Cleaning out the Cupboards (a poem for Lent)
‘Clean out the cupboards!’
The Lenten fast is nearly here.
Clear out the meat, the eggs and butter;
Scrub the shelves and make them shine.
Fill up a basin with eggs and milk,
Flour and salt and mix it up well.
Melt the butter and pour in the mix,
Sizzle, flip, sizzle.. it’s done!
Pile up the pancakes,
Cook up the meat and make a feast.
Carnival! Mardi Gras! Fiesta time!
Tomorrow we fast.
Clean out the cupboards:
The Lenten fast is near.
Brush off the habits, the ways and means;
Take off the covers and let the light shine.
The past is forgiven;
The future’s ahead.
There’s no need to carry
The pain and the fear.
There’s no need to carry on
Being the same,
For hearts that are emptied
Are free to receive.
Clean out the cupboards
And make the way clear,
So Jesus can come through
And make our lives new.
Tuesday, February 5th is ‘Pancake Day’ this year. It used to be traditional that on that day, the kitchen cupboards were cleared of anything that should not be eaten during Lent. Lent is the big annual fast of the Christian calendar, taking in the 40 days and 6 Sundays that run up to Easter Day, which is the highest point in the Christian calendar.
People were taught to eat very simply – without meat, eggs, fat or fancy things – during Lent. This was to help to concentrate the mind on the trials and sufferings that Jesus experienced on our behalf. It would serve also to accentuate the celebrations on Easter Day, when Jesus rose from the dead. So, they developed ways of making the clear-out fun.
All the forbidden food would be gathered together to create a feast and people would enjoy games and really make a day of it before the real austerity of Lent began. British people made eggy, buttery pancakes, accompanied by meaty sauces and interspersed with races (including pancake races, of course) and games. The Spanish called it ‘Mardi Gras’ (meaning ‘Fat Tuesday’) and developed the ‘carnival’ (literally, that means ‘meat feast’) into a high art-form.
Not everyone wanted fun and games though. The solemnly religious people called it ‘Shrove Tuesday’, from the verb, ‘to shrive’ meaning to repent. Clearing out the cupboards reflects the spiritual cupboard-clearing that is repentance. We don’t have to wait until Easter though, to let God fill our spiritual cupboards with celebratory goodies.
Liz
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