#uulent

day 35, faith: I live in a tiny town in rural New Mexico and go to a bigger town nearby to attend a branch congregation of a larger church in Albuquerque, about 80 miles away. The branch ministry program helps folx like us who are far away from a UU church stay connected with our faith. Our dozen or so stalwart members gather for worship on Sunday afternoons in a Fellowship Hall we rent from an Episcopal church and share with the local fiber arts guild. Our pulpit stands in front of one of their quilts. #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqmkOn-uK57/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Palm Sunday: generosity: Jax & Jonah know sharing is caring. #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqjxgCiLr3W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

day 34, appreciate: an amazing sunset after not seeing the sun at all for the first three days of our trip. #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqhSfr-uGcu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

day 33, abundance: As my father used to say, “You have only to look.” We experienced an abundance of California poppies at Picacho Peak State Park in Arizona last week. #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqecMRDJlwg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

day 32, grace: A pair of Sandhill cranes visited us one afternoon this winter. UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqcMxx-OOav/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

day 31, solidarity: My first understanding of solidarity came with grapes disappearing from my family’s fruit bowl when I was about 5. When I asked my mother why we never had grapes anymore, she explained that we needed to support farm workers who were being treated unfairly. We didn’t buy grapes until I was 10, when the growers came to the table with the United Farm Workers and the boycott came to an end. #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqZpFDnOaEk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

day 30, mutuality: Saguaro blossoms supply nectar to lesser long-nosed bats who pollinate the flowers as they feed. “From you, I receive / to you, I give / Together, we share / and by this, we live.” #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqW-Fm0raDv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

day 29, care: I learned that one of the names for the fifth Sunday of Lent is Care Sunday, possibly from the Old English word, caru, which encompasses sorrow, grief, and suffering. I also learned that in the Northeast of England in days gone by, Care Sunday was observed with the consumption of care-ling, carling, or carlin cakes, made from carlin peas, a regional variety of field pea that still exists today. While I haven’t found a recipe yet, and the closest field pea I have ready access to is the yellow split pea, I’ll keep looking - and I don’t need carlin cakes to remember this Passiontide that no-one is past redemption and we all have a place in the heart of love. #UULent #uulent #uulent2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqTwH5hPps_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=