The month of March sees the beginning of the church season of Lent. For many it is about giving up chocolate, coffee, etc. These are not bad things in themselves, but they do miss the point of what Lent really means. Lent is about recognising in ourselves and how we live our lives. A time of self-reflection on where we are in following our Lord’s commandment to love one another. Whether that is a small shift in our daily life or perhaps a larger one, it is about having the opportunity to deepen our spiritual life, commit more time to God in what we are am doing for him in this place. For me, that means buying a lent devotional book and committing to it. Of course you do not need to buy one there are plenty of them available for free on the internet. The CofE offering this year is Living Hope which is available at this link or you can search for it. There will be a Lent exploration on the subject of prayer as we look at different ways of praying and how that might help our spiritual temperature to move up the scale by a few degrees. Jesus spent his time in the wilderness deepening his connexion with God, he suffered all manner of hardships, hunger, thirst, wild beasts, temptations. Yet we he came out of that seclusion soaked in prayer, he was ready for what was to come, even though it would lead to the cross. I hope that you might start your Lent by joining together as a Benefice on Wednesday the 5th of March at 7pm at All Saints Ruskington with the traditional Ash Wednesday service. My prayer for us all for Lent is that we will engage with something g which will bring us closer to God whether that be through more committed prayer time, learning more about the Christian story or coming together as people of God in our praise and worship more often. I have offered some scripture as the endpiece to this newsletter to help us in our Lenten Journey. Blessings. Revd Al.