Love life, live Lent

One of the things I hate in life is clutter!  I hate seeing things out of place and spread all over, piles of unread papers, books and CDs, even left over wrapping paper from Christmas!  Unfortunately my office is full of clutter, and every now and then I do some minor tidying up.

It's surprising how we take on these little bits and pieces almost un-noticed, and they just get dumped, getting in the way, often a trip hazard.  I'm one of those who thinks everything should be tidy and have a place, even if that place is the bin.  So, hopefully I shall find some spare time to have a spring clean and I'm sure I'll feel better for it.

This made me think that the same thing applies to our spiritual lives too.  I know as I go through life that my life gets very cluttered, I take on all kinds of bad habits and activities almost un-noticed.  These things clutter up my life, often getting in the way of more useful things I should do, and sometimes causing me to trip-up.  It may be watching too much TV, unhelpful stuff on the internet, or bad habits.

Maybe we need a spiritual spring-clean?  A time to throw out the clutter of our lives, so we can be healthier in body, mind and spirit. 

The Christian season of Lent is a good time for reviewing our lives, taking stock of the clutter and sorting it out.  It's not about giving up everything we like, as much as doing something positive with our time and energy.

The Church of England is re-launching the 'Love Life, Live Lent’ programme, that promotes the idea that doing something positive for friends, neighbours or the wider local community.  Suggested acts of kindness include having a clear out of unwanted clothes and toys and donating them to a charity shop, producing simple home-made gifts for Mothering Sunday, creating a prayer space in the understairs cupboard, making a bird cake or learning some basic first aid skills.

As the Archbishop of York said: "With God's help we can change the world for good a little bit every day.”  Find out more at the campaign website - www.livelent.net, and this year live more at Lent.