“Wilderness” is a rich and layered idea in the Old Testament - reflecting on it may offer some helpful ways forward as we seek to engage with Lent this year. By Helen Paynter For many of us, Lent is a time when we give something up – fast, if you like – in order to realign ourselves with God and to seek to become closer to him. In this, we are modelling ourselves on Jesus’ actions after his baptism, when “the Spirit drove him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12) for forty days of fasting, prayer, and testing. This year, for many of us, the idea of giving something else up is intolerable. We may feel that we have spent the whole of the last year in the wilderness, deprived of so much that we value and love.
Bringing freedom, through coffee Bryn Frere-Smith explains his journey from bodyguard to protecting those who cannot afford to pay for it – and how the Blue Bear Coffee Company he founded is partnering with a growing number of churches concerned about human trafficking
My life as a bodyguard
You may have thought there were only so many times one could buy a 3ft Spongebob Squarepants, but you’d be wrong. In fact, it was the fourth time that week he’d found his way into our basket and many more of his cuddly colleagues from the Toy Kingdom on Harrods’ third floor.