I love the month of October.

Truth be told, I do find something to enjoy in most months of the year, however, I love October for several and in some ways contrasting reasons.

In church we turn our thoughts to thanksgiving for God’s blessings to us. Living where I do, I pass fields daily and so even if the crops grown locally are for animal feed, they still remind me of the gifts of the earth.

And in church we pause to give thanks, not just to God, but to all the people involved in bringing our food to our table.

It is also a time to think about hunger and the causes of hunger.

In school we have been thinking about the amount of food we waste and what could be done with that food if we hadn’t bought it in the first place.

We have been reminded of the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi: “Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone’s need, but not everyone’s greed.”

How much more food would be available around the world if supermarkets catered for our need and not our greed?

We also need to consider the sustainability of our food production and the carbon footprint of our food.

How many miles do some of our fruit and vegetables travel to grace our dinner tables? These are political as well as moral and theological questions.

On our own we may not have the answers, yet working with groups like Mary’s Meals and our own Helensburgh and Lomond Foodbank, we can make a difference and create a more equitable world.

I also love October because of the half-term holiday – a chance to pause before all the busy activities of winter.

Then right at the end of the month we have Hallowe'en, or All Hallows Eve.

I love dressing up, and I also love to try and guess who it is behind the costume when children come guising.

Usually I can guess who they are by listening to their voice or watching their mannerisms. Please be warned that in our house, we expect a song, or joke or a poem when you are guising.

While it is fun to dress up and disguise ourselves, the great truth is that we can rarely, if ever, hide our true personalities. As a Christian, I believe that I cannot hide who I am from God.

No matter what I look like on the outside, God’s sees what is inside and no matter what God sees in you or in me, God loves us anyway and that is another reason to celebrate.