NATURE abhors a vacuum said Aristotle. It tries to fill any potential vacuum with whatever is at hand. Similarly so does society. World leaders have met to discuss what is to happen when the fighting in Libya is over. We have learned from the war in Iraq. This time there is to be a plan for afterwards. Any potential vacuum created by the Arab Spring will be filled by whatever is available unless there is a plan for the end game.

Many use Lent for exercising a discipline. Giving up something is done not always for religious reasons but as an exercise in self-control. Some use it to diet and lose weight. Whatever use we make of Lent, or any time when we give up something, we need to plan for what is to happen afterwards. Lent is based upon the time Christ spent alone in the wilderness. He used that emptiness to reflect on his relationship with God. From that time on the space he created in His life was filled by His devotion to God. Perhaps we can all learn something from Aristotle’s observation and from Christ’s use of a vacuum and plan for what is to happen after Lent?

CANON ERIC KNOWLES, Chaplain, Little Malvern Priory.