and Lent
February 16, 2010 (Tuesday)
Today is a beautiful day. The forecast is for at least three days in a row like this. I’m looking forward to each of them.
Today is “Fat Tuesday.” Perhaps you recognize the Latin words, “Mardi Gras,” (translation: Fat Tuesday). Maybe you are surprised to find that Mardi Gras is a religious observance!? The last day before Lent is a day of feasting. Feasting before fasting. However, in New Orleans for 200 years the Carnival aspect of the period between Epiphany (January 6 or thereabouts, celebrating the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus) and Lent has dominated the scene. Other cities, such as Rio de Janeiro, also celebrate with Carnival (parades and parties). Galveston has joined the list of cities, and the list seems to be growing.
I recall hearing Bob Harrington, “Chaplain of Bourbon Street,” say that he gave up trying to conduct any kind of mission work in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. He tried displaying a casket fitted with a mirror instead of a corpse, so that each of the revelers who looked inside it would see his/her own face and remember his/her own mortality. Gospel tracts on the way of salvation were there also. When he checked on it the next morning, it was filled with beer bottles. All the tracts were still there, too.
Lent is an old English word for “lengthen,” which is probably associated with the days getting longer in the spring season. The Lenten season is the six-weeks period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Historically, Baptists have not observed special seasons like Lent, but there seems to be a trend among all Christians, including Baptists, to respect the traditions that draw people to a closer walk with Christ, and to participate in the spirit of such traditions.