Mardi Gras 2008

There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment, for these are from the hand of God.--Ecclesiastes 2:24

"Carnival celebrates the unity of our human race as mortal creatures who come into this world and depart from it without our consent, who must eat, drink, defecate, belch, and break wind in order to live, and procreate if our species is to survive. Our feelings about this are ambiguous. To us as individuals, it is a cause for rejoicing that we are not alone, that all of us, irrespective of age or sex or rank or talent, are in the same boat"--W.H. Auden

We shall have mead,
We shall have wine,
We shall have feast.
We shall have sweetness and milk,
Honey and milk,
Wholesome ambrosia,
Abundance of that,
Abundance of that.

We shall have harp,
We shall have lute,
We shall have horn.
We shall have sweet psaltery
of the melodious strings
and the regal lyre,
Of the songs we shall have
Of the songs we shall have.

And the King of kings,
and Jesus Christ,
and the Spirit of Peace,
and of grace be with us,
Of grace be with us.--Celtic Blessing on Ash Eve

One will have to give account in the judgment day of every good thing which one might have enjoyed and did not.--The Talmud