My October

October Blog by Naja Yazbek
If September is the Monday of the year, October will be its Friday.

This is my third October in America, before that time I was a teacher and head of educational department in my country, Lebanon.

The back to school is a nonstop nightmare for the school system and so is September.

On the opposite, October is the steady road in a long plain, as is the starting of a new cold season, however, the sky is not overly angry.

October in America is marked by Halloween. Nature starts to change its robe and most of the harvests are ripe.  Orange pumpkins fill up every corner of the supermarket, as well as, pies, cinnamon and all kind of “spirits” of the feast.

Costumes, masks and creepy laughing heads of witches surround you everywhere. No doubt, October makes children as spirited as ever, but unfortunately not all of them. One report in a local newspaper showed that one child in four doesn’t know if the next meal will be on their table. The trick or treat of Halloween night needs a new spirit, a new helping hand to give and a new heart to warm up the cold nights of 25% of Cleveland’s children.

I don’t want to make this like a homily of a boring pastor, but how can we be content if someone else is needy?

If the spirit of October is poetic, imaginative, creative and playful, why can’t we add to the cauldron, tenderness, compassion and enlightenment ?

I’d like to close this page with heartful wishes.