Between Halloween and Me
Well after forty some odd years I did it. I did something that at one time I thought God would strike me dead for. I did something that at one time I thought would make Satan rejoice. I did something that deep down I so desperately missed being a part of my life and silently wished I could do. I went trick or treating. All my life up to this present time I believed trick or treating to be the ultimate sin against God. You see, I was a Jehovah’s Witness and as such you are not allowed to celebrate most holidays.
I recall as a youth in grade school seeing the bags and bags of candy my classmates would bring the next day. FREE CANDY! It was hard to comprehend that there was a day you could simply walk up to any person’s home and they would meet you at the door with free candy. To a six year old it boggled the mind. At different times my friends at school would try to share their stash with me, but my Christian conscience was to well trained, never could I allow Jehovah to know how I secretly yearned for some of the goodies. I would simply say no thanks I am not hungry or words to that effect, I was taught Jehovah sees everything and if I touched it I would surely be struck dead at Armageddon for unfaithfulness. As I grew older in high school I would hear of the hyjinks and stunts that young boys would pull. Not for us, as always we would go into hiding, either by visiting some friends in the country or turning off all the lights and pretending it was the great tribulation and we were hiding from the authorities. It seems kind of odd as I think about it now. We took such great pride in calling at peoples homes in the preaching work but we would take such offense at children stopping by for candy. I do recall one year when I was young my mother meeting them at the door and passing out tracts. The trick or treaters just looked at her like she was crazy and then left. I think that also was the year our car got egged. Now I understand why. When I grew up and married I could not resist riding around on each Halloween to see the trick or treaters outfits and see all the porch lights. Yes porch lights, behind everyone was a person who wanted to give you FREE CANDY! It still boggles my mind. As I progressed within the organization I of course kept my thoughts to myself. Even when my children came along I always held the hard line and never revealed my true inner desire to be a trick or treater.
Well it finally happened, I saw the king with no clothes, I found the truth was really a lie and thus had to rethink every position I had held dear all my life. With many adjustments in how I look at things, holidays became basically a non-issue when it came to trying to reconcile Witness theology. So my wife and I decided, why not? My wife for the first time in her life took great pleasure getting to dress up for Halloween. My children had worked for a month to figure out their costumes. How much we missed doing as a family I am now coming to realize. I went to Walmart and bought two big pumpkins and as a family we cut out the faces, it was a happy time. We put candles inside and my wife even got dry ice for a pot to look like boiling brew between them. It was so cool. Then the CANDY time came! We got in our car and hit the biggest neighborhood around. Funny it was the same one we had worked in the tract work last year. This time everyone was friendly, happy, and giving out candy when you knocked at the door. It gave door to door work a whole new meaning. My kids looked liked squirrels scampering from house to house loading up on goodies. Their previous experience in working in field service gave them great ease at calling and visiting with people. We went from one neighborhood to the next like madmen. We kept going till it got to be nine o clock and everyone was going to bed. This is the best time to hit the last doors as they are dumping the rest of their candy for the evening. My son also learned the trick of dumping his bag out after each house to make it look like he did not have very much and they would give him some extra to fill his bag. How greedy we get when free candy is at hand. When it was over the entire back seat was full of candy. We got more candy than we can eat in a month! But oh how much fun it was! We all laughed, giggled, screamed when the witch lit up on one door and started talking. At another door a witch came out in full dress and then a pumpkin! It was an outing I will never forget, my first Halloween after forty some odd years of feeling I was missing out on something. You know I was.
The kids were thoroughly worn out they never worked this hard in field service. But they had the happiest looks on their faces as they hauled their bags of booty to their bedrooms. Now if God wants to kill me for this good feeling I have, please do. I would rather be dead than live for one minute in a theocracy that takes away such wonderful family memories. Perhaps that is the fatal flaw in WT think, when you begin to really think and see how insipidly stupid it is to bar all holidays based on the moronic interpretations of religious fanatics.
Next year I have plans to go as a Jehovah’s Witness in typical dress of wide tie, short pants, and sport coat three sizes to small. Maybe I will carry a couple of Watchtowers for full effect and a book bag to put the candy in. You know you only live once and somehow I feel I missed a big chunk halfway through. I guess you could say Jehovah’s Witnesses are no longer between Halloween and me. I cannot wait until next year.