Dear friends,

By the time you read this the season of Lent will be upon us in the Church.  There is often much talk of 'giving things up' for Lent.  Just as Jesus went without food and water for forty days and nights, so throughout the centuries many Christians have spent the 40 days of Lent going without something they like in order to remind themselves of our Lord's struggle against the Tempter and as a means of strengthening their spiritual self-control.  I certainly would not recommend you to give up food and water for 40 days and nights!  However, a certain degree of abstinence can be a useful discipline, and can even be an effective way of curing a bad habit and improving the waistline.

Forty is an important number in the Bible.  Both Moses and Elijah spent 40 days in the desert.  In Noah's days it rained for 40 days and nights.  The people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years on their way to the Promised Land.  And Jonah gave the city of Nineveh 40 days to repent. 

The 40 days of Lent go from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter Sunday.  If you count it up there are actually 46 days in total, that's because Sundays don't count in the great scheme of things.  As the day on which we celebrate the resurrection, Sunday is counted as a 'day of refreshment' - so I guess you can have on that day whatever you have given up during the rest of the week!

The word Lent comes from the Old English "lencten" which literally means 'lengthen'. In ancient days it was a period of time in which people recognised that the days were growing longer as Spring got under way and the time approached for the great Spring festival. 

Lent, for us in the Church today, is not just a period of abstinence, fasting and spiritual strengthening, it is also a period of time when we look forward to the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Maybe that's why people say "Life begins at forty!"

Best wishes to you all.

Many thanks to Mrs Matthews for distributing the magazine for a number of  years.