“What are you giving up for Lent this year?” As a child, the answer would usually be: Sweets! And how sweet would the chocolate egg taste when Easter Sunday finally arrived! As an adult, it’s more about making time for reflection.

The discipline of denial is still valid, but so too is the opportunity to take action. It’s a time to consider our neighbours, whoever and wherever they may be. It could be a time to share resources, to read what others have written, to open our minds and see what ‘pops up’, like those sometimes annoying little reminders that appear on the computer screen.

Lent today presents the challenge of a personal pause, to stop and think, to stand and stare. Lessons learnt in Lent can continue throughout the year. Forty days and forty nights offer an insight into self — sacrifice from which others may benefit.

Sheila Goodman of St. Peter's Church, Salesbury