a holiday? But here's the clincher.
Wikepedia says, "The word holiday has. . . different meanings in English-speaking countries. [Aha!] Based on the English words "holy" and "day", holidays originally represented special days of the Christian Church calendar. The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day."
[Precisely what I was thinking! I couldn't have said it better. But there's more...]
"In Canada and the United States, a holiday is a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for "celebration" but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observation or activity. A holiday can also be a special day on which schools and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day."
[Ok, it's a national/multinational/cultural celebration. Schools celebrate but they're not closed. It's not a bank holiday. . .]
"In most of the rest of the English-speaking world . . . a holiday is also a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation . . . the North American equivalent being 'vacation'. "
[Who do I know who takes a Halloween vacation or a Halloween break? No one. Ok, point taken... I say it's a holiday. You say it isn't. Fine!]
Whether or not you celebrate it, I still say that if it's on the calendar, it's somebody's holiday! If you're trying to decide whether or not you should celebrate, I can't tell you that. You just have to decide. If you don't have to decide, that's even better!
If you feel like you're stuck, talk to God about it. You may find Romans 14 and Colossians 2 helpful. The history of holidays is interesting, too. If you want some rich conversation, ask people why they celebrate this day and not that one or why they celebrate something the way they do. :)
And if you want to get really confused, hang out at our house!
We had this discussion with our kids just the other day. They asked if Halloween was a holiday and we said "yes, but not the kind mom gets to stay home from work for."
ReplyDeleteWe've always loved Halloween and celebrate it with gusto. I'm even dressing up with the kids for the first time this year. As a witch even!
I think the arguments against Halloween, mostly by conservative Christians, are laughable and betray those people's ignorance about how and why the Halloween tradition was started. But I'm too tired to go into it here. Anyway, it's not really important. People will believe what they want to believe regardless of good reason or sense.