The utility of Halloween has kind of evaporated for me these days.

People look at me funny when I go to the door and ask for candy.  I’m not as successful in my efforts as I used to be.

I don’t get the candy anymore, so what good is it?

Things have changed.

It matters to Nate, though.

He doesn’t mark his calendar for anything.  He doesn’t set a clock.

He lives in the moment.

But if someone helps him put on the Power Rangers costume that he picked out, and puts a plastic pumpkin in his hand, and walks with him, holding his free hand…he’s good to go.

He figures things out pretty quickly when the candy starts falling like manna from heaven.

Now, I know a lot of folks who think Halloween is a horrible Pagan holiday….and maybe it is in their neck of the woods.

I’m sure there have been a lot of weirdos in the world who celebrate horrible things at Halloween.

That’s very possible.

I know there’s weirdos in the world. I know they’re out there.

And I’m sure that they might do bad things at Halloween.

These little guys have a lot of fun, though.

“Harvest Festival” or “Halloween”….little guys have a lot of fun.

I don’t remember developing a fascination with the DARK SIDE when I was corking up my face to be a HOBO…or any of my little friends delving into BLACK MAGIC while preparing to greet the world as the SCARY WITCH.

They just wanted the candy.

It wasn’t a portal to the dark dimension…it wasn’t the thing that was going to allow Satan to get a strong grip on them.

It was just CANDY DAY.

Like I said before, Halloween doesn’t hold the same appeal for me.  I don’t get the candy, and I don’t care that much about the day anymore.

But, to a little kid, it’s a blast to dress up with a bunch of other little kids and get a lot of candy.

Does it get any better than that?

There’s a Bible verse that says something like “to those that are evil, everything they see is evil, to those that are good, things are good”.

I paraphrase…badly…but that was the gist of it.  I couldn’t find the verse this morning or I’d quote more accurately.

If I missed the evil behind plastic pumpkins and lots of candy, I probably deserve to be condemned or something…but for now, I’ll just look at the day as a time to dress up and get some candy.

Of course, that may be just what the “Great Deceiver” wants me to think.

Why do things have to be so hard?

Nate looks pretty good in his red Power Ranger suit….and he should really pull down some poundage in the candy department this year.

Maybe he’ll share with me.