From the Revd. Hugh Trenchard, Vicar.

Dear Parishioners,

Spring is more than here and summertime has begun. We look forward to Easter and its great message of resurrection and re-birth.

To truly prepare for that wonderful realisation we need to use Lent in a more imaginative way than in the perceived or, some might say, the traditional way. I can't help feeling that somewhere along the way the Church appears to so many people today, and I suspect yesterday, to have "lost the plot".

Traditional methods of fasting and abstinence tend toward a view of being ever so serious if not a tad miserable. This, of course, makes the celebration all the greater when we get to it. I can remember from childhood being asked what I was giving up for Lent. it all seemed so pointless, unless you took up something at the same time.

Yes, you could give up sweets, chocolate and the like and give the money to some worthy cause. Nothing wrong in that, but isn't the giving, something we should be doing all year round? The giving up may be healthful and laudable but only too often, just like so many diets - a binge follows - eggs of all description and an after-winter feast which has made Easter as crazy as Christmas.

So how do we use what is left of Lent and make this Easter a real celebration? The real essence of Lent was always learning how to give and the first call on that giving, like all giving, is God Himself. Clearing away some of the clutter and dross in our lives and finding some time, quality time to communicate with Him.

First, and this can be fruitful for everyone whether you believe or not, try reading the Bible. Try becoming acquainted with its contents and some of its remarkable stories. They are there to make us think and respond to the God whose words they are. This never should be a chore but in the spirit that Jesus always taught, it needs to be fun, it needs to begin a celebration of who you are and why you are unique and fashioned distinctively.

Alongside beginning to find the Bible again or for the first time, find some time simply for you. It does not need to be long, but it does need to be regular. Time to pause from every thing and person around you. Time to listen to your own thoughts, to the bird and animal song around you, time when we give God a chance to break into our minds. The two things on their own are a direct lead into some new action, some new direction in which to give ourselves.

Perhaps there's the person you find difficult or near impossible, the habit of always being too tired to communicate after the day's toil. It could be that you've forgotten how to celebrate.

There are so many things and people in our lives that it's easy to shut ourselves away or create a smoke screen of bluff.

Lent is a little like an M.O.T or a major repair and in human terms we need to attend as much to our physical well-being as to our spiritual well-being. It's usually the latter that escapes attention. God is always listening and Lent offers us space and confidence to do the same. He made us to enjoy this world and find out how to really live life to the full. The gift of Easter is just that -a gift a moment as everything bursts into life - for a change in us too. To re-find what is His image in us and in each other.

With every blessing and hope for Easter in all our lives,

Hugh Trenchard

Vicar