Lent

Lent began last Wednesday. It's not the sort of thing we usually do. However I thought it wouldn't hurt and might even do me good if I gave up an addiction. In this case, Radio 4. I know one authority, Phillip Day of the Campaign for Truth in Medicine, who belives we would all be healthier if we had no newspapers and other info input. Well we already don't have a TV so I've given no-radio a go. And it wasn't that easy but I am learning that sitting quietly is no bad thing; that I don't always have to be 'doing' something (just as well as I've been Proper Poorly for about a fortnight now) and that maybe God is mighty pleased when we allow him to get a word in. There is a great temptation to fill the gaps, in our silences and our activities. Whilst I was ill I watched Lark Rise to Candleford given me by the African Family. What a different lifestyle back then. Yes, dirt poor, cold and miserable often but much more sociable it seems to me, more singing and birdsong. And the world will still keep on without my knowing what has happened. Tomorrow will mark a week of radio-free living. I'm not a legalist. maybe tomorrow I'll switch it on again. or then again, maybe I won't want to.