Festival, carnival and Christ

More Morehead on festivity. And he's right, still/again:

I argue that festivity need not be divorced from the context of Protestant community and church life. Indeed, the rediscovery and experimentation with festivity will play an essential part of the church’s engagement with Burning Man as well as other facets of postmodern spirituality. I believe that the church can benefit from fresh exploration of festivity in three areas, that of festivity serving as a reminder of the biblical teaching on social inversion, festivity as a tool for theological reflection, and as a source for fresh ritual in the church.

Nice point and well developed in the rest of the article.
As I was reading it I had a picture in my head of some churches engaging in festivals but being a bit too serious about it -come to think of it, that goes for some groups like the SWP as well. Some groups don't 'get it' because they are too serious. I think we should note that Jesus got invited to parties, I suspect (given that he was detracted for been a glutton, wine-bibber etc) it was because he did 'get it'. As John goes on to point out,

Chad Martin has written an intriguing paper ... In his view, “Carnival is the necessary Dionysian expression that counter-balances the church’s otherwise Apollonian heady approach to religion”

Morehead's Musings: Festivals and Festivity

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