Holy Days or Holidays?
Last Sunday during a children’s sermon, our pastor explained that many churches call November 1st “All Saints Day” (or All Hallows’ Day). On this special day, the lives of martyrs and other departed Christians are remembered for their strong faith. He then said that the evening before All Saints Day was first called All Hallows’ Eve, which later was changed to Halloween.
Children’s sermons can be great springboards for diving a little deeper.
Monday morning I wondered whether daytime meditations about dead heroic believers had led to nighttime pranks with ghosts, skeletons, and scary goblins. I got a piece of paper and wrote on the left side HOLY DAYS, on the right side HOLIDAYS.
As I considered the words connotations, the different letters in the words continued to draw my attention. In Holy Days, if you remove the Y (as in Yahweh) and replace it with I (as in me and mine), the sacred becomes secular. The “Y” is the heart of the matter. Who would want to replace a perfect heart with an imperfect one?
The original Christmas and Easter holy days were vastly different than holidays now. Santa Claus and the Easter bunny's gifts are not the problem. Replacing the central character (Y with I) in a Holy Day is the issue.
Think about the first Thanksgiving (1621). For three days the immigrants praised God for His protection and provision as they celebrated alongside Native Americans, who had provided venison for the feast. In light of our current immigration debates, that original Thanksgiving is worth contemplating.
As my thoughts returned to the children’s sermon, I could not help but think of Jesus’ words to His disciples. “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16 NASB).
Now is a wonderful season for children to learn more about Christ. Let’s share with them the true, original stories of the upcoming Holy Days. Their eternal value is greater than temporal holidays.
Blessings to you and all your loved ones. Ginger
Ginger Cox This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad today! Psalm 118:24
