New Life:Reflections for Lent

As many of you will already know, I have had the wonderful opportunity of being a

contributor to a new book published by the Association of Christian Writers. It is an honour

to be part of the ACW team who have produced a devotional book that will take you through

the season of Lent with a wide variety of Bible based meditations under the heading of New

Life. 

A preview is available here over on the right hand side of the page or by clicking on the link

below and if you think it's something you would like to use as part of your journey towards

Easter this year, I will see you in week 5!

Until then, every blessing in your reading journey with God. 

'New Life:Reflections for Lent ' by ACW is out now, available on Amazon to order or to

download.

https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/embed?asin=B079MFTZLZ&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_e1PGAbMWWZQG0

 

Imagine

Photo by Jeremy Beck on Unsplash

Youth leader asks, ‘What is a New Year’s resolution?’

Hands up.

Answer, ‘Something you want to accomplish in the next year.’

An impressed congregation raises a collective eyebrow at the eight year old’s vocabulary skills (fist bump Maghaberry Primary School – oh yeah)

‘So who wants to share their resolution for the year? Anyone?’

Holy Apricity

When your feet are freezing in your boots and the cold has permeated your winter layers settling like frost in your bones, there is a lovely word for that moment when you feel the warmth of the sun on a winter’s day – apricity, a word that has apparently fallen into disuse and is now sadly obsolete.

I don’t enjoy winter. I don’t like the dark and I don’t like the cold so any unexpected moment of catching warmth in the low lying sun’s rays is a moment to relish. It is a reminder that the season will pass.

As poet Luci Shaw puts it in her poem ‘Faith’,

‘Spring is a promise in the closed fist of a long winter.’

Springtime will come and there is nothing that winter can do about it.

Even though your feet are frozen, your hands are numb and you can’t feel a thing, look out for an opportunity to luxuriate in a moment’s apricity. Feel the skeletal fingers of winter being prised open and let it be a reminder that there is always hope.

Whatever is chilling your heart this season, turn your face towards heaven and feel holy apricity enwrap your soul.

‘Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.’ Luke 1:78-79 (NLT)