[Lent...]

Here's my April Congregationalist Article....

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Well, here we are in the midst of what I would probably consider my favorite liturgical season. Now, I think I've been saying that for several years and I really like Advent, but I LOVE Lent. I love that the liturgical color is purple. And I love that it's Springtime. And I love the community that forms around holding each other accountable for our Lenten sacrifices and commitments. And I love the depth of Spirit that grabs me during the various worship services held throughout the season. I simply love it. However, in the days leading up to the start of Lent, I realized that liking something is very different from understanding it. If you asked me: "What does Lent mean to you, Emily?" I would not have had an answer.

The night before Ash Wednesday most of the Los Angeles Jesuit Volunteer community gathered at Dolores Mission, a beloved Jesuit parish in East LA. They were hosting their first ever "Noche de solidaridad." This Night of Solidarity was held for the greater community to stand in solidarity with those struggling for justice not only in Los Angeles, but also in Wisconsin and at the US/Mexico border. Homeless men and women, priests, community members, Jesuit Volunteers, and Dolores Mission staff gathered together to pray. We heard testimonies. We sat in silence. We drank tea together. We talked with each other. We signed a petition. We participated and created true fellowship.

The first woman to tell her story spoke about it in terms of going into the desert. Now, I knew that the "purpose" of Lent was to recall Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, but it came to me differently this year. In the stories of the men and women who have actually been in the desert without food or water trying to enter the United States you could hear the pain they experienced. They know what the "valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. 23) looks like for they have faced it. However, during each of their tumultuous journeys they did not give up hope because they knew the day of Resurrection, the day they would reach the United States was just around the corner. They had faith, hope and trust that God would raise them out of the shadows to have their own kind of Easter.

Virginia Rickeman, in her book The Well is Deep, wrote a prayer concerning Lent in which she says, "Toward what wilderness, God, are you leading us? Do you press us toward the city outside these doors?... Or is the dry desert of the secular worldview in the wilderness into which you prod us?... Or, God, are you drawing us down into an inner wilderness where canyons of doubt are crisscrossed with gullies of loss and shame?... You retreat into darkness while rock walls all around reverberate with a silent, single word, 'Trust.' We are here, God, on the brink of whatever Lenten wilderness is ours to walk through now. We are here together, uneasy, uncertain, maybe even unwilling. Yet, by your grace, we are here..." When I read this I realized that my Lenten journey this year is not the same as it was last year. Nor will it be the same as next years. We all know God calls us all to different life journeys and I'm now realizing that God calls us to different Lenten journeys as well. Lent is about more than the things we give up and the purple which adorns the sanctuary. It's about going deep into the desert and trusting God along the way...

What sort of journey are you on? To what is God calling you during this Lenten season?

peace, love, and all things good,

emily