Tristan McCray's Blog
Mardi Gras Meddlings / 02.25.09, 04:47 PM
Mardi Gras. I guess it means ‘Fat Tuesday,’ but I’m not 100% sure. To me it means many things. It means parades, lots of parades. It means ‘alternatives’ to the debauchery, such as ‘Hallelujah Tuesday” at our church. It means protestors. It means drinking. It means beads, of course. It means a city shutting down to party. It means waste. It means time with family. It means King Cake. It means excess. It means ‘The Last Hurrah.” It means walking the same parade route three nights in a row. It means New Orleans is in the spotlight. It means….
Mardi Gras is the time right before Lent starts, a time to live it up before a season of reflection, leading up to Easter Sunday. The thing that has most affected me has been the enormous waste of it all. I don’t want to sound like a party pooper, because it is really fun, and neat, and impressive. I have now marched in three parades and gone to two as a spectator. I don’t denounce them or anything like that. No, I was just struck by the waving hands in the air and everyone’s one track mind: get things. Not useful things, but junk. Junk most likely made by someone underpaid in slave-like conditions in China (the most common country of production I see). I mean, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of bead necklaces that will all be forgotten in one week. Not to mention doubloons (coins), footballs, and assorted other crap.
What do I do with all this? I let it serve as a reminder to me that my life is about more than all that. I don’t need beads. I don’t need much of anything, really. If Lent is about giving something up to show devotion to God, Mardi Gras has shown me that there is much I should give up, much that I am striving for that God doesn’t really care about and that I shouldn’t care about as a result.
I can’t start to describe Mardi Gras for you, there are so many thoughts that go through my mind, so may different aspects of it, it’s impossible. For me, Mardi Gras has been walking with the Carver Marching Rams as they parade through Uptown, bringing smiles to people’s faces and shouts of what year people graduated. It has also been a good reminder of the excess of this world and the many empty places people try to put their worth. As Lent comes, be mindful of these things; meditate as we wait for the celebration of why we live: The Resurrection.
Peace be with you.
PS – I tried to load a picture on to illustrate my point, but failed. Here is a better way anyway, so you can get a feel for Mardi Gras. Click here . You can see the crowds, the floats and the general atmosphere. If you see any marching bands, look for the green and orange of the Carver Rams!
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