“The Spirit of Generosity” A Mardi Gras Sermon by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger

First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, February 3, 2008

Outsiders are amazed to learn that Mardi Gras is entirely paid for by private funds, except for the costs of police and street cleaning, which are not even remotely covered by the price of the parade permits. They are astounded to find out not only is there no corporate sponsorship, but that such sponsors would be actually be illegal.

As all New Orleanians know, Carnival krewe members not only pay dues, but they also pay for their refreshments at the balls, parties, and parades, the cost of their costumes, and their share of the floats and bands. Above and beyond all that, each person foots the bill for every single thing they throw, which can run to several hundred to thousands of dollars, all for stuff they will toss to people they don’t know, and who don’t know them – and who can’t know them, due to city ordinances about masking on floats.

Here’s the thesis of this sermon: I think New Orleans Carnival and church Canvass intersect, because they’re both about people giving away money so that other people benefit. Carnival and Canvass have that in common – a culture and spirit of generosity that goes above and beyond the consumerist mentality of “What’s in it for me?” Nobody connected with Mardi Gras asks themselves that because we already know the answer – that throwing things off a Carnival float or off a balcony to a waiting crowd is a joyous, amazing experience. By being part of it, you’re part of the spirit of Mardi Gras – that’s what’s in it for you. Nobody connected with Carnival asks themselves, “Am I spending too much?” – instead they worry, “Do I have enough throws?” (The usual answer is NO and they go back to Plush Appeal and get more stuff.)

The same thing can be said of Canvass. Supporting the church isn’t a matter of “What’s in it for me?” but comes from a spirit of generosity that is concerned with how healthy our church can be, how we can expand our ministries and influence, and how we can better equip more and more people to go out and change the world. By being part of it, you’re a part of this liberal faith, which has a joyous, life-giving, life-saving message. That’s what’s in it for you.

At Mardi Gras, we make a community of young and old, men and women and children, gay and straight and transgender, black and white and Latino and Asian, powerful and powerless, native and newcomer. All are welcome – even the ones who refuse to join in. (I love the playful welcome Mardi Gras revelers extend to the fundamentalists who come to preach against the celebration. Holding their doleful signs on Canal St. warning us to repent or be damned to hell, these strict folks get kissed and draped with beads by passersby, all the while being urged, “Lighten up, dawlin’, it’s Carnival!”)

Carnival is a pretty good metaphor for what we are trying to build in our church. We are building our community not around a common creed, or a common ethnic history, or a common enemy or fear. Instead, we are building ours around a set of common values and a common vision of a world in which compassion, justice, and peace reign supreme, where each person’s contributions and talents and gifts can be valued in all their glorious diversity. We Unitarian Universalists are doing nothing less than attempting to redefine community for the 21st century – and we have to do it together, since, like Carnival, we know you can’t be a Unitarian Universalist by yourself.

One year, a local promoter had a brilliant idea. He would rent floats and costumes and offer places in a parade to out-of-town tourists, so that people from out of town could experience the thrill of riding in a parade. In addition to selling the places on the floats and renting the costumes, he would make money selling them the throws they’d need. He obtained a parade permit for the open Tuesday night slot that used to belong to Comus, and went ahead with his plans, dubbing his new parade the Krewe of America. Sounds pretty good on paper, doesn’t it? But it was a complete and utter failure, a total flop. It seems that the outsiders just didn’t get it; they didn’t have that Mardi Gras spirit of generosity. The tourists refused to spend good money on stuff to throw away to strangers. After that first and only parade was over, I happened to hear one float-rider brag to another, “Look at all the stuff I saved!”

Neither Carnival nor Canvass is about how little you can spend or how much you can save or who can you keep out. There is no joy in the spirit and culture of scarcity and exclusion. But when the spirit of Mardi Gras reigns, you never know what wonders might come into being.

And so on this Mardi Gras Sunday, I close with these heart-felt words: May the true spirit of Carnival – the spirit of generosity that gives unstintingly and without thought of return, the spirit of inclusiveness that denies all exclusions, the spirit of love that embraces all, the spirit of justice for all, the spirit of hope for a better world – may that spirit be with us now and always. So might this be! AMEN – ASHE – SHALOM – SALAAM – NAMASTE – BLESSED BE!