Early August I walked through a Walmart and came across a center aisle display of candy corn. This was before we went to California on August 7. Recently that candy corn has found a companion, an entire aisle of Halloween candy. Last week in Costco, I found rows of Halloween costumes. Halloween isn’t until October 31 – could they not have waited at least until late September?
Perhaps I am a bit dismayed because I really don’t like Halloween. Well, there’s really no “perhaps.” And I’m probably a little more than “a bit dismayed.” I’ve made myself very clear to most people that I think the devil has that holiday in his possession and while I think children should be allowed to play dress up, dressing them up in costumes that reflect the evil of this world is just, well, evil.
Each year I can hardly wait for Halloween to pass behind us so we can get to Thanksgiving. Sunday it just came to me, if the marketers and retailers can start Halloween in August, why can’t I begin Thanksgiving also – just jump right over Halloween and pretend it isn’t there.
I told the congregation that starting next Sunday I will be calling on someone to express something for which they are thankful. We’ll have weeks and weeks of testimonies of God’s goodness, blessings and mercy. As it turned out, we didn’t even have to wait until next Sunday because someone had already been touched by God during the worship service to testify a word of thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness and for the prayers of the congregation.
As disciples of Christ Jesus, we are to live in a constant state of gratitude for what God has done for us. Paul is quite clear that we are to “always” give thanks. “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Ephesians 5:19-20]
So, this year I am kangarooing right over Halloween and I’m going to have one long Thanksgiving Holiday! Care to join me?
