If You Knew What I Know...

Thanks goodness that Halloween is over! It's my least favorite holiday, and if you ask me, we could just get rid of it all together.

Sure, I like pumpkins and candy, but the true essence of the Halloween traditions has largely been forgotten by many. If you knew what I know about Halloween, you might think about it differently.

You see, the celebration of Halloween dates back over 2000 years. In this dark time, the night before All Saints Day was called All Hallows Eve. The spirits of the dead people and children supposedly come back to earth during that time and roam the streets.

As if spirits weren't enough, the demons and goblins are also thought to become active during this time. The pumpkins were carved, lit and placed outside of one's door to protect the family inside from unwanted spirits. The candy was an offering to the dead that hopefully would appease their appetites.

Although my family and I have never celebrated Halloween, I wasn't told why we didn't until the 5th Grade. After hearing the "real story," my opinion about the holiday changed from that of disgust to that of nausea.

This post was not meant to in any way slam people who celebrate Halloween, but I felt like I needed to let people know what they are standing for.

Happy Labor?

Happy Labor day everyone! Or can I say "Happy Labor Day?"

How in the world can you put the words 'happy' and 'labor' together in the same sentence and have it sound correct? Don't get me wrong, I think everyone needs to eventually do some good old-fashioned hard work, but can this really be possible?

During the 18 years that I have lived on this green earth, I have never, repeat NEVER associated the word 'work' with the word 'happy.' Again, don't misunderstand me. I do like to keep busy with little jobs and projects. But normally when I hear the word 'work,' I remember a time when I was helping my dad lay sprinkler pipes in our backyard. I think it was like 104 degrees, and we were hunched over the trenches with our faces painfully close to the searingly-hot ground. With the sweat running into my eyes and dripping off my nose, I helped my dad finish laying the pipe.

That is work. Nothing happy about it except maybe the satisfaction of a job well done. Even that feeling was only mildly pleasant since I think I was still feeling faint from the heat.

The point of this post is not to let you know that I know how to lay sprinkler pipe, but to show everyone that there is a major issue with the name of this "holiday." I would never associate work with happy. Or maybe I would if I was feeding the hungry or helping wash the church bus. I think work can be fun, in fact, I am sure of it. OK, you can just forget everything that I just said about work being unhappy. Never mind.

Ecclesiastes 5:19 "Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God."