Start Your Frying Pans!

February 21, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Ladies, start your frying pans!

Today, in the grand, 567 year old tradition from Olney, England, Cherokee will be hosting its fourth annual Great Cherokee Pancake Day Race and Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. At 5:30, in front of City Hall, dozens of women dressed in kerchiefs, dresses, and aprons will be flipping their pancakes and starting the 415-yard dash up Piety Hill to the doors of the church.

You might remember that last year I shared with you this poetic history of the pancake race, including some theological reflection on the start of Lent:


Let’s whisk off in time, and let’s be on our way
To a time long ago, to a land far away

Five centuries before, in 1455
We land in old England, before we were alive

We’re here in a humble old town called Olney
With cobblestone streets just outside Coventry

At the end of the street, with a door open wide,
Is a warm, simple house, so we all go inside

And there, in the kitchen, in a buzz and a swirl
Is a busy old woman, cooking quite a whirl

We ask her what’s happening, and why all the fuss,
And she talks up a storm without looking at us.

“I’m busy, you see, for tomorrow is Lent
And I have to make sure all this food is all spent

“No fat in our pantries, no lard in our house
It all must be gone so that we stay devout

“Are you going to throw it away?” We all ask?
For we never have heard of this fat-cleansing task.

“No, no,” she says now, she now grunts as she gruffs.
“We can’t waste all this food, we can’t waste all this stuff.”

“I’m cooking it up, all the milk and the butter.
All the eggs, and the flour, and even all the sugar,

“So’s not to waste any, I’m cooking a storm,
A tall stack of pancakes! So rich and so warm.

We are all quite hungry; the smell is so yummy!
We hope there’s enough to fill all of our tummies!

“Don’t worry, the woman says, “This stack will be tall.
I’m cooking enough to feed all of you all.”

Then suddenly, out of the blue, good and loud
We hear a shrill sound, of a bell clanging proud.

“Oh, dear!” says the woman, “Where did the time go?”
“I’m late for the Shrove Tuesday service! Oh, no!”

“The Shrove Tuesday what?” we say, all in a rush,
We sense in her panic, her face is all blush.

“It’s the service where we come confessing our sins
So that we can start Lent with a clean slate again.”

“But what do I do? Oh, no, look how I’m dressed!”
“I’m wearing my apron, I don’t look my best!”

“I’m covered with flour, and with eggs, and with butter,
“I don’t look too churchy, I look like a pauper.”

“And what of these pancakes? Oh, what will I do?
“I can’t let them burn, oh, that just wouldn’t do!”

Just then, she decides, there’s no time to get clean.
She takes off for church, just the way that she’s been.

All the grime of her work, and her imperfect flaws
She ran off to church just the way that she was.

No hiding or pretense, and no saintly veneer
No false churchy tone, and no plastic good cheer

She ran off to church with her tattered apron
While flipping her pancake, so that it wouldn’t burn.

We race along side her, she’s old, but she’s fast
415 yards later, and we’re about out of gas

But she gets there, in time for the priest to begin
This most sacred time, for us to confess sin.

We sit in the pew, and we look all around
At the women and men from this grand little town.

They’ve come to confess, but to hear some good news
Of one who draws near, to save me, to save you

And there, sitting next to us, make no mistake
Was our new England friend, and her perfect pancake

And so, long ago, in a town far away,
A woman marked Lent in her own special way.

By teaching us how we might all come to God
Just as we were, with no boasting out loud.

Not dressed in fine fabric, fragrant like a rose
Not fancy white linens, but with everyday clothes

Clothes that speak of our wrongs, and our past, and our sins,
And our yearning desire to begin clean again.

Clothes that prompt us to ask for God’s grace and God’s love
For forgiveness that only comes down from above.

When you go to your church over Lent’s forty days,
I hope that you just will not miss a Sunday

For this is a time for a great, brand new start
To create in you now a clean, brand new heart.

Just come as you are, with your apron and all
All the busyness, sadness, and hear now God’s call

To start a new journey to dark Calvary
A place where your sins will be nailed to a tree

And then, three days later, when you think all is lost,
When you think all your sins will remain on that cross,

We’ll join in great glory, and in triumph newborn
As we shout resurrection on a great Easter morn.

In the name of our God who created the Heavens
Who saved us, sustains us, we all say, Amen.


So, join us this evening for another wonderful, action-packed race, all for a good cause. We’ll then gather in the sanctuary for a very brief worship service (including some special surprises) as well as some awards for best costume, best pancake flip, best team race, best congregational support, and, of course, an award to the winner (who gets a copy of the Upper Room Disciplines and a smooch from yours truly, “The Supervising Vicar.”)

Then, be sure to stick around for the pancake dinner in the Fellowship Hall (and for those who need to eat sooner, we will start serving at 4:30pm.) All of your free-will offering will support the two local food pantries (Mid-Sioux and the Christian Action Program). I love the idea that a tradition that started with the cleaning out of one’s food pantry will help fill the pantry of those in our community who need it most.

See you at the Starting Line!

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org


SERMONS A LA CARTE
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of our 40-day journey through Lent. The Cherokee Ministerial Association is pleased to continue the long tradition of “Sermons a la Carte” at Memorial Presbyterian Church. Rev. Ethan Sayler will provide the service tomorrow, which begins at 12:05, with a luncheon in their dining hall at 12:30.

LENT BEGINS
Join us this Sunday for the start of our new sermon series, called “Symbols of the Passion.” We’ll begin with the first significant event of Holy Week, which was Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Each week, we’ll hear another story from the week that changed the world.