WANT UNITY IN THE WORLD? COME PASS A GOOD TIME AT THE MARDI GRAS! Posted on March 1, 2017

WANT UNITY IN THE WORLD? COME PASS A GOOD TIME AT THE MARDI GRAS!

Everywhere else in the world it’s just a Tuesday, but today in New Orleans it’s FAT TUESDAY. Mardi Gras is almost over and preparations for Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season are beginning. As the day of purple, gold, and green is ending, I feel compelled to share with you just how important the Carnival season is for everyone. It’s meaning far surpasses beads, costumes, and king cake.

Naturally, there are always a few bad seeds in the mix. There are the small number of tourists who come to the city, get trashed and show their special parts on Bourbon Street because that’s what they’ve seen on television. That’s not my Mardi Gras. There are the small number of college kids who come by our tables set up with food and drinks to try and steal a few items to fill their stomachs. That’s not my Mardi Gras. There are the jackasses who run and intercept throws being thrown to little kids. That’s not my Mardi Gras. There are friends who arrive to a saved neutral ground spot empty handed that someone has been securing since the wee hours of the morning. That’s definitely not my Mardi Gras. A parade is no excuse to forget your Carnival etiquette. One always shows up to someone else’s spot with fried chicken and a king cake, for there is never enough of either. Or you can bring a gallon of daquiris, which is certainly an acceptable substitute for the Popeyes golden bird and the Randazzos melt in your mouth delight.

Next to the marching bands, my favorite part of Carnival season is this: during Carnival season, status is thrown out the window. Prestige is yesterday’s garbage. Clout is gulped down like a Pat O’Brien’s famous hurricane. Young mix with old. Different races second line together down St. Charles Avenue. Opposing political parties carouse together in the stands. People of diverse religious backgrounds revel in each other’s company. City leaders, like Mayor Mitch Landrieu and police chief Michael Harrison, dance in front of Gallier Hall with the ZULU Walking Warriors and grab parade goers to join in on moving their feet to the Mardi Gras Mambo. Upper, middle, and lower socioeconomic classes come together to catch a NYX purse or a MUSES shoe. There is little distinction in anyone.

Historians believe the first Mardi Gras took place in Mobile in 1703. In 1730, French settlers in New Orleans celebrated the season with masked balls, lavish dinners, and street parties. In 1892, REX, the King of Carnival, chose three colors to represent this special occasion in the Rex parade theme “Symbolism of Colors”. Purple stands for justice, gold stands for power, and green stands for faith.

Far before King Rex presented the symbolism of colors, Mardi Gras saw, and still sees, it’s share of controversy. Some believe it is a pagan holiday. At one time, not all krewes were integrated. Some believe it’s just a time to drink, party and sin as much as one possibly can. Therefore, when asked about the history of the Mardi Gras season, I suggest simply replying with, “It’s complicated. Just have another drink and start a second line.” To any sports fans, feel free to add “It’s believed that LSU took their purple and gold colors from the Mardi Gras flag, leaving Tulane with the lone green.” One thing we can all agree on, though, is that Mardi Gras is a unique time.

Mardi Gras is about slowing down. It’s about celebrating the blessings of life. It’s about relaxing and not having to worry about checking emails or returning phone calls. It’s about seeing children’s faces light up when they catch a stuffed animal or an Endymion football. It’s about coming together with family, friends, and strangers and passing a good time before the reverence of the Lenten season begins.

So, as I put the ladders, ice chests, costumes, purple wig, and bags of beads away until next season, I reflect on the significance of the past season since it began on the day of Epiphany. To some, Mardi Gras may be about partying, drinking, breasts for beads, gluttony, and getting every last sin out before it’s time to repent. Hey, I get it, Mardi Gras is pretty easy to condemn when viewed through that type of lens.

But, for me, Carnival season is about people. People God placed in my life. People God gave me an opportunity to meet on a parade route from all around the world and from my beloved city. The season is about people who use their talents to create the most beautiful floats, gowns that would rival any Hollywood red carpet, and parade themes that make you smile and remember the days of Pontchartrain Beach, the old K&B drugstore, the time when Saints fans wore brown, paper bags to hide their faces, the famous Mckenzies bakery or Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Big Easy.

Mardi Gras is about people who revert back to their inner childhood spirit. Mardi Gras is about neighborhoods preparing for the krewes of Endymion, Bacchus, and Orpheus, to roll in front of their homes by welcoming thousands of people they’ve never met. It’s about traditions, such as beignets at dawn and morning mass on Ash Wednesday in St. Louis Cathedral, going to Superior Grill or Pascals Manale before Bacchus, or heading to Tipitinas after Muses to listen to Kermit Ruffins. It’s about camping out next to people you don’t even know three days before your krewe of choice rolls just so you can get the perfect spot and by the end of the parade you have new best friends that you can’t wait to see next year.

Mardi Gras is about the joy of living. Mardi Gras is about krewes serving the public and community. For example, this year’s Zulu’s theme “STOP THE VIOLENCE” was painted on nearly every one of their priceless coconut throws. Mardi Gras is about judgement, division, and hatred disappearing. The season is about becoming a unified community that is a melting pot for all ages, sexes, races, sports allegiances, religions, sexual orientations, political beliefs, and bank account sizes. Mardi Gras is about life and all the people in it. Seems to me this would be a good thing every day, in every city, and with the same passion we practice while on Orleans Avenue awaiting those good looking cadets in their Citadel uniforms to lead the way for Endymion.

During Mardi Gras, the only things one is judged on is (1.) how well you move your feet when the famous St. Augustine marching band is playing in front of you and (2.) not ducking your face when you have a dozen ten cent beads from China being thrown right at your face because your “Throw Me Something Mister” signs is way better than the equally, crazy goofball next to you. So, in ending, Happy Mardi Gras, hail LIFE, and HUGE THANKS to the men and women in uniform that protect, tolerate and, sometimes, join in on the good times! Without them, Mardi Gras would be impossible.

“It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi Gras in New Orleans.” Mark Twain, who attended his first Mardi Gras at the age of 23 in 1859

“This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Laissez les bon temps rouler,

Lala