I think UUs should consider celebrating Lent – or perhaps appropriating some version of it for ourselves. If you get past the current Catholic Church’s focus on penance, Lent has a lot to teach us as Unitarian Universalists- starting with that statement the priests say when they put that ashen cross on everyone’s foreheads:
“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
It’s more than just a reminder of the transience of our lives – it’s a reminder of how we are all connected, to each other and to the universe and the cycle of life. If we return to dust, and we are all made of dust, then what are we but a compilation those who came before us?
We are all made of the same stardust.
See, I like that. It’s humbling, yet glorifying at the same time. We ARE all made of the same stuff. Not just humans, but animals, plants, water, and entire planets. We were born out of death, and our death will give life to others. We are transient, but we are eternal.
Spend 40 days reflecting on that.
Most of us are familiar with the notion of “giving something up for Lent.” But in fact, Lent is about more than self-deprivation. There are three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Consider these three pillars within the context of Unitarian Universalist principles:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Lent doesn’t have to be about selfish quests for personal perfection, or even selfish penance of our own personal sins. Lent is a spiritual Spring Cleaning whereby we make room in our hearts for justice, equity, and compassion in our own human relations.
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, especially if done in tandem, are ways to remind us of that interconnected web of existence of which we are all a part. But more importantly, that some of us have more than others. By giving up a luxury for 40 days, we remind ourselves of those who have less. And when it is done in unison with almsgiving, the point gets driven home even further.
It’s an invitation to check our privilege.
And if you read Isaiah 58, you’ll see that the Bible says the same thing. Check this passage. Can’t you just imagine that this was written for America today?
For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
And here, further down, the true meaning of fasting:
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
OMG doesn’t this totally make Christianity sound like a liberal religion? A religion founded on the idea that the true spiritual path is one that focuses on helping the poor and fighting oppression. How UU.
