Happy Shrove Tuesday!

One of my favorite customs is having pancakes for supper on Shrove Tuesday, which is today. Pancakes were traditionally eaten because the rich ingredients--eggs, fat, and milk--were forbidden during Lent, which begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. Many churches and families preserve this tradition, providing a connection to the Christian past and a pleasant way to be reminded of Christian precepts.

Captain Yips, an Anglican blogger, has a nice piece on Lent and the weather (doesn't it come at just the right time of year to strike a penitential note?) and what we might derive from the penitential season that is fast upon us:

"As we consider Lent, let’s begin with the assumption that our imaginations are poor things, too stuffed with mashed potatoes to know all that God wants for us. We’re more like children who can only see the repressive and unwanted parental discipline but not the independence, the emotional and intellectual maturity that is the goal. We’re always down among the pigs, and every day begins with the realization that we can trust the Father. We’re a long way from home down a dry and dusty road, but the greeting at the end is beyond our imagination. In Lent, we fast a little, give up a little, for the sake of making room in our imaginations for something greater."

Wishing you all a happy Lent, too!