Ponderings of our Spiritual Life Director 2-26-20

Are you curious about how UUs do lent? Maybe you’re wondering why UUs would even engage in a traditionally Christian practice, and perhaps you weren’t expecting to bump into it here at a UU church. Many of you are working to release past religious trauma and are looking for new spiritual practices to engage in, and so I offer you this opportunity to reframe past traditions, ground yourself in Unitarian Universalism, and move forward towards transformation.

Lent is the 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. It begins today, on Ash Wednesday. In the Christian tradition, it is a season of reflection on one’s faith and closeness to God, recognition of one’s sins and the sacrifice Christ made to save us, and preparation for his resurrection.

So, let me reframe this from my own Unitarian Universalist perspective (please, spend some time practicing how to reframe things from your UU perspective, as your theology is your own!). As Universalists, we don’t believe in original sin or the condemnation of any person/soul. Everyone gets into “heaven”, whatever that looks like to you. As Unitarians, we believe that it is deeds, not creeds, that matter- do our actions reflect our values? How do we walk through this interdependent web of existence and what is the effect we have on it? Are we staying in covenant with, upholding our promise to live out, our 7 Principles? So, while Christians engage in Lent as a way to affirm their faithfulness, so can we, as UUs (don’t forget, our religious roots lie deep within the Judeo-Christian tradition). We can engage in a daily practice that helps us focus on how we behave- are we in line with our values? If not, how can we adjust? How is our faith manifesting in the world? What might you add or subtract in order to live out your faith more fully?

If we are honest with ourselves and we truly take the time to commit to this practice, by the end of the 40 days we may find that a better self emerges- resurrects, if you will (especially if you believe that we were all born in goodness)- and we’ve begun a transformation that calls us to bring more love to the rest of the world by living our UU faith every day.

Please, join us in community tonight as we commit to this 40 day journey together with a Unitarian Universalist Ash Wednesday ritual. If you cannot make it, you can still participate!

One more thought that might help us reframe this practice. On the uua.org website there is an article that addresses a call to a language of reverence within Unitarian Universalism (https://www.uua.org/ga/past/2004/langague-of-reverence). I especially appreciate this quote for contemplation, by the UU Humanist minister, the Rev. Kendyl Gibbons:

Gibbons also called for an acute awareness of our historical context. “To think that we must dispense with all traditional language and symbols,” she said, “is to assume that no human beings were ever before so clever or so profound, or so committed, as we are.” She said she wants to allow herself to draw from earlier wisdom. According to Gibbons, getting rid of all traditional religious language could amount to an act of “adolescent hubris.”

“Our wonder is not our own, but echoes down the history of the whole human race,” Gibbons concluded. “Genuine human language is a collective human enterprise.”