Using the book “Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day” by Kate Bowler as our guide, we will meet weekly on Mondays at 7pm on Zoom through the six weeks of Lent.
For some folks, this will be an untangling of old ideas about what Lent is and how it is possible to honour the time. For others it will be a first entry into something new and unfamiliar. For others still it will be part of the annual rhythm of life.
This book and the context of the six meetings is explicitly Christian, but (as with all things Weird Church) those who participate do not have to claim that or any tradition. There are many ways to encounter the Divine and this is one pathway.
Books are available through your local bookstore or online retailer and registration for the group is below.
“In the Christian tradition, Lent marks the forty days leading up to Jesus’ execution and surprising return to life three days later. It is a practice that began during the fourth century as a way to prepare Christians for the holiest, hardest days of our story. During Lent, we ask God to show us the world as it is. We begin on Ash Wednesday with the reality of our finitude rubbed on our foreheads or hands— from dust we were made, to dust we shall return...
Frankly, Lent is my favorite part of the church calendar. Suddenly, all of us are on the losing team. And we look at each other with well earned wonder, horror, and awe. We begin to tell each other the truth again: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.
Many people practice Lent by giving something up—alcohol, meat, chocolate, social media. Some take up something new—a new prayer practice or swearing profusely, like I did one year. (It’s a ridiculous story about how when I thought I was going to die, I had a rather profane response to Lent. You are more than welcome to read about my tirades in my memoir Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved)).”