Halloween has become more of a celebration of outright evil than the former seemingly harmless event of carnivals, ghosts, goblins, and trick-or-treat. Along with this change in Halloween, there has also been a change in the manifestation of evil in our lives. Wikipedia defines evil as “the opposite or absence of good.” It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good.” That could obviously relate to those things still considered to be crimes and some that have been in the past, but are not considered as such now.
There is also more that is the opposite or absence of good now that is not so obvious – those habits and practices that we build over time that lessen the good and weaken the power of right. Some examples were discussed in my Sunday School class this past week. The question was asked “What is Satan attacking the most today?” If we consider Satan as the instigator of evil, then the answer to that question affirms what we see growing. Satan seems to be most attacking the family and then the church.
From the Creation until recently, the family as a father, mother, and children was the heart of societies around the world. The family gave and kept the foundation for life. The family connected with school, church, and community in helping each other in life.
Recent years have seen the family first lose the father and then lose even the sense of different genders for parents. “Family” has lost connection and involvement with school, with church, and with community. What is considered bad has grown as more crime is committed, students learn less and perform in school and later work less efficiently, and communities seem to be just collections of humans in a same geographic area.
The evil of family that is not really family is a new kind of silent evil that is sucking the life out of us.
