From UUA President, the Rev. SofΓa Betancourt, PhD: As Holy Week in Western Christianity begins, many of us as Unitarian Universalists are eagerly awaiting the Easter holiday, with its celebrations of life, spring, flowers, and possibility. It can be appealing to move past the fears and challenges that shape so much of our daily living and focus on comforting seasonal rituals.
Ethicist Dr. Miguel de la Torre urges us to resist moving quickly from Good Friday to Easter Sunday without spending any time on the important day in between, when Jesus has died in the Easter story, and the community is sitting with its grief and loss. No matter what beliefs, struggles, comfort, joy, or teachings we associate with Jesus β can we imagine what it would be like to have a primary source of hope, faith, and community strength in our lives stripped away?
Dr. de la Torre says that this hopelessness, this facing honestly into the injustices of the world, is like sitting in the dust of the road on Holy Saturday, not knowing that Easter is coming. And that staying in that grimy place, with all who feel despair in their living, is what true solidarity looks like in todayβs world.
Changing our culture to one of sharing and solidarity is work that remains greater than any one religious tradition. In this Holy Week, may we seek moments of love and justice without demanding a comforting container to hold our attention. May we grow in our willingness to answer the call to join those who have long done the work of justice in the lonely dust of the road.
#UU #Easter #HolyWeek #Holidays
As Holy Week in Western Christianity begins, many of us as Unitarian Universalists are eagerly awaiting the Easter holiday, with its celebrations of life, spring, flowers, and possibility. It can be appealing to move past the fears and challenges that shape so much of our daily living and focus on comforting seasonal rituals.
Ethicist Dr. Miguel de la Torre urges us to resist moving quickly from Good Friday to Easter Sunday without spending any time on the important day in between, when Jesus has died in the Easter story, and the community is sitting with its grief and loss. No matter what beliefs, struggles, comfort, joy, or teachings we associate with Jesus β can we imagine what it would be like to have a primary source of hope, faith, and community strength in our lives stripped away?
Dr. de la Torre says that this hopelessness, this facing honestly into the injustices of the world, is like sitting in the dust of the road on Holy Saturday, not knowing that Easter is coming. And that staying in that grimy place, with all who feel despair in their living, is what true solidarity looks like in todayβs world.
Changing our culture to one of sharing and solidarity is work that remains greater than any one religious tradition. In this Holy Week, may we seek moments of love and justice without demanding a comforting container to hold our attention. May we grow in our willingness to answer the call to join those who have long done the work of justice in the lonely dust of the road.
#UU #Easter #HolyWeek #Holidays
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