So, last night we began our Lent studies which had the official title 'giving up' but is better summed up in the remark made by Rose* an absolutely wonderful 70-something eccentric Anglican of 'liberty and licence.'  The study centred on a couple of clips from Chocolat the first of which showed most of the  main characters in their unliberated state at the start of the story - the widow still trapped by the death of her husband 40 years earlier,  a victim of domestic violence trapped in a loveless marriage, the Comte engaged in a legalistic Lenten fast and so on.  As part of the discussions I invited those who were old enough (most of the group!) to recall aspects of life at the time the film was set (1959) mentioning that this was pre-Vatican II, rock and roll was just taking off and the 'swinging sxities' were just around the corner.  It was certainly enlightening and seemed to centre on issues around the sexual liberation for which that peiroid is remembered.  I can just imagine the conversation in the post office queue:

'So, you went to the Lent meeting last night.  Any good?'

'Well it was a bit racy!'

'Racy?  Really!'

'Yes, all we did was talk about sex.'

Not true of course - we also looked at the call of Jesus on his fishermen disciples and the encounter with the rich young man.  We talked about those who are called to give up material wealth and those who are called to employ their wealth to support them (eg those I refer to as 'Luke's wealthy women').  We talked about the value of abstinence for a season or for a lifetime and some of the things we now see as 'wrong headed' we were told in years gone by, such as the couple who recalled being told that if God called them they must be willing to give each other up to obey.  And we talked of freedom and responsibility, of church being counter-cultural yet accessible.

Seeming as we were talking about liberty and licence, the Youth Worker employed by one of the churches was telling 11-14 year olds that social networking websites are sinful... alas legalism and misguided protectionism still dog the church.

A good evening was enjoyed by those who took part and hopefully we all went home with things to ponder.

* Not her real name