Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras, the pre-Lenten bash of noteriety, especially in New Orleans, culminates today, "Fat Tuesday, the literal translation of the French, Mardi Gras. Like other religous celebrations in this country, it is an overdone and highly commercialized excuse to "let loose" before the rigors on Lent arrive on Wednesday and the bright, garish costumes of the revelers are literally reduced to ashes. Today is the last day we can "indulge" in what we might be intending to "give up for Lent"...desserts, candy, cigarettes (very popular when everyone was smoking), beer and liquor..."hard things to do." But we might also take it on a purely spiritual level and set the tone for the next forty days. Lent, is after all, a time to "lighten up", to set aside the "baggage" accumulated over the past year, and clear the decks for the rightful place of Jesus in our lives.
Psalm 55: 22 urges us to "Give your burdens to the Lord,/ and he will take care of you." Another reading is: "Throw your cares on the Lord and he will support you." This attitude can be our personal Mardi Gras parade, as we "let loose" the concerns that plague us, cast them on the Lord and revel in the assurance that he is glad to receive them, protect us, and fill us with a love and desire that will allow us to draw closer in confidence and friendship. If we approach Lent with this freedom of spirit, how much more will God be able to work wonders in us! Let us, then, with abandon, "throw our cares on the Lord."
Bro. Rene