When I mention “Bourbon Street,” what does it make you think about? New Orleans and, if you are in the South, Mardi Gras!
I live around 4-6 hours from New Orleans right now (this is just a quick guess), and I had the opportunity to visit this lovely city last summer and toured a small part of New Orleans during a ministry conference. I would not be surprised if some people from this area made an annual “pilgrimage” to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. And it is appropriately named as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday; I think it should also be known as the day of gluttony where people stuff up on food and donuts. Actually, this brings back good memories to me when my ex-boss along with a few other co-workers cooked up donuts for all employees last year where I worked. And I would be lying if I said I only had two donuts because they were delicious!
Why do people partake in gluttony on Mardi Gras? That is because it falls on the day prior to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season marked by fasting and abstinence. Lent is a Christian observance of the liturgical calendar that spans over a period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday (the six Sabbaths during Lent are not counted toward this total), and it is practiced by millions of Protestants and Catholics across the world. This is perhaps one of the most important seasons of Christian calendar events apart from Christmas and Easter.As explained by Wikipedia, lent originates from Latin quadragesima (a translation of the original Greek Τεσσαρακοστή, Tessarakostē, the "fortieth" day before Easter). When sermons began to be preached in vernacular instead of Latin, the English term lent was adopted. Lent initially meant spring, which was derived from a Germanic root for long because it was during this time of the year that days began to lengthen.
Wikipedia provides a wealth of information on Lent, so I won’t exhaust you with the details (feel free to browse for more information on lent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent). However, there are several interesting tidbits of information about this season. The number forty has a deep implications throughout the Bible. For example, Noah was stuck in the ark for forty days and nights while God rained upon earth in the Noahic flood (Genesis 7:4). It was the number of days Moses spent on Mt. Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18). God through the prophet Jonah gave the residents of Nineveh forty days to repent from before God would destroy the city (Jonah 3:4). Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-2).
Catholics observe this season as an obligatory requirement of their faith through various acts of penance such as prayers, fasting, and almsgiving. They will abstain from every form of meat and only eat fish on Fridays (unless St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday, which most priests will allow people to eat corned beef). Protestants on the contrary perceive this season as a personal decision and can choose to abstain from certain food or drink or everyday activities (such as video games, chocolate, etc.). Yet other Christians will completely reject the observance of the Lenten season.
As I reflect on why people observe the Lenten season, I realize that it can be extremely beneficial for Christians in their faith journeys. This season allows them to slow down and meditate upon the vicarious nature of Christ’s death on the cross and his subsequent victory over death on Easter (similar to what Advent does as we look forward to Christmas). I decided to do a little research and find out what other people would do to observe this season, and some ideas are quite interesting! But before I list them out, it is important to remember that whatever we do will not earn us “brownie points” (in other words, merit or good works) to obtain eternal life. We can only achieve eternity when we “[call] upon the name of Lord” (Rom 10:13) and believe that “salvation is found in no one else” except Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). We must decide to surrender our whole life to Christ, forsake worldly ways, and depend our whole life completely on Christ. Whatever we do during Lent should be viewed as an expression of our personal and spiritual act of worship (cf. Rom 12:1) and our response to the amazing love God has demonstrated through His Son’s death on cross and his subsequent victory over sin and death through his resurrection.
So here are some ideas that I found that you could choose to do! I am not sure what I should choose to do…
- Abstain from Facebook/Twitter
- No texting during a portion of the day or evening
- No television or specific shows you are fond of
- No chocolate
- No video games or alcoholic beverages
- Commit to working out three to four times a week
- Devote your mornings toward Bible readings
- Donate to Christian charities such as the blood:water mission, an organization that builds water wells in Uganda
If you have any additional ideas that you want to share, please feel free to comment! Plus, click on the below picture to see a larger one.
No comments:
Post a Comment