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As you know for my birthday I got a water barrel. Recycled plastic, 340 litres, it’s roomy enough to fit a curvy vicar holding her cup of tea and contemplating the world. When I posted a picture of myself in my barrel on my social media just over a week ago there were understandably a lot of questions, mostly about practicalities what temperature was the water, how do I keep it clean and what do the neighbours think? But in amongst the wealth of enquiries one question kept popping up, ‘WHY?’. My first thought is ‘Why not?’ of course but the truth is I love my barrel not just because I like the tingle of the cold water on my skin, or because it looks great on my Instagram, but because I think my barrel might be the best priest I’ve ever had.

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You see because while I’m pretty good at helping others to pause for thought, I’m terrible at doing it myself, sitting still, being quiet and saying my prayers are not areas where I excel. And here’s where my barrel helps, to get in my barrel I have to be intentional, I have to get up, get my swim suit on and get in, I have to breathe and I have to sit still and shut up for a whole 5 minutes. Something my teachers at school and vicar college tried unsuccessfully to help me achieve for years! It’s the season of Lent for Christians of course, remembering the 40 days Jesus spent alone, in the wilderness, as preparation for taking his message of radical love out into the world.Ìý

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Traditionally Lent is a time of giving up, of self-denial, and while that’s commendable, it’s always seemed to me that if the foregoing of chocolate just makes me grumpy and doesn’t move me on in my faith, making me better at the end than the beginning, then it’s kind of pointless. And so, for Lent I’m going to try and get in my cold-water barrel 40 times between now and Easter day. I’m going to try and be still and be silent. To cultivate a habit of an intentional prayerful moment each day, because heaven knows there’s quite a lot to pray about just now. I’m hoping I can manage it, and of course I won’t mind the cold but I will mind the quiet. It’s a proper challenge. And there’s no time like the present, in fact I’m getting in just now, Zoe, so I’m sending you abundant Bottley blessings from my barrel!Ìý