As I sit here writing, I can hear the curlews calling outside, and for me, here in Lower Wensleydale, they are the true heralds of spring.  They’ve only been here a couple of days.  Away all winter higher up the dale, they come back down at the first lift in the winter weather, the very beginning of spring.  And the sound of them calling never fails to lift my spirits, because they also mark the time of year when the days are lengthening rapidly.  
This Lent, they are more welcome than ever, because many of us are struggling badly in this latest lockdown.  Somehow, this time, the isolating and lack of everyday friendly faces has hit very hard.  

Bishop Helen-Ann, writing recently in the Yorkshire Post, acknowledges that Lent is a period when ‘we are meant to reflect on our personal and collective shortcomings as we journey through Lent in preparation for Easter’.  She acknowledges that it’s traditional to give something up for Lent, but like many of us lately, she has had conversations with people who have lost or given up a great deal in the last year.  Somehow it doesn’t sit easily, this traditional time of self-denial.  She suggests instead, taking something up, something positive, and maybe we can all do this, alongside our reflection and penance.  Something we commit to doing; something which will lift us, fill us with joy, so that we can be a blessing to others.  Catching me in a bit of a dip on Ash Wednesday, I was rather uninspired.  Then I suddenly remembered someone had recently sent me the instructions for an Ignatian Examen, a gentle reflective exercise to be done daily, which helps us to review each day with gratitude and hope.  So my ‘something to take up’ had been under my nose all along – the gift from God I was praying about had already arrived - via a dear friend.  You may choose or find something very different, or you may prefer to follow the traditional path.  Whatever it is, this Lent, may it fill you with gratitude, joy and peace. 


Photo from https://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/