IN THE secular world, Easter may be a time for eggs, hot cross buns and traffic jams - but Good Friday is an occasion for other, loftier thoughts too.

As Canon John Young puts it so well to the right of this column, the world needs this Good Friday to reflect on the cost of war and the desire for peace.

Away from such peaceful hopes for a troubled world, Easter also provides a happy excuse to see family and friends - and, time willing, to indulge in a spot of spring-time relaxation.

So we wish all readers the best of all possible Easters.

Updated: 11:36 Friday, April 18, 2003