BLOG 2/28/17. A THROW-AWAY BLOG: MARDI GRAS
While the rest of the country is obsessing with colorful and controversial politics and politicians, or with the results of the Academy Awards faux pas, or with some other insistent vicissitude that is theirs, … in New Orleans, today is Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras Day, and is the climax of the social season for that unique city. Mardi Gras defies description, what with ostensibly having roots in the Christian observance of Epiphany: that event in which the wise men from the East came to pay homage to the newly born Jesus. Epiphany Day is the 12th night after Christmas, and so New Orleans’ celebration of Mardi Gras begins on that day with the first parade, and builds up momentum over all the weeks until Fat/Shrove Tuesday, by which time it has become something of a civil orgy, what with uninhibited displays of hedonism, vanity, exhibitionism, along with the expenditure of huge amounts of money by the ‘carnival krewes’ (which are the elite social clubs that build the floats, control the parades, elect their annual kings and queens, hold their balls, and display their social status).
It’s a big Wow! to anyone who is not a native. It is also a sacred cow to the city. The city’s whole calendar revolves around Mardi Gras, as does a significant part of the economy. When I arrived in New Orleans as an innocent young pastor, and publicly questioned the integrity of all that money and devotion being focused on an event that I thought to be something of a contradiction to my ethical senses as a Kingdom of God person and teacher—I was promptly warned sweetly and quietly by one of the church’s respected elders: “Pastor Henderson, we like you, and appreciate your ministry, … but Mardi Gras is ours. Leave it alone!”
But then, New Orleans is not a normal city, it is not a southern city, it is hardly an American city. Its roots are more French and Spanish, but it is a seaport town so that you have large colonies of Germans, Chinese, and, of course, the remarkable African-American culture, the descendants of slaves, which has produced so much of its own music-jazz, and produced great musicians (think of Louis Armstrong, or Wynton Marsalis, or Preservation Hall). This not to mention that New Orleans produces good food ‘to die for’.
Of course, New Orleans is not the only city that celebrates Mardi Gras. In this country, Mobile, Alabama does, and then Rio de Janeiro, all cities with deep Roman Catholic roots. I, as one who can appreciate the huge contributions of the Roman Catholic Church, have never quite been able to make the connection between this annual orgy, and Epiphany, nor of the hypocrisy of all those weeks of hedonistic display, … and then (in New Orleans) early on Ash Wednesday morning (tomorrow) all of the hung-over celebrants will go to the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square to have the archbishop put ashes on their foreheads as the begin being penitent for Lent (which leads up to Easter). Doesn’t make sense to me, … but then there are lots of mysteries in this pilgrimage.
Somehow, written deeply into my Christian consciousness and calling is the mandate that we not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But like so much our experience, those who are comfortable and secure can easily overlook those who are homeless, poor, desperate for healing, and hopeless. This was true in New Orleans in my experience. There was so much that was tragic hidden behind the scenes. I knew professing Christians who contributed a couple of thousand dollars a year to the church, but then spent $30,000 or more to belong to one of the carnival krewes, and who would blithely tell me that I didn’t understand how important that was to them when I would seek to challenge their stewardship. I’m certain that there are inconsistencies in my life, too. We all have them, and we need one another to challenge and refine us. So, this is Bob Henderson ‘ventilating’ and giving you a ‘throw-away’ blog on part of my own Christian sojourn. May your Lenten disciplines be a refining and recreating time in your walk with God. Blessings.
