It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the country entered its first lockdown due to the pandemic. One thing that the pandemic brought to light was our tendency to normally be ‘on the go’ – to be busy with something, to be going somewhere, to be meeting someone, to be hurrying from one place to another.

The season of Lent is just around the corner. While some of us might have our resolutions for the next forty days set in stone, perhaps some of us are scrambling at the last minute to decide how to make the best use of this time to grow in our relationship with God.

Some of you may (or may not) remember from childhood the gospel hymn, When the Saints Go Marching In. In it there’s a line that says “I want to be in that number!” I was reminded of it recently when I took a visit to York Cathedral. It’s one of the most famous landmarks in Britain and it is remarkable.

Oscar Wilde once said, “be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” It’s a call to really be the unique and unrepeatable person you are. There is something very compelling about authenticity and the choices we make say a lot about who we are.

I recently received some Christmas cards in the post. It’s such a novelty, because receiving actual post which isn’t a shopping item or bills is unusual. I enjoyed checking the postmark and looking at the handwriting to figure out who had sent it. The anticipation of opening a card from someone I’ve not seen in months forms part of the excitement!

Maybe you’ve been distracted by the run-up to Christmas - frantically buying last-minute gifts, worrying about the budget that was stretched too far or dealing with tough family dynamics. To quote the well-known cliché, we can end up forgetting the real reason for the season - God made man - and that all these things we do, are a means not an end.