For many, Mardi Gras \u2013 “Fat Tuesday\u201d \u2013 is an excuse for raucous indulgence, a \u201creligious\u201d excuse for that matter to eat and carouse and throw off restraint.<\/p>\n
Some of the tradition of this \u201ccelebration\u201d goes back to the Christian calendar, as a “last hurrah” before Lent, the traditional season of fasting that begins on Ash Wednesday. \u00a0The deeper root however is pre-Christian and anchored in Roman Springtime festivals.<\/p>\n
The popular assumption is that Christian faith is austere and even \u201canti-celebration\u201d as if we have to whoop it up before the fun police of religion put the kibosh on our joy.<\/p>\n
But far from it! On the last page of the Bible we see a picture of the destiny of the people of God. We\u2019re in heaven, at a feast, a party of joy that lasts forever! Mardi Gras has become an excuse for indulgence, but it\u2019s also an expression of a heart-cry buried in all of us for celebration, belonging, fun, and indulging in the joy of the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For many, Mardi Gras \u2013 “Fat Tuesday\u201d \u2013 is an excuse for raucous indulgence, a \u201creligious\u201d excuse for that matter to eat and carouse and throw off restraint. Some of the tradition of this \u201ccelebration\u201d goes back to the Christian calendar, as a “last hurrah” before Lent, the traditional season of fasting that begins on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":481,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[67,62,68,442,63],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","tag-ash-wednesday","tag-fat-tuesday","tag-fun","tag-lent","tag-mardi-gras"],"yoast_head":"\n