Mardi Gras and Lent

The juxtaposition of Mardi Gras with Ash Wednesday is a great example of the way in which we seek balance between our physical and spiritual lives.  Mardi Gras is a Bacchanalian type celebration that is designed for us to revel in the sensual.  This celebration is a precursor to Lent which is a preparation for the most holy of Christian observances.

During the Mardi Gras celebration, we happily experience all that the physical body can enjoy in the form of good food, drink and great camaraderie.  Some may feel that such a celebration is inimical to an appreciation of God. I beg to differ. We are spirits having a human existence.  We should enjoy the physical gifts the world has to offer.  We should celebrate the fact that we are alive.

However, as with all things, there should be balance. During Lent we prepare to celebrate  the resurrection of Jesus.  We perform the ritual of sacrifice by denying ourselves something we cherish. We do this  in honor of Jesus who for forty days and nights fasted while resisting the Devil. The Devil tempted him with  world domination – All of this can be yours if you serve me.  Jesus fasted to manifest to us that we don’t live by bread but by God. He focused  upon our true goal, which is to be one with God. This enabled him to resist the temptation of the Devil. We purify our spirit through sacrifice in the same manner as Jesus in recognition of that lesson.

Jesus made these preparations just prior to sacrificing  his physical life so we could have eternal life.  Jesus purified his physical body by denying all sensual temptation. He did not imbibe any food nor did he accept the Devil’s offer to be the King of the world. He accepted his destiny and allowed himself to be crucified. He experienced tremendous physical pain in the process. While most think that Jesus bled to death based upon his wounds, he died from an inability to breathe.  When one is nailed to a cross, it becomes impossible to breathe and one dies from suffocation.  Jesus endured that pain because he was aware of his own inner balance. He knew that the physical world is ephemeral and that his spiritual self was eternal.  He was willing to undergo such a horrible death to manifest that only the spirit matters in the end. He died so that we could all be free from sin and have access to the true Kingdom of Heaven.

So feel free to juxtapose an enjoyment of the outer world with a focus of your inner nature – your real self, which is the spirit within.  We, as human beings, innately understand the balance between our outer and inner selves.    In many Christian cultures around the world  there are celebrations that occur between the Feast of the Epiphany and Lent.  Brazil has perhaps the most famous Carnival in the world. Over 2 million people celebrate the Mardi Gras festival during a three day period in Rio de Janeiro. In the city of Binche in Belgium, they celebrate Shrove Tuesday with thousands of dancers in costume lining the streets all night.   There are similar celebrations on Fat Tuesday which is the literal translation of Mardi Gras across the world. Places like, Columbia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Unites States. These celebrations   rejoice in the discovery that our redeemer was born and prepare us for the solemnity that occurs during Lent and Easter.  As the French say “Laissez les bon temps rouler!”  (Let the good time roll)  Appreciate the physical or outer self and then prepare the inner self to Proclaim  the Mystery of  Faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.