Friends,

I've never been big on Lent, but now I've got a book and a podcast dealing with Lent. Apparently, people change.

And that's the idea. That we do things that help others to find the motivation to change. Let's do it together.

-Liz

Ash Wednesday Prayer of Confession

Forgive us, God, for the ways we have failed to serve the poor and failed to end poverty. Forgive us for the inequality of our community.

We confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Forgive us, God, for the times we look away and for the relationships we have failed to initiate. Forgive us for failing to stand in solidarity with those who do not have enough.

We confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Forgive us, God, for the times we assume that poverty is inevitable. Forgive us for the ways we ignore inequality and sit comfortably with the status quo.

We confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Forgive us, God, for the times we hold too tightly to what we have, letting possessions keep us from others and from you. Forgive us for our endless accumulation.

We confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Allow for a time of silent confession.

Restore us, God, and redeem us in your eyes. Guide us to be your people, attentive to the poor among us. Guide us to care for all those in need and to release what we do not need.
(Magill, When Did We See You? p. 14.)

Lent and Resistance

Lent starts with Isaiah 58

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many
generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.—Isaiah 58:12

This is the prophet's call to a people in exile to have hope (God will rebuild our ruins) and get to work (we will be the ones to restore our community).

While often the Lenten season is about introspection, the tradition of prayer, fasting, and charity need not be individual endeavors. Communal lament, corporate confession, and community pleading are all forms of prayer that resist the insistence that we are alone. It is together that we see what is wrong, and together that we pray for, and work for change.

Fasting is meant to be a public witness to our faith. In Joel (2:1-3, 12-17) it is the whole community that is suffering, and the response is for the whole community to come together. The texts feel so appropriate for this time and place. Giving up chocolate or coffee is a symbol helping an individual to remember God's priority in our lives. Staying away from work, boycotting a retailer, and using a day off for a protest is essentially a community fast from things that benefit us, and demanding a focus on the public good instead.

Charity is certainly giving material things to people who need them, and is definitely sharing our wealth. But it also should be understood in its broader sense of love for our neighbor. To remember the names of those who have been killed in our immigration practices, to insist that the stranger and the oppressed deserve fair laws, to demand equal protection for all, these are corporate forms of charity we need right now.

I want to be a restorer of the streets of Minneapolis, of Boston, of rural neighborhoods without hospitals. As a church we can focus on this during Lent, asking what is the next right thing to do to care for my community.

What is your church's Lenten plans? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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Iris DeMent and her song "Let the Mystery Be".

Blog Post: You can Do Something to Hurt the Oligarchs. He doesn't call it "fasting" but I think that's what it is! If it asks you to subscribe you can just say no and it'll let you read it.

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