Lent 2018

“God saw what he had made and behold, it was very good.” Gen 1.

God made us as physical beings, and blessed what he had made.  Bodies matter, and our senses are very important parts of our bodily existence. Our senses are the gateways which bring us information about the world around us. Through them, we “make sense” of what is happening around us and to us, our place in the world and our relationships with others.                                                      

Senses can be fragile and fallible, however. Most people at some point, and some people permanently, have problems with one or more of their senses. Senses often change as we age, and can be affected by illness or disability. Even if they are perfect, we may not always pay attention to them as we should. 

During Lent this year, we'll be focusing on exploring our faith through the five senses. 

There will be two discussion groups - on Monday evenings (8-9.30pm from Mon 19th Feb) and Wednesday mornings (10.30-12noon from 14th Feb) in the vicarage. The Wednesday session is now full - plenty of space on Monday evenings though! 

There will also be a series of daily suggestions for reflection or action, here on the blog. There will be one each weekday and another to consider over the weekend,  which will help us to tune “the five-stringed harp” as Celtic Christians called the senses, so that we can be more awake to God’s presence and his love in our daily lives. We’ll be looking at how our senses can help us find God at work in nature, at home, in others, in the news, in the Bible and in church. The reflections are timed to start on the Monday of the week after Ash Wednesday (Monday 19th Feb) , but you can read them at any pace which suits you. 

You can also join us for one of two trips to the National Gallery in London, on Saturday March 3, or Wednesday March 7, to take a reflective look at some paintings there.