Asked about these past painful chapters in human history, Thich Nhat Hanh said recently, “Suffering and happiness are both organic, like flowers and garbage. If the flower can be on its way to becoming garbage, the garbage can be on its way to becoming a flower…During the 20th century, we have created a lot of garbage... Now it is very important for us to learn how to transform the garbage we have created into flowers.”
It’s true that this year’s Lenten series, Sown in Tears, is about some of the 20th century's worst garbage - but more critically it is about the possibility of transforming that garbage into flowers. We will hear music, see artwork, and hear spoken words that somehow weave threads of Holocaust destruction into something contemplative and life-giving. We will hear about what it means to inherit the realities of the Armenian genocide, and we will hear what has been learned about forgiveness and justice in the aftermath of cruelty and conflict in Rwanda.
Is it possible to transform this garbage into flowers? Is it possible even to consider these tragedies in relationship to God’s love and justice? What shall we tell our children when they ask us these questions? Join us on Wednesday evenings in March, and at several other special events, as we find the courage to address these difficult questions, and find the flowers together.
