October 14, 2009 10:07 AM
For parents: Why celebrate the saints?
Why Celebrate the Saints? A Parent's Perspective
Barbara Curtis
Crosswalk.com ContributorMaybe it's my background as a teacher. Or maybe just because I've been raising children for 39 years (with a few addendums through adoption) - but no matter how academic or ethereal the subject, I tend to look at it through children's eyes.
I make no apology for this. I will admit it's not often the most respected point of view. But I hope God is pleased by this approach to the big theological questions. After all, he said "Unless you become as a little child. . . ." Sometimes that's not so easy for grownups. But sometimes it can help us see the simple truth about a complex subject.
Since becoming Christians in 1987, our family has pretty much ignored the last day of October - except for Halloween 1990 following our flight from a legalistic church when we celebrated our newly-realized freedom in Christ at the expense of my limited seamstress skills: four knights-in-shining-armor and one fair damsel costume traipsing the neighborhood, looking for treats.
Then, comfortable that our decisions about extra-biblical issues were our own to make, we promptly dropped Halloween from our family traditions - opting instead to cozy up with the lights off for popcorn and a movie.
Parish hall harvest festivals never appealed to me. Their effort to replace a secular holiday begged the question whether something was missing. Nothing missing at all, I thought.
But now I think there was. The empty spot belongs to a longstanding, but often ignored, Christian feast day: All Saints' Day.
Read entire article here.
Posted in Holidays, Inspiration, Mothering, Spiritual education | Permalink
Comments
I really enjoyed reading this Barbara. I love thinking "outside the box" and you made very well put points that will give me a lot to chew on, and so far, have left me smiling. :) Thank you for also clearing up some misconceptions for me too.
Kristy in Germany
Posted by: Kristy in Germany | October 14, 2009 10:46 AM
Our family has always celebrated (or not celebrated) October 31 and November 1 very similar to yours.
We've just always been impressed to do nothing on October 31, except enjoy my family, and remember Godly men and women who lived and sacrificed on November 1. On All Saints Day, we read stories of missionaries, saints, martyrs, etc. I always cry at their sacrifice and am encouraged to do more with my days and time. On the years that we have quite a bit of time to devote to this and I feel like we've done this well, I always feel like we've participated in something very holy.
Posted by: von | October 14, 2009 9:25 PM
