our halloween, 2014 (death is defeated!)

here is shannon and i dressed up for halloween.  shannon is rockin' the 50's girl style.  i'm supposed to be an ironic hipster, albeit an old and chubby ironic hipster.

oh, you're surprised we celebrate halloween?  don't be.  it is all hallow's eve, as the darkness descends before all saints day, when we celebrate all those who have gone to glory before us.  so as the sun sets and darkness covers the earth, it is natural to consider the power of death, and how it robs us, eventually, of everyone we love, and in the end, it gets even to us.  for so many people, and in so many ways, death is absolutely terrifying.

but not to Christ followers.  see, if we really believe what we say we believe, then we believe that Jesus defeated death once and for all.  the bible, which we believe to be the very word of God, speaks of this over and over (where, o death, is your victory?).  death has been crushed by the power of life through the overwhelming love of Jesus.  the people who walked have seen a great light!  so, as darkness covers the earth on all hallow's eve (halloween), we as Christ followers can celebrate the great power of life over death.  we can ask the same question as Scripture: "where is your sting, o grave?  you have no power here!  you are defeated once and for all!"  we celebrate and exchange treats and dress up all as a kind of subversive farce, to remind death of its pathetic powerlessness over us!  

here is quinton as a leprechaun

here is caedmon as a skeleton, or skeleskin, as quinton says.  

jackson, the lumberjack.

and all three in action.

we had a great celebration, complete with "mummy dogs" for dinner...

....followed by much trick-or-treating and the gathering of sugary confections, which was subsequently dumped on the dining room table and properly sorted and delved into.

we hope you had a good halloween, that you enjoyed our photos, that you remembered those saints in your life who have gone before, and that you took the opportunity to reclaim that great truth of our faith that there is nothing, not even death itself, that can separate us from the love of God through Jesus!