Traditions and rituals are such a blessing to have in the church. Typically, in the life of the church, we mark traditions with “holy days” - Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, etc. Growing up, I only observed two holy days within the life of the church - Christmas and Easter. However, when I joined the Episcopal campus ministry during my undergrad, I quickly fell in love with the plethora of holy days that there were to observe.
These days were not simply reasons to throw a party but served as a means to contemplate life and faith as a collective Christian community. And as holy days are wrapped with traditions and rituals, they gain not only importance for the life of the church, but importance in our own personal lives. I had a run-in with the personal importance of tradition as the snow thickened outside my living room window and “Fat Tuesday” was approaching.
Every year, for Fat Tuesday I buy a king cake and invite friends over for drinks, light conversation, and most importantly - cake. Fat Tuesday serves as an opportunity to indulge for the next day, Ash Wednesday, will mark the beginning of a fasting season. While we are reminded of our mortality on Wednesday, the day prior, Fat Tuesday, serves as a day of indulging in the blessings of life.
However, Fat Tuesday is different this year. For churches that usually observe Fat Tuesday, there won’t be pancake suppers in the fellowship hall. There will likely be a lot fewer gatherings of people to indulge in life the day before Lent. For me, my friends are in Louisville, KY and I am in West Chester, OH.
Earlier today, I braved the snow and drove across West Chester to buy a king cake. In the process, I got my car stuck in the snow as my apartment’s parking lot is not fully plowed. Someone had to push me out. Observing Fat Tuesday will be in isolation, in comparison to my usual church pancake supper and the hosting of friends. But I am keeping the tradition as much as I can because it is a dear one to have.
As we begin Lent, our means of observing the season - Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and all of Holy Week leading up to Easter - will be different. Instead of a procession of people at in-person worship coming to the chancel to receive ashes, the imposition of ashes will be carried out via drive-thru, and others imposing their own ashes at home. That is merely one example. It may feel incomplete as it is a deviation from the norm, and may feel less communal. Yet, there is so much value in continuing these traditions as they are a means to communally discern our world, and carry personal value for ourselves.
I will be cutting my king cake tonight, and I look forward to beginning this odd Lenten journey with you, as we begin this season of rituals and traditions in new innovative ways. Though we are apart in the physical sense, with Christ among us we are innovating tradition together.
Your Sibling in Christ,
Pastor Alec Brock (he/him/his)
Seminary Intern