Of Parties and Pancakes ... It's Next Tuesday!
Posted by Lynn Wehner in Faith on Friday, March 04, 2011 9:00 AM
Next week, we shall witness the arrival of Ash Wednesday. How it got here, I honestly don’t know. We’ve had all the planning time in the world, but then, seemingly ... Boom! Sneak attack!
So I’m scurrying a bit with my last-minute ideas for “giving up” and “adding in.” And I’m realizing that a plan now needs to be finalized in our home for saying good-bye to this season and ushering in the Lenten journey.
Our custom is a “Pancake Tuesday” supper, per the old English practice of emptying out the larders of butter, eggs, and cream to prepare for the Lenten fast. It had become quite a lively tradition for our previous parish’s family ministry. I mean, who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner? And all that butter and syrup? A feast fit for a king! (The only challenge was those leftover sausages and glorious strips of bacon that don’t quite cut it for the next day’s meat abstinence regimen.)
Easy Project Idea: An Alleluia Farewell
Other than the feasting with friends, our favorite part of the supper was gathering the children to make “Alleluia Boxes.” Each family brought a shoe box with them, and we handed out paper, markers, and stickers for each of the kids to create an “Alleluia” sign. We were just crazy enough to then give them all noisemakers, party hats, balloons, and anything that screams “Party!” Cranking the tunes, we danced and sang like nuts, with the following instruction: “When the music stops, immediately sit down silently where you are.” Crazy as it sounds, they actually did it! Each family then quietly put all of their party supplies and Alleluia signs into their box … where it all would remain, hidden in the dark, for 40 days. Ready to be opened for a resurrection celebration on Easter morning.
How about your own traditions? Do you host or attend a Mardi Gras gala? A Shrove Tuesday feast? Do you ring out ordinary time in a less-than-ordinary way?
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