Beloved Returned - The Rev. Brooklin Taylor

 I am convinced that the next 40 days are some of the most radical and honest days that we hold as a church.  In the face of a culture that tries to deny death, hide our fragility or the fragility of others, and cover up our brokenness, we,  the church, are ready. 

have literally marked out the next six weeks  to stare at our mortality, our fragility, our limitations, and our mistakes right in the face,  both as individuals and as a collective whole.  It is a powerful, truth telling time of year.  Lent is also the time of year that we enter into counter empire practices.

of self examination, repentance,  prayer, fasting, and works of love.  These Lenten practices are not, as I used to think,  about making ourselves look good enough for God,  or for each other,  or for ourselves.  Rather,  these practices are an invitation to us to return.  To return again to the God of all mercy,  and to return again  to our identity  as beloved children of God. 

Though this Lenten season does come each year, I'm not going to pretend that things feel normal in our world right now.  Everything feels so incredibly full of change, violence, and disconnection.