St Paul writes to the Thessalonians:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief: for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Could you encourage someone with a letter during Lent?

Lent is often billed as a time of ‘giving up’ and there are some of suggestions as to what to give up in our Eco church article below. Giving up stuff that harms ourselves or the world, or without which we can actually improve our lives is definitely a good thing but Lent can also be a time of taking up new habits – of prayer, of care, of learning, of kindness, of attentiveness. As we move through Lent listening and learning it can become a time to remind ourselves that we are all children of light and that there are many ways in which we can shine that light in the world.

Already several of you have encouraged future generations with letters for our time capsule so watch this space for pop up post boxes, craftivism projects and more.

Time to start planning for Lent which starts powerfully with our special 7pm Service of Ashing on March 5th.

Watch out for ideas throughout Lent 2025 about people who might appreciate some encouragement inthe form of a simple letter or postcard from you …