Blessed Lent! I know that not everyone likes this season. A member of a church I used to serve would take a break from church starting on the first Sunday of Lent and not return until Easter. He’d grown up in a tradition that spiritually beat him over the head with the idea of how awful he was, and during Lent, they emphasized the idea even more. He couldn’t shake the idea of Lent as a collective punishment. Even though the church community he was a part of when I met him was very different than the one he grew up in, it didn’t matter. For him, Lent – the whole idea behind it – was spiritually abusive. I know he’s not the only one who feels something similar.

The reality that some have contorted Lent into some sort of sadistic cudgel to beat others with makes me both angry and sad. Jesus was not a spiritual mob leader who led attacks to wound those who were already wounded and to dehumanize the vulnerable. Jesus was someone who risked his life to heal the wounded and humanize the vulnerable.

That is Lent at its best. It’s a time to take time to focus spiritual attention on healing our individual and collective woundedness. It’s a time to take time to set aside the shame we might feel about our vulnerabilities and accept the blessings and challenges of being human. It’s a time to take time to, with loving humility, accept the grace given to us and commit to giving grace to others. Sure, there might be some pain in all of this, but the spirit of Lent isn’t the pain of the thorn imposed but the relief of the thorn being removed.

May we all be blessed, and may we all be a blessing as we take this Lenten journey together.

United Church Lenten Schedule:

• Every Sunday at 10 am
• Vespers: Wednesday March 6th and March 20th at 7 pm
• Micah Moment: March 10th presentation by the South Community Food Pantry during and after our 10 am worship
• Lenten and Easter Crafts: March 17th following worship
• Palm Sunday: March 24th starts with a blessing of the palms with the Pittsfield Campus of Downtown Churches at Dunham Mall at 9 am and continues with worship at 10 am
• Maundy Thursday: March 28th at 7 pm in the Parlor
• Good Friday: March 29th at 7 pm
• Holy Saturday processional: March 30th at 7 pm with the Pittsfield Campus of Downtown Churches (location to be announced)
• Easter: March 31st at 10 am