Every month we submit an article to Great Shelford's monthly magazine. Here is our latest contribution for the October 2026 edition.

Light in the Darkness

I’ve noticed that the solar fairy lights on my patio are coming on earlier each week. Perhaps you too have noticed how much shorter the light evenings are getting? I am reliably informed that after the Autumn Equinox in late September, daylight decreases at a rate of around three minutes a day, which is about twenty minutes a week. By the end of October the clocks will go back, and we will rapidly lose those daylight hours.

Many people struggle with the shorter days and find the dark mornings and evenings somewhat oppressive. Perhaps you are one of those people? Or perhaps you enjoy the comfort of seeing lights shining in the darkness, like the fairy lights on my patio. Whatever we may feel about the loss of daylight hours, when we look at the world around us, we can see darkness encroaching in all sorts of ways: wars and rumours of wars, climate change and its effects, poverty often caused by others’ greed, and many other burdens that can feel overwhelming.

But if you have ever struck a match in a dark room or shone a torch across a dark garden you will know that the light seems to push back the darkness to the edges. Darkness has no independent energy force; it is simply the absence of light. Light is the energy force, and darkness is extinguished in the presence of light.

During October at GSFC we mark two festivals that remind us of the hope we have of God’s presence with us in every circumstance, however difficult they may seem.  Harvest Thanksgiving is a celebration of God’s goodness and provision. Despite the unprecedented heat and lack of rain, we give thanks that there have been crops to harvest (although yields have been much reduced) and we also give thanks for the rain which has finally come to bring some replenishing to the land and rivers.

At the end of the month we hold our All Hallows Eve Festival, where we especially remember that Jesus is the light of the world who shines in the darkness. It is His light which pushes back the darkness and brings hope into our lives and into our world.

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

We welcome you to join us for these events and our other services, and pray that whatever your circumstances, you will experience times of light and hope which shine out of the darkness around about us.
 
Diana Parr
Pastor