Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration before the Lenten fast begins. It’s also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day, a day to clean out the pantry and use up all the butter, sugar etc before Lent begins. Cleaning out your fridge and your pantry is a great Lenten practice. It’s an opportunity to give away unexpired food you wont use to a food pantry as a Lenten practice.
If you haven’t had a chance to have pancakes or you haven’t ever had pancakes as a part of your Lenten practice, make a batch for breakfast or dinner and then Consider the Ingredients of your Pancakes as Prayer Practice.
As we begin Lent Consider the things that make up pancakes… Consider these Ingredients
Pick one or two that resonate with you.
What is God speaking to you about through the ingredients?
What is God’s recipe for you this year for Lent? Ask Jesus to show you!
Flour
Sugar
Eggs
Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
Butter or Oil
OR Pancake Mix
FLOUR… the staff of life
It its the main ingredient
It makes pancakes, breads, and cookies!
Add Baking Powder or Yeast and it Rises!
Flour comes in lots of forms:
Bleached
Whole Wheat
Gluten Free
Almond and Rice Flours It also comes pre-sifted…
CONSIDER:
What does God want to mix up in your life this Lent?
What does Jesus want to make new?
What does God want to create, make, bake?
What does God want to sift into your life? Does your life need sifting? Or reheated?
SUGAR… the sweetness of life
adds sweetness
too much makes us fat
too much causes inflammation
there is real sugar and there is artificial sugar
things can be exchanged for it, like applesauce, honey, molasses
CONSIDER: What areas of your life need sweetening in a good way?
How can you bring sweetness to the world?
PINCH OF SALT:
Are you felling salty or in need of salt today?
Are you bringing flavor to your world or just leaving a bitter taste in people’s lives?
EGGS:
they provide the protein
might cause an allergy attack
multiple ways to cook them outside of a recipe for pancakes CONSIDER:
Are you feeling scrambled ? too busy? need focus? Are you feeling allergic to life, to God, to people?
Are you feeling dried out and over cooked?
Talk to God about this!
BUTTER, OIL, FAT…
Gives life it’s richness, and makes Julia Child smile! Butter makes everything taste better
What is the richness, the good flavor that Jesus wants to add to your life this Lenten Season?
Imagine the Pancakes cooking on the griddle. Perfect pancakes, light and airy, browned just right.
Picture them stacked on a plate,
Rich butter on the top.
Perhaps with blueberries or strawberries added in.
Perhaps filled with chocolate chips and topped with whipped cream!
The butter melts.
The syrup flows.
Imagine this to be a gift from Jesus to you!
Allow this image to represent the
The Richness and Abundance of God’s Love you…
The Richness and Abundance of Jesus’s Love for us today and always!
Let’s taste and receive this Love today and each day between now and Easter. AMEN
NOTE: my original inspiration came from the AD for the Iona community shrove tuesday service. You can purchase the service here. If you don’t know the Iona community, they have great resources for prayer and liturgies too! I’m taking a group on pilgrimage to Iona THIS AUGUST 28-Sept 4, 2023. I would love you to join me! Find out more Finding Your Thinplace Pilgrimage