Lent for those on the Margins

One question that I have been asking myself the past few days has been: Do we really need to acknowledge Lent? After all, since the US election on November 5th, it has felt like a perpetual period of Lent. And of course, for those who are in worse situations, such as those in war-torn Ukraine or who are on the receiving end of Israel’s genocidal violence, this feeling of sadness and doom goes back even further.

Do we really need a reminder about death, in light of a US presidential administration that seems intent on killing a large number of people at home and aboard? For those of us on the administration’s target list- trans people, black and brown people, disabled people, those in poverty, etc we don’t need a reminder about how vulnerable we are to death. We receive those reminders every time the President issues an executive order or opens his mouth. We also don’t need a reminder about the reality of sin. We know sin exists because we have to deal with the ramifications of the sins of greed and white supremacy that have been given unfettered reign in the US political system.

Of course, those of us vulnerable to the whims of a wanna be emperor also have to deal with the well-meaning and condescending speeches from our progressive and mainline Protestant peers who want to lecture us on the need to avoid polarization and to love our enemies. Excuse me, good friends, but polarization is already here. The categories of “us” and “them” have already been formed by those in power. You can lecture those on the margins that we should not use the same language, but the reality is, the consequences of the margins using “us vs them” is negligible compared to the categories created by those in power. You are lecturing the wrong people.

Moreover, can you please address the people with the full scale of government authority on their side on the need to love their enemies (ie, everyone who doesn’t agree with them) since, you know, they have the power to disenfranchise us and enforce polices that can kill us? I’m just saying, perhaps instead of focusing on the angry words of the marginalized toward the ones in power, our mainline peers could instead focus on the ones who are actively causing pain and destruction.

In light of all that, is it worth it to observe Lent? I mean, for those in positions of power, absolutely. I would love if those in power who identify as Christians could, for Lent, give up the need to oppress and their hunger for power. Instead of seeking to mandate the displaying of the 10 commandments in schools, could you honor the dignity of every person? Or, instead of buying Bibles for every school, how about we feed hungry students instead?

For those who aren’t (yet) impacted by the temper tantrums of a would-be king, Lent can be an opportunity for reflection on how their desire for the status quo contributes to the oppression of others, how their silence in the face of institutional violence not only harms others but will not protect them, and how they are only a couple of bad policies away from losing the false sense of security they have spent years crafting.

But for those of us under no illusions about the current administration and state of the world, is Lent worth observing? I say yes. But, for us, who are already intimately familiar with the reality of death, suffering and the ramifications of how institutional sin is contributing to oppression, we can focus on another important aspect of Lent: God’s presence amid the wilderness. We can focus on the life that God provides even as we acknowledge and mourn the death and destruction around us.

For us, Lent is less about inducing shame and more about remembering we are God’s beloved children. We are already told by those in power that we are worthless and “sinful.” For us, we don’t necessarily need to give up our favorite tv shows, comfort food, or saying curse words. But we need to examine how we have accepted the empire’s lies about us- their lies that call those of us who are disabled burdens, who claim that the poor are lazy parasites, who demean trans people as at best “sick” and at worst as criminals. We need to name those lies we have accepted- even if we did so unintentionally and reject them.

We already face death, but for us, Lent is a reminder that we do not do so alone. It is a reminder that the God of creation experienced hunger, pain, and suffering. God was subject to the very same forces of exploitation, subjugation, and oppression that many of us encounter daily. We suffer, but we are not alone.

So, am I personally observing Lent? Yes. Not because I need a reminder of death but because I need a reminder that the God who defeated death and who continually gives life journeys with me. I observe Lent not out of personal shame but out of the knowledge that I am a beloved child of God.

Image: white background with ashes/dirt in the shape of a cross. Text: For those on the margins, Lent is a reminder that we suffer, but we are not alone.