Day of the Dead?

“Love, like death, changes everything.” ~Kahlil Gibran

This time of year has always been my favorite. I love the fall colors, the fall food, the fall sweaters, smells, etc, etc. My anniversary is November 1st (5yrs tomorrow!). Halloween, on the other hand, used to be a big question mark for me. Do I celebrate, as a Christian? Do I make a point of telling others about my faith? Do I pretend I’m not at home? Do I celebrate as my non-Christian friends and neighbors do? I’m not sure why I tend to over-think things like this, but that’s the way I am. I like to analyze.

This year is a little different. There has been a LOT of death recently in my community and in my own life as well as the lives of my friends and family. It quite honestly frightens me. Like a divorce, the death of a friend or loved one (or the friends and loved ones of friends), death makes you reevaluate things in your life like relationships, priorities, hopes and dreams, and the unknown clock that is running out for each and every one of us. We each carry a skeleton around on the inside.

If the focus, for you or me or anyone else, stays on death, then no, Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead festivities are not fitting for a Christian to celebrate perhaps. There is, of course, more to the story than a skull and crossbones at the end of the trail. Our story continues after death. For those who have decided against popular culture and chosen Christ, there is no fear of what comes after death, because of the love of God.

“It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again. Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won’t die or decay. The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true, “Death has lost the battle!Where is its victory?Where is its sting?”Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin.But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!My dear friends, stand firm and don’t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.” – 1 Corinthians 15:52-58