"Help us to see ourselves in all creation, and all creation in ourselves, ourselves in one another. Remind those of us who like connections made with similes, metaphors, symbols that all of us are, everything is, already connected.”
Happy Imbolc (or Groundhogs Day)! We are halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
As Helen Cymbala tells me, Imbolc is considered a gateway between winter and spring, a time to get ready to move forward and prepare for seasonal changes. (Seed catalogues, anyone?) One can tell the days are getting longer.
Helen also points out that Frebruare is “to purify” in Latin, which we can see reflected in both pagan and Christian traditions of early spring purification. Fasting at this time of year made sense in earlier days because food supplies would be dwindling anyway. Helen notes that Shrove Tuesday was a day to use up milks, eggs, butter (in pancakes!) Carnival was the last day to consume all your meat (as “carne va” means “meat goes”.) Then Lent would begin, apparently with old style veganism. This year Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day are one and the same; we’ll see which gets more attention!
For our small groups, February’s Soul Matters theme is “the gifts of justice and equity” which can also relate to Black History Month. Here are a few reflection questions for the curious:
- Were you a child that wanted everything to be fair? How has that played out in your adult life?
- What personal or societal injustice has most shaped your life (for good or ill)?
- Has art or meditation ever led to or supported your justice or equity concerns?
- When the enormity of injustice looms, what enables you to hold onto hope?
- Has Unitarian Universalism changed the way you think about injustice or inequity?
It’s a short month with a lot going on! I hope to see many of you tonight for the Dedication of Freeman Hall or the Gospel Concert, &/or at the Sunday service.
Rev. Lee
P.S. The front windows are back in! Let there be light!