by Rev. Duncan E. Teague
What do religious liberals, spiritual renegades, and just plain Unitarian Universalists do with this season of Lent? We do celebrate Easter either as a secular Spring event or a seasonal religious reason to attend a church. Lent though seems a request that might be a bit much. Many faiths that are Black church cultural institutions often are not as Lenten observant as the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox or liturgical Protestants.
The preparation for our Abundant LUUv’s successful “Sita” 6th anniversary, the largest we have had to date, took all my attention and worry. I missed completely that the Tuesday of that week was Fat Tuesday, and I then also missed the opportunity to attend any Ash Wednesday service. It is not an obligation or even a suggestion for most Unitarian Universalists to observe the most somber of services in the Christian calendar, Ashe Wednesday. I attend for the seriousness and humility about our human nature. It’s the worship service that requires us to look at our mortality and our state of “sinfulness.”
The Lenten season before Easter consists of 40 days observing preparation bodily, mentally and spiritually for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus to fulfill the faith of Christianity. This season of Lent begs and pleads with believers of Jesus to get ready. If we are liberal religious, then what are we to get ready to experience this spring. Abundant LUUv we have a new home to anticipate our first Spring with our own space in the West End. What big event requires our attention right now? We get to choose, Easter or otherwise. Maybe we should “get ready.”