Pancakes

I do not know anyone who doesn't like a stack of fluffy pancakes. Some like their pancakes with butter and maple syrup. Some like peanut butter spread all over the top of them. Some even like their pancakes with chocolate chips.

Pancakes has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. I remember waking up at my grandmother's home smelling a fresh stack of applesauce pancakes. There is nothing like sitting at the kitchen table waiting for Grandma to finish another round of pancakes.

As I grew older, pancakes still were a part of my life. Grandmother's morning pancakes became brunch pancakes that was served after church. I quickly learned to appreciate my mother's breakfast as dinner with pancakes on the menu. When I moved out, I quickly learned how to use Bisquick to make fluffy pancakes for myself.

I remember watching my father working with the men of my childhood churches serving in the rite of passage, the pancake dinner. I quickly became part of the team serving alongside my father making these pancakes. We all worked hard to serve the best pancakes.

Nowadays, I watch my sons enjoy pancakes. One of their few memories of my mother-in-law is being able to go downstairs to her apartment and watching her make them pancakes. They now enjoy it when Dad makes the pancakes.

Looking back, pancakes have become symbols of love. The love of my grandmother and of my boys' grandmother lives on every time we take a bite. Memories swirl around the pancakes and give a connection to our past and our future. Our Christian community through these dinners show God's love to all the hungry souls we served.

Come to think about it, pancakes are what makes us a community. We all have memories of relatives making pancakes. I am sure we all have memories of pancakes functions we all have attended. Pancake dinners are a major event in communities and churches. In fact, they have become like a modern day communion. Bringing friends and family together to share a meal.

The Bible teaches us about the first Communion. Jesus and his disciples had gather for one of the Passover feasts. Jesus used common foods for that time, bread and wine. Which could be considered the pancakes and coffee of his time. In communion, we remember the sacrifices Christ made to free the world of sin. Another aspect of communion is acknowledging that we are all connected by this sacrifice. We are connected with each other in the Christian community and connected intergenerationally with our past relatives who participated in communion.

Christ has given us one big pancake dinner as the first communion. If the first communion happened now, we might have been serving pancakes and coffee as elements of the sacrament.

I don't think we'll be passing out pancakes and coffee during the next communion. It's my hope that we remember the love that is attached to the sacrament as the same type of love that is attached to pancakes. We enjoy the community and fellowship we all have as followers of Christ during this sacrament.

God bless,

Doyll