Lent 2022
Learning to Walk in the Dark
Ash Wednesday Worship
with holy communion, the imposition of ashes, & anointing with oil Wednesday, 3/2 @ 7pm EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom http://zoom.us/j/907548568 The ash crosses and anointing with oil remind us that, limited as we are, God is not, for God may be found in daylight and darkness, Easter and Good Friday alike, and God loves us without limit. |
What exactly is Lent again?Lent is one of the oldest seasons in the church calendar. The name, “Lent” comes from the Old English word from which we get our word “lengthen,” reflecting the growing springtime daylight in the Northern Hemisphere. Originally, Lent was a season of preparation for the high holy days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday and contemplation of the power of God’s love at work in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Somewhere along the way, preparation and contemplation got misinterpreted through the lens of guilt and shame, leading some to associate the Lent with obligation, self-denial, even punishment. But—surprise!—that isn’t the only way to look at Lent. Lent can be a gift, an annual reminder that “we are only human,” that while, God knows, we can’t do everything, we can try to do more to live out the purposes of God in our everyday lives. It can be a season of centering and self-reflection, of prayer and yes, preparation and contemplation of the mysteries of God’s self-giving love. If we discover unhelpful or unhealthful or sinful habits in ourselves, we can practice giving them up for the duration. But we can also “take things on”—try on new spiritual practices, new habits of heart and walk around in them a while to see how they suit us. |
Lenten Book Study
Learning to Walk in the Dark:
Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night
by Barbara Brown Taylor
As individuals and communities, as a nation and a community of nations around the world, we have been through a dark time in the past two years of the COVID pandemic, a time that is not quite over and whose effects we’ll be feeling for a long time to come. That’s why the Deacons enthusiastically chose Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark as our Lenten book study this year the moment they heard the subtitle: Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night. In it, the author confesses that what she calls “solar Christianity,” faith focused on relentless, even toxic positivity, and its flipside, making darkness and “dark feelings” sinful, just doesn’t work for her. So she spends time exploring the dark and our relationship with the dark, only to find that, rather than being the simple, terrible absence of good and God, darkness, while challenging, can be rich, fertile, beautiful, and even holy. She describes a kind of “lunar Christianity” that more honestly accounts for seasons of varying light and dark in our lives.
We hope you’ll pick up a copy of the book, read along, and join us for a series of conversations about it Thursdays during Lent beginning 3/7 either noon-1pm or 7:30-8:30pm. Our schedule will be: 3/10 - Intro & Chapter 1; 3/17 - Ch.2 & 3; 3/24 - Ch.4 & 5; 3/31 - Ch.6 & 7; and 4/7 - Ch.8 & 9. We’ll meet in our usual Zoom space at http://zoom.us/j/907548568. Feel free to attend either meeting as fits your schedule week by week. UPDATE: We’ll be joined in these conversations by some of our neighbors from The Brighton Alston Congregational Church.
Learning to Walk in the Dark:
Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night
by Barbara Brown Taylor
As individuals and communities, as a nation and a community of nations around the world, we have been through a dark time in the past two years of the COVID pandemic, a time that is not quite over and whose effects we’ll be feeling for a long time to come. That’s why the Deacons enthusiastically chose Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark as our Lenten book study this year the moment they heard the subtitle: Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night. In it, the author confesses that what she calls “solar Christianity,” faith focused on relentless, even toxic positivity, and its flipside, making darkness and “dark feelings” sinful, just doesn’t work for her. So she spends time exploring the dark and our relationship with the dark, only to find that, rather than being the simple, terrible absence of good and God, darkness, while challenging, can be rich, fertile, beautiful, and even holy. She describes a kind of “lunar Christianity” that more honestly accounts for seasons of varying light and dark in our lives.
We hope you’ll pick up a copy of the book, read along, and join us for a series of conversations about it Thursdays during Lent beginning 3/7 either noon-1pm or 7:30-8:30pm. Our schedule will be: 3/10 - Intro & Chapter 1; 3/17 - Ch.2 & 3; 3/24 - Ch.4 & 5; 3/31 - Ch.6 & 7; and 4/7 - Ch.8 & 9. We’ll meet in our usual Zoom space at http://zoom.us/j/907548568. Feel free to attend either meeting as fits your schedule week by week. UPDATE: We’ll be joined in these conversations by some of our neighbors from The Brighton Alston Congregational Church.