FAT tuesday

This past Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday which begins the liturgical season of Lent. "Liturgical" simply refers to the church calendar which consists of the cycle of seasons within the Christian church.

The season of Lent is the 40-day season of fasting and prayer that leads up to Easter for the purpose of preparing the believer for the annual commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The 40 days is representative of the time Jesus spent in the desert where he was tempted by Satan.
Lent is primarily a season of self-denial, as in "What are you going to 'give up' for Lent?" The irony is that rather than discerning what to "give up" for Lent, I fear many people decide what to "hold on" to.

Fat Tuesday is French for "Mardi-Gras" and is the day set aside to indulge the flesh prior to denying it - it is also called "Shrove Tuesday" and "Pancake Day". Fascinating, isn't it?

Though I realize some of us (including me) were not brought up in a liturgical environment nor do we attend a church that observes the liturgical calendar, I wonder if we still hold personal observances of Fat Tuesday and approach spiritual disciples in a backward and ironic way.

Paul warned Timothy of people who will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, who will live in a form of godliness but are actually denying its power (2 Timothy 3.4-5).

And Peter challenged the church to live in the freedom of Christ but to not use that freedom as an excuse to do less than our best for God. Instead, we should, in our freedom, strive to live as servants of God (1 Peter 2.16).