These are the days for which fasting is called. This is the time for deep learning and profound listening, for quieting the noise within and outside of our bodies and minds. We are being buried. We’ve gone the way of the seed, and the Lenten season invites us into a season of repentance.
Lent is a season of 40 days that remind us of the 40 long years of the Hebrew people meandering in the wilderness; the 40 days where Jesus engaged Satan in the wilderness, as Jesus, like many vulnerable people, was given impossible choices in a time of scarcity. We are reminded our connection to God and remembering who we are will see us through.
This year, however, we are presented with a different opportunity. Some of us have perpetually given up everything, so it is particularly offensive to ask folks who are vulnerable, on the bottom, harmed time and time again, justifiably afraid, to give up or sacrifice anything.
Let us gather, rather than dismiss. Let us release what is no longer useful. Allow it to flake away so that we can become renewed-- oppression; myths about ourselves that are harmful; scapegoating those who appear to stand in the way of your comfort--and gather the gifts and mindfulness of abundance that is available to us all.
If we are willing to reclaim our faith that includes repentance, we will find ourselves in right relation with ourselves and God, and will be capable of destroying the yoke of division among us and within ourselves. Finally, if we dare to peel the husks of our hearts, to plant our seeds in the fertile soil God has prepared, we will live into the promise of Isaiah’s words:
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
What a vision! Shout it aloud. Claim it, for I believe we will come to discover together. Repent, and the resurrection is sure to follow. Resurrect, and the resistance will begin! -Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown
Please note: Dr. Brown is traveling with a group from Plymouth and Congregational Church on Mercer Island on a tour of Civil Rights sites in Alabama and Georgia through March 14.