The beginning of Lent is a bit like contemplating a plunge into a cold swimming pool. If one would achieve the end, the only way to minimise the pain is to dive right in. Standing on the side, anxious about the shock of the cold, imagining that it is better postponed or avoided, is foolish. Only by an act of will can one break the paralysis of anxiously “letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’ ”. Once I have done a brisk length or two, I will discover the refreshing temperature of the environment.