Much good has happened since that last whiny post. God stepped up, not that I believe he hadn't been stepping up the whole time, but something happened this time. It's probably a combination of my own faith and/or mood, God's timing, and the faith of several others. I feel much better about life and my relationship with God.

That was about two or three weeks ago. Now it is now, and now is Fat Tuesday. I'd not heard of Fat Tuesday until a couple years ago, possibly right after I dated Denna. I also hadn't been aware of Lent or Ash Wednesday until my first year of college. For some reason the churches I grew up in didn't observe it. And not until today did I put it together that Fat Tuesday was a pre-Lent celebration.

I'm sure a lot of Christians now see the celebration as a "gotta get all my sinning out today before we go a'fasting tomorrow." Maybe that's how it is, especially down in Louisiana. I wouldn't know.

I wonder how it started. Sure, there's wikipedia, but I'm at Arby's right now without internet connection. Sure, there's my cell phone, but my battery is almost dead. Any other bright ideas? Punks, ugh.

My point is, what if it really was a pre-Lent celebration? What if that's all it was? What if it wasn't meant to be lewd? Drinking's no sin in moderation. If I've gathered correctly, the original Lenters fasted from food for the 40 days leading to Easter, like Jesus did in the desert. Before such an undertaking, you'd want to eat up, and honestly, you'd probably want to beer up, to take some of the sting of fear of the ordeal out of you, if only for a day.

I lied, that's not really my point. My point is, the church doesn't celebrate anymore. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, God set up like seven celebrations throughout the year. They were in observance of him and his provision (God has a bit of an ego), but they were celebrations nonetheless. The church, as I see it now, has three celebrations: Christmas, Easter, and the Super Bowl. Christmas and Easter have a ton of tradition and pomp and circumstance. If you don't do them right, you're in sin. There's no freedom, which is especially ironic for Easter. Christmas has traditions that are frowned upon by the church. They "distract from the true meaning" of Christmas.

Church will be there for you in many ways. To mourn with you in sad times. To support you in lean times. To pray for you in hard times. When do they party with you?

I just feel like celebration is a very important part of life, especially the Christian life, and I don't know how to do it.