Lent Blog 1: Ash Wednesday

Had to do this a bit late, owing to being away, but am aiming to do a blog entry for each day of Lent. I will soon catch up and be writing in 'real time'.

It's been the strangest start to Lent I can remember, as I actually took this week off, as it was half-term and soon after all the turmoil we have recently been through. Perhaps it was the best thing for us just for once.

Debbie and I visited Nottingham this week, and part of Ash Wed was spent helping Dad sort some things out in the house and also complete some paperwork. We helped him to sort through the contents of a few cupboards, simplify their contents and organise them in a way that was more suitable for him on his own.

It struck me at the time that Lent was about that - sorting, sifting, simplfying and re-setting priorities. There was no ash this time around, and yet the experience of working through those things and their memories felt as if we were engaging with something very real.