Do you ever take up reading for Lent? There are many Lent books available, usually divided up into a reading for each day of Lent. It begins on March 6th this year. The Church of England has launched #LentPilgrim as its campaign for Lent this year and the book of Pilgrim Journeys for Lent is by the Bishop of Oxford – 40 days of reflections on the Beatitudes. You can find out more at www.chpublishing.co.uk

There are many other books, and I suggest you look at these websites too: Aslan Books https://www.aslanchristianbooks.com/books/lent-easter/ and BRF https://www.brfonline.org.uk/lent/

At Home in Lent, published by BRF, was inspired by Ian McGregor’s Radio 4 programme History of the World in 100 Objects. Gordon Giles spends each week in a different room gleaning spiritual lessons from everyday household objects.

Or there’s The Art of Lent (pub. SPCK) by Sr. Wendy Beckett, who died at the end of 2018. She chose a picture for each day of Lent. Artists often address subjects that our culture seeks to avoid, and Sister Wendy's perceptive reflections will help you to read these paintings with a more discerning eye and encounter deeper levels of spiritual meaning than may at first appear.

Or Celtic Lent by David Cole (BRF) which takes the reader through the 40 days of Lent to the Celebration of Easter using sources from the Celtic tradition.

Or A Place for God by Graham James (Bloomsbury) looking at various places around the world, some well known, some obscure – a journey of discovering God in everything, everywhere.

I haven’t yet read any of these books so cannot recommend them from personal experience, and there are many more that I haven’t mentioned. However,  I’m sure there will be something to suit most people, and I do recommend taking up reading a Lent book (rather than giving up chocolate!)

Liz Hawkes