Jane Williams says: I am writing this on Sunday morning, 1st March 2020.

I woke unusually early on this bright, crisp day, walked Cora dog around Morcott, putting the church heating on ready for Sunday service and returned to make porridge – all before 8am. I feel fortunate indeed to be tackling the Light & Energy theme of our Lent 2020 blog posts because I feel inspired by the sunshine!

Spring is just around the corner after the darkness of winter. While it’s been a mild one, the wet gloom has made many of us feel sad, even if we don’t suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. But today dawn woke the blackbirds into chorus, sun lit up lime green catkins and the miniature iris in the container by my kitchen door burst from bud to flower before my very eyes.

In the beginning…. Darkness covered the face of the deep… Then God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. As I write this, it’s very easy to believe that this wonderful world has a Divine Creator.

The daily readings for this week in the #LiveLent booklet highlight the importance of light to God’s world and to us as human beings. I had not realised just how many verses from Genesis to John’s gospel speak of light or use light to reference the Christian life.

Life needs light. From birds in the air to flowers of the earth. From children in the playground to prisoners in the dungeon. And the guidance notes this week remind us that it’s not just natural daylight that we rely on. We need light to illuminate and energy to heat (or cool) our homes.

Solar power is one of the most amazing developments of the 20th century, and there are so many ways in which it can be applied to help mankind without adding to the greenhouse gasses and pollution that is – as Greta Thunberg said in Bristol last week – setting the world ‘on fire’.

Like many, I huffed and puffed about changing to LED bulbs, because they didn’t come on ‘instantly’, yet now I am not only saving energy but hardly ever have to replace a bulb. Like many, I am lazy about changing utility suppliers, but apart from saving money, I could also switch to a 100% renewable energy tariff. I can do more.

We can all do more.

And God saw that the light was good…