Rev. Ricky Hoyt On What Lent Offers Spiritually Seriously Unitarian*Universalists. . .

Rev. Ricky Hoyt has posted an excellent blog post about what observing Lent offers to "spiritually serious" Unitarian*Universalists on the 'If I Were A Real UU' post of his One More Step blog. It would seem that this blog post of Rev. Ricky Hoyt was originally delivered as a homily for Lent on Ash Wednesday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills, California. I strongly recommend reading Rev. Ricky Hoyt's complete homily from start to finish but I am plagU*Urizing the following parts of it to help drive that "lesson" home to U*Us, (in)appropriate hyperlinks will be added later. . .

Lent’s no party. Spiritually Lent can seem like a worthless downer. Why bother? Unitarian Universalists focus on the gifts of the spiritual life: the abundance, not the privations; the ecstatic, not the miserable. Our faith encourages us to enumerate our capabilities and inherent worth and dignity, not our sins and failures.

Here is what Lent offers the spiritually serious.

For 40-days, each year, a season to observe who you really are as a human being, and remember who you are really called to be. 40-days to do some sober self-reflection. A chance to ask, Where am I on my spiritual trip? How am I doing on my task of growing a soul. If the Unitarian Universalist spiritual path asks us to achieve salvation for ourselves by being the perfected people that we can be, how are we doing? 40 days to remind yourself that you are after all a mortal being and that your time on earth is limited. 40 days to notice what you’ve really done, so far, with this one life you’ve been given. 40 days to be honest, about your short-comings, while you’ve still got a chance to work on them.

The bottom line Lenten question, for every Unitarian Universalist, is, “What would a real Unitarian Universalist look like, and do I look like that guy?” What would my life look like if I really lived by the principles that I proclaim each Sunday? What would my relationships look like if they were founded on justice and compassion? How diligently am I searching for truth and meaning? How am I participating in the democratic process in my congregation and society at large? How would I spend my days if I more completely contributed my life to the goal that is the goal of my faith: a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all?