Read more at sojo.net ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ View this email in your browser [[link removed]] [[link removed]] This Year Is Dark, But We Still Need Lent
[[link removed]] Adam Russell TaylorI’m a latecomer to Lent. It wasn’t until I joined Sojourners in my first role as
senior political director in 2004 that I learned from my Catholic colleagues the
significance of this 40-day liturgical season in which we spiritually travel
with Jesus through his fasting in the desert. In 2021, this time of reflection —
so often marked by what we give up — comes amid what already feels like a dark,
cold, and perilous winter.

Many of us are still giving up the ability to worship together in person. A
virus that we prayed would be quickly vanquished has become a much more
permanent fixture in our lives, causing so much loss and hardship. In the Bay
Area and elsewhere, we've seen an alarming surge of xenophobic violence against
Asian Americans in recent weeks that has left one person dead and many more
injured. Since the onset of the COVID pandemic in the U.S. a year ago, the Asian
Pacific Policy and Planning Council has documented nearly 3,000 incidents of
anti-Asian hate across 47 states and the District of Columbia. In Texas and
northern Mexico, millions have not had power for days as a result of
unprecedented stress on the power grid due to severe cold that the region almost
never experiences. Scientists have long warned us that climate change is
responsible for more extreme weather events, and this storm is another sobering
example.

… In light of these trying and extraordinary times, I asked a handful of
colleagues and pastors to share their own reflections on how we can best enter
into this Lenten season and what we can learn from a time typically marked by
prayer, fasting, repentance, and self-examination.

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