The final tally for last night:
Number of Trick or Treaters: 0
Number of unopened bags of candy: 3
Needless to say it was a slow night last night on my street.
This morning millions of Americans woke up and checked their yard to make sure it hasn’t been rolled with toilet paper. And thousands woked up to find their trees wrapped in toilet paper. We got rolled once when I was growing up. But it was from someone who we didn’t even know.
Changing the subject…. I now know 2 people who turned out to be “youth pastors” of Christian denominations. I went to high school with these people. During those years these people were anything but nice to me. They put me down at any chance they got. I find it ironic that they turned out to be youth pastors….a profession that requires one to be accepting of everyone. I am unsure if they have really changed their ways or if they are playing chameleon. Certainly no one should be held accountable for what was said in high school. However I just find it weird that these 2 people, who probably bugged me the most in high school, decided to be youth pastors.
Author Archives: Jeff Whittle
Halloween!
Happy Halloween! It’s one of those fun holidays. For me Halloween’s fun factor is right up there on the fun scale with Christmas.
I remember in 5th grade my teacher, who shall remain nameless, said that we were too old to be having Halloween parties. (At my elementary school we were allowed for 3 party days…Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day). Anyways we didn’t have any type of Halloween celebration at school on that day. In my own mind I knew who the real witch was. On that day I wrote “Not a Very Happy Halloween” on all my papers I turned in that day as an editorial comment on my teacher’s policies.
Time to eat some 3 Musketeers candy!
Halloween’s Slow Death
The scariest thing about Halloween is that it could be slowly dying away. Recent rumors about terrorist attacks on Halloween isn’t helping much. Some of my friends admit that they usually lock the door and turn out the lights on Halloween night, rather than give out treats. For them it’s not a religious objection; it’s more of them being grumpy. Apathy and relgious objections could ultimately kill Halloween as we know it. In some aspects Halloween as we once knew it died a long time ago. Growing up in my neighborhood we could virtually go to all the houses on the block with a few exceptions. Everyone knew their neighbors and no one would think twice about not eating their trick or treat candy. At some point people became too busy to get to know their neighbors. And then there were the razor blades in the trick or treat bags. Halloween as we know it was changed forever.
Now in our sanitized world we send our kids to well-lit malls in hopes of making Halloween safer. For me there was a great deal of fun going house to house in the twilight of the moon. Sure sometimes it was cold and you had to wear a stupid looking coat over your costume. Malls just aren’t the same. Halloween is meant for kids to trick or treat.
Halloween is on Wednesday night this year which makes it even more difficult to trick or treat. Many churchgoers attend church services on Wednesday nights, leaving many houses empty during the prime time for trick or treating. I remember a while back when Halloween fell on a Sunday. On that year there was a great deal of controversy about whether trick or treating should go on a Sunday, being a Christian holy day. For me it doesn’t matter. A day is a day is a day. Sunday just happens to be the day that I worship God in an organized manner at church.
Christians and Halloween
Halloween is coming up soon. Within the past few years there has been a great controversy in regards to whether Christians should celebrate Halloween since it started out as a pagan holiday. For me Halloween was never anything evil. Rather it was a holiday for fun times and dressing up in wild costumes. Those who wish to try to make Halloween into some type of satanic holiday are attempting to steal the holiday away from kids. Those who oppose celebrating Halloween since it has pagan origins need to be reminded that Christmas and Easter had pagan origins too. Halloween is whatever you decide to make it. For me, its just a fun holiday for kids to dress up and go trick or treating. No more; no less.
On the same note, there has been a big push within the evangelical denominations to have religious oriented haunted houses…also known as “Judgement Houses.” During college I went to a couple of these type shows. Usually a story is told about 2 teenagers who die suddenly. One goes to heaven and the other goes to hell. Visitors to these haunted houses get to experience what each eternal destination might be like. Heaven is usually protrayed as a all white place with lots of light. Jesus is seen in heaven and sometimes interacts with the visitors. Hell is a dark place where much of the scare factor comes into play. After the show, visitors are invited to “accept Jesus into their heart.” On the surface these types of shows might seem like a good idea. However I doubt that these types of conversions based on fear or emotions have much root. After a few months when the fear and emotions go away, so does church attendance. One should never base conversion to a particular religion based on emotions. It should only be after thoughtful consideration and study of God’s plan.
Poltergeist is probably one of my favorite horror movies. It has some classic moments. I remember be scared to death watching it when I was younger. But now it all seems so hilarious since it can be so campy at times. The stuffed clown toy attacking the boy, Carol Ann vanishing into another dimension within the house….the midget lady saying “This house is clean!!!”…..the giant hole appearing in the closet of the kids’ bedroom.
Computer Donations
The retreat with my church was fun. It was a good chance to get to know other people at church.
I’m donating my old computer to church to use for the audio visual ministry. The computer has been sitting unused for several months. Our current computer at church is probably 4 years old and is as slow as Christmas.
I would write more, but it’s getting late and I need some sleep.
Online Gallery
I’ve placed several of my best pictures on an online gallery. Be sure to check it out.
Absent Minded Postman
I think our postman is becoming absent minded. Today we got not one, not two, but 4 pieces of mail that were not addressed to us. They were for our neighbors. Maybe the postman doesn’t want to check the mail too closely due to this anthrax by mail scare.
I went to Corinth’s Bible Bowl this weekend. It is great to know that there are still some young people who are excited about studying the bible. There was a big turnout for it. Several churches participated.
Alot of people don’t know about the Bert Bin Laden connection. You can read the story here.
Anthrax!
There’s a big anthrax scare going on right now. People have become infected in Florida and New York. No word on if it was related to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
By watching all the protests against US attacks on Afghanistan, I’m beginning to see that there are quite a few people who are very mistaken. They carry around “Long Live Bin Laden” posters. If they could see the destruction in NYC they would see that Bin Laden is no hero. They think they can hurt us by burning American flags. They only succeed in making themselves look foolish and extreme.
On a non-political note, I’ve been watching the Real World San Francisco on Tivo lately. MTV has the first 4 seasons into syndication. It comes on at 4AM, but Tivo records it for me to watch later on. I can only say that San Francisco’s Real World has to the most politically correct Real World ever. MTV and Bunim-Murray obviously have some kind of agenda to push. The only one who is real on this Real World is Rachel. The rest are just 2 dimensional stereotypes.
The War Against Terror
When I got home from church Sunday, I found out that the US was starting to bomb Afghanistan. It’s like a flashback of the Gulf War…watching CNN all the time. The Emmy’s were cancelled due to the war, which is just as well. I can’t remember the last time I watched them. Just another show of self absorbed celebrities winning awards for TV shows which I don’t watch.
I’ve been having numerous problems trying to install a printer on my work PC. It would appear that the printer and the PC are not compatible….keeps on rebooting everytime the printer software is loaded. I’m taking it in to Desktop services tomorrow. Hopefully they can fix it.
Big Spring Jam in the Fall
It’s been a while since my last update. I’ve placed my review of the Better Than Ezra concert on my music section. Plenty of pictures are there too.
The concerts at Big Spring Jam were great. I do remember alot being said at the contemporary Christian stage. Alot of the performers were saying “We’re here to worship God.” I would tend to disagree. Anytime I have to pay to get into a venue, I’m not worshipping. Just my opinion…. Not having been to alot of contemporary Christian concerts, I see that there are different point of views as to what worship exactly is….
I’ve been working from home for about a week now. Everything seems to be working out fine. Having a cable internet connection at home makes working alot easier.
This weekend I’ll be at a hayride in Kentucky.