Tuesday, February 17, 2015

What are you doing for lent?

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning in the Christian Calendar of Lent. Lent is a period of recollection, intensive pensive awareness about the meaning of life. In the Roman Catholic tradition it was a period of voluntary penance, giving something up, and fasting. There is nothing sacred about the ascetic practices of self deprivation in and of themselves, but rather as a means of altering our consciousnesses so we can be aware of ourselves and our place in the Universe. Lent is a time of giving up our hubris and practicing humility and recognizing that we are only a small part of the interdependent web.

Lent can be a time in our Unitarian Universalist tradition of practicing the seventh principle by making small sacrifices for the sake of other living things and our planet as a way of acknowledging our interdependence. Lent is a time for making ourselves small so that we can open space for other human beings and other things which make up the web of life.

If you would, will you share your intentional Lenten practice this year with us on UUAWOL by leaving a comment about what you are intentionally doing to remind yourself and maybe others of our interdependence?

2 comments:

  1. I have never thought of connecting the practice of Lent with the seventh principle but it makes perfect sense. Most religious traditions acknowledge and manage the brokenness in human suffering whether it is our sinful nature in Christianity or our tendency to attachment in Buddhism. One virtue which UU seems to ignore is humility until we get to the seventh principle. When we arrive there we realize that our lives are unmanageable and that we need an awareness of our Higher Power even if we call it Love as in the Universalist belief that God is Love. True Love is the recognition of our interdependence and this recognition inspires a sense of humility and awe and a desire to express our gratitude by extending ourselves in some way to the rest of creation.

    This might sound corny but this lent I am going to pay it forward by spending at least $5.00 per day on other people buying a cup of coffee or providing some sort of token gift. $5.00 a day for 40 days will cost me $200.00, but the good will this engenders will be well worth the money.

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  2. Pax Christi USA has published a whole tool kit for immigrant rights for Lent 2015. You can access it here http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/17/lent-2015-opportunities-for-prayer-study-and-action-on-immigrant-rights-during-lent/

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