A Moveable Feast

FAT TUESDAY...OR in French Mardi Gras....Now honestly...my first thought EVERY time I hear Fat Tuesday...is all Tuesdays are Fat Tuesdays in my world..

I found this Mardi Gras Joke...thought I would share...

"Today, we celebrate Fat Tuesday. My body; on the other hand, celebrates it every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday."

However, in an effort to back off of the self-deprecating humor and fat jokes...I decided to take a look at Fat Tuesday in a different light...I decided to trim down my Fat Tuesday...

For those of you who are not versed in Mardi Gras..Here is a quick definition of what Fat Tuesday is courtesy of Wikipedia:

Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning "confess." Related popular practices are associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent.


So that means tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  I must admit that growing up Methodist, we did not follow the more strict Lenten season rules that I associate more with Catholicism than with the Protestant faith...but I do have a very clear memory of the first time I ever saw someone "receive their ashes".  I was in college at Southwest Texas State and I lived near the Catholic Student Center...and I had a friend who asked for me to walk with her to "get her ashes"...so I went...I remember that I realized that I had no real clear memory of having seen this ritual before...I found it fascinating.

Now, today, at 47...I still do not find this ritual a part of my faith experience, however, I do have a much deeper appreciation for the Meaning...and today...am thinking about how it translates for me in regard to this Journey.  How can I apply the meaning of this Moveable Feast...this time that we prepare our bodies and our hearts for the Easter season...

Here is what I find fascinating...the significance of Food in our religious history...Eating to celebrate...Not eating to prepare and repent..the idea that giving up food or a vice is a Sacrifice...something done to honor the Sacrifice Jesus makes....

Words like Moveable Feast...Fat Tuesday...all directly correlate to Food...

AS I continue this Journey to diminish the importance of Food...to put Food into perspective and not use it as a crutch or comfort...I find myself looking to this Season of Lent as a time to practice putting Food in perspective...Finding ways to approach this Journey without the reliance on Food...De-fatting my Tuesday and All days after that...I am not talking about reducing fat in my diet...I am talking reducing the "emotional fat" that comes with food for me...

So I, in my own odd way, will be observing the Season of Lent...this time of repentance as a time to further seek strength through my faith to Overcome all of my Fat Tuesdays...and Wednesdays...Thursdays...etc...You get the picture!


As always...music serves as a great speaker of the Truth for me...it speaks to me in a way I can hear...clearly and concisely...it resonates and reverberates in me in ways that no other form of communication does...Having said that...here is the song that touched my heart today!  Thought I would share it with you!!!

Please keep this Journey in your prayers as I continue to define my Own Moveable Feast and seek to "Lean out" my Fat Tuesdays!




Your Hands" JJ Heller

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away
You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

When you walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know you hate to see me cry
One day you will set all things right
Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still

JJ Heller-Your Hands