A very cold and damp Saturday has reminded me it’s October!  It’s the month of color changing leaves, harvest, corn mazes, hot apple cider, donuts, (well let’s be honest – every month is a donut month)  It’s also the month of all things scary.  Definitely based on the 31st day of this month, there is no drug store or big box that is not going to remind you it’s time to get the kids a costume and buy plenty of candy.  TV shows come out with all their Halloween episodes, they always show Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin year after year, and movies do their best to take the horror one step further than they did last year.  While those shows and movies have never been at the top of my “fav” list, here’s what I know to be true.  What is scary for one person, is often times not scary for another.  In fact, what frightens some, sends a shot of adrenaline through others. And usually those that are unafraid have no understanding or sympathy for those that are. But if there’s a common thread that nearly everyone is thrown off by, if not completely afraid of, it’s the dark!  Now I know some of you will say – “I love it as dark as possible when I’m sleeping.”  That well may be true – but most of the time, you are very familiar with your surroundings.  Get outside of your comfort zone – put yourself in unfamiliar territory – and your not going to be excited about it.  Darkness is the worst when we don’t know what’s ahead.  Walking with hands outstretched just trying to make sure we don’t bump in to something.  Here’s the deal – we need to understand there are people walking in the dark everyday.  The season of life they are in finds them in very unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory.  They may be facing loneliness, stressed out anxiety, anger, or depression. John says this in the gospel he wrote –  “In Him was life and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  In His first public message, Jesus would actually say that we are the “light” of the world!  But when we have no understanding for those who find themselves in the dark, we are not living in the light as we should be.  So this fall, let’s endeavor to be the light for someone who’s about to fall in the darkness.