I AM without a car at the moment and it has changed my pace of life making me look at things in a different way. I've been thinking a lot about walking (although not doing very much) and also about having to rely on the generosity of others.

As I pray I feel God saying, "I want you to see things in a new light, to have a different perspective."

So I focus on walking, and pray for those escaping from war-torn areas or persecution; fleeing hurriedly with little time to grab essentials or valuables; some helping elderly relatives or small children; all desperate for food, water and shelter. I imagine walking with them in desert heat or on bombed out city streets with little protection and constant fear.

I recently watched the film Not Today (I recommend it). The story, set in India, focuses on a father and small daughter who are destitute. Help is denied him so the father sells his daughter believing it's for her good. However, he's sold her into prostitution.

So now I'm praying for those who have to rely on others for help.

I'm on the street with beggars; I'm in a crumbling bullet-ridden building under fire; I'm amongst women and girls taken as sex slaves wondering if they'll ever be rescued; I've got an injured child who needs hospital treatment but I can't pay.

Jenny Leahy, Lay Minister (Reader), St Paul’s Church, Lindale, Cartmel Peninsula