Halloween Hypocrite<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to fantasy, games, dress-up, and such. And if you promise not to tell anyone: I've read most everything Stephen King\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/orthodixie\/2005\/10\/halloween-hypocrite.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Halloween Hypocrite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to fantasy, games, dress-up, and such. 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{"id":1842,"date":"2005-10-30T16:08:00","date_gmt":"2005-10-30T16:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/orthodixie\/2005\/10\/halloween-hypocrite.html"},"modified":"2005-10-30T16:08:00","modified_gmt":"2005-10-30T16:08:00","slug":"halloween-hypocrite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/orthodixie\/2005\/10\/halloween-hypocrite.html","title":{"rendered":"Halloween Hypocrite"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m just not interested in celebrating this feast.<\/p>\n

I did as a kid. It was a parent thing. (Hi Mom!) That and, well, a candy thing. When I got older I was confused. One year, honest to goodness, we had a Haunted House IN<\/strong><\/em> the church<\/a>! [Folks, even now I get the willies just recalling it.] Like the Haunted House rides at the Fair, it was more silly than spooky. But, you gotta admit, Wee Erd.<\/p>\n

Much has changed since I was a jitter-bug. More people are more kooky<\/a>. And not all Christian \u201chistories of Halloween\u201d are accurate. [Here\u2019s my own collection of lore<\/a> from ago \u2014 along with its \u201c correction<\/a>.\u201d]<\/p>\n

Call me a fundamentalist, but I actually get excited when schools cancel its celebration. Here<\/a> \u2026 and H E R E<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I used to provide letters<\/a> to parents asking school administrators to excuse Orthodox kids from Halloween celebrations.<\/p>\n

As mentioned in one of the posts linked above, my son really wants to participate in Trick-or-Treat and revels in any and all Halloween decorations. Just the other day he told his 3-year old sister, \u201cHelen \u2026 we don\u2019t celebrate Halloween. But, when you get to be a grown-up, you can if you want to. Right, Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n

Right \u2026 son.<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, so here\u2019s the hypocrite part. Back at Nashotah House, there was a legend of the Black Monk. You can read it here<\/a>. It was our first year in seminary and they were taking all the seminarians\u2019 kids on a wagon ride trick-or-treating. I was in my really anti-Halloween twisted phase. We didn\u2019t have kids; there was no reason for us to go, but everyone knew my proclivities.<\/p>\n

Then something got into me. I remembered a ghoulish mask that I\u2019d packed away in a back closet. We\u2019d used it in some radio gig and, for some reason, I still had it. When I heard the tractor and wagon approaching our apartment on the return trip, I quickly donned a cassock and the hooded mask and went and stood by the road. Motionless. Staring. Those kids screamed their heads off! (My wife couldn\u2019t believe what I was doing.)<\/p>\n

After they\u2019d passed, I ran into the apartment, de-costumed, and walked down to where all the hub-bub was to bask in my ghoulish glory.<\/p>\n

One of the students, a Middler, rushed up to me and said, \u201cThat was great! Man! You were awesome!\u201d<\/p>\n

Speechless, I just stood and smiled at him. Then he said, \u201cYou really<\/strong><\/em> got us good when you were standing in the cemetery!\u201d<\/p>\n

(Uh, folks \u2026 though I never told him, I didn\u2019t go up to the cemetery that night.)<\/p>\n

For more on the Black Monk of Nashotah House: <\/span><\/em>HERE<\/span><\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"