PANDEMIC PANCAKES

Our just-for-grandchildren bookshelf has several “visiting grandma/grandpa” books with pasted-in headshots of the grandparents and grandchild. The fiction boy goes fishing with his grandpa and plants flowers and makes cookies with his grandma.  Not at our house! Grandpa scoops up ice cream cones and Grandma cooks Norwegian sour cream pancakes. The recipe honors the heritage of my grandfather, who died just months after I was born. The pancakes also royally feed the grands when we’re called to their home for early-morning kid-care when their dad’s gone to work and the mom has early morning staff meetings. 

Covid-19 concerns had cut her in-person staff meetings, so we hadn’t done the early breakfast duty at their home for months until one recent week. This time, she needed to shut herself away in a quiet room at a time when the boys—ages 2, 5, and 6—would be up and ready for breakfast. Oops. I had a long-overdue dental appointment in the middle of that time slot, and my husband was to meet somebody who wanted to buy a bike. But we’d make it work.

When we arrived with pancakes at 7 a.m., two were up and ready to eat as their dad slipped out to go to work and their mom went upstairs for her virtual conference. So far, so good. I left for the dentist at 7:45, and got back at 8:15 as Grandpa left. Just then, the oldest hollered, “The cat vomited on the rug!”  That crisis past, I checked the remainder of the pancake pile and decided the still-sleeping boy would have enough to eat.  Which he did—at 10 a.m., when he woke up just as his mom finished her virtual meeting. Whew! After a full morning of waitressing, entertaining, and settling spats, this seventy-something Nana was ready for her afternoon nap, a few hours early!

I’m glad the grandsons like pancakes! When little kids can be so fussy about menus, it’s a sure thing. I’m also glad that my “Bible-menu” over the years has included scripture portions that nourish and energize me. When I read my Bible in the morning and evening, I keep coming across reminders that God is in control, even in the most difficult circumstances. Like this: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7). 

This worldwide time of illness, suffering and death hasn’t caught God by surprise. It can be our opportunity to show the world what faith can do. Peter also said, “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11)

I like “for ever and ever.” The means beyond Covid-19. Beyond my earthly life. Beyond the last pancake I will flip for my growing grandsons.  When the dreary drone of disaster on the daily news drags me down, this promise lifts me up.

BETTER TOGETHER

“We’re better together”—throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve repeatedly heard this phrase. I even thought of it one day an errand took us to a wooded area and I noticed a wildflower that illustrated the power of “together.”  I’m guessing this is yarrow. I snapped photos of “loner” yarrow blooms, but the mature plants with clumped flowers were “prettier together.” On the way home, I thought how we're also encouraged to be more "alone" in practicing "safety distance" to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Yet that comes with an emotional price. We’re “better together” when we have “community.”

As Ecclesiastes 4:9-10* put it: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Yes, “better together.”  Reaching back further in human history, when God gave Adam a help-mate, Eve, He created the first community—two who became three and more, and billions through history.

Sadly, sin messed up the concept. But God’s original “better together” (and better with Him as the binding material) never ceased to be...better.

Probably like anyone reading this blog, I struggle with the truth that sometimes we’re better apart. When persistent sin darkens a personality, we may be better “apart” until that person makes a 180-degree turn in his or her life and faith and seeks reconciliation.  We can’t be truly “better together” until our goals and relationships conform to God’s original plan of harmony. Peter put it in a nutshell in his letter to ancient churches:

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called. (1 Peter 3:8-9)

These are powerful words in light of the “evil with evil” and “insult with insult” that burned across our country in recent weeks.

Yet even with restricted public contact, “better together” is possible. Bless in creative ways, like a note or E-mail. One day when I was feeling a bit blue, two lifter-upper notes came by mail. (God has great timing in moving people to do something!) Or call somebody and say, “I’ve just been thinking about you and want to tell you how much you’re appreciated.”  Thank workers who must work. Even a little bloom of encouragement here and there can clump together in a beautiful bouquet. Like that forest yarrow—okay alone, better together.


(*Post script--a humorous aside on the Ecclesiastes verse.  Many years ago I attended a church in Fullerton, Calif., where I sang in a large, wonderful church choir. We practiced for months to present a sacred concert for hundreds of people. Our conductor at that time was losing weight, and constantly hiking up his trousers during rehearsals. Before the concert, we presented him with a gift: a pair of suspenders, and a card with that verse suggesting two suspenders were better than none. Oh, church humor. Forgive us.)

EVERY KINDRED

Yes, this hymn has a violin connection in its history. Read to the end.

Most folks have heard of Charles and John Wesley, the preachers and hymnists of the early Methodist movement. But they had an associate whose name is often overlooked, and that is Edward Perronet.  Some have called his hymn, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” the “National Anthem of Christendom.”  It was first published in 1779 in a gospel magazine edited by Augustus Toplady, a composer known for his hymn “Rock of Ages.” It would eventually be translated into languages all over the world for the way it communicates the human spiritual need.

So who was this man? Born in England in 1726, Perronet’s family roots included French Huguenots who fled to Switzerland and later England to escape religious persecution in France. His father was a pastor in England’s state church but sympathized with the evangelical movements of the Wesleys and George Whitfield. Son Edward grew up to be an Anglican minister but was critical of things the church believed and did. Once he wrote: “I was born and I am likely to die in the tottering communion of the Church of England, but I despise her nonsense.”

Not surprisingly, sometime after that he broke away from the church and got deeply involved with the Wesleys and their endeavors. This took courage as the Wesleys were not popular, suffering even violence from those who disagreed with them. In his diary, John Wesley noted this of one preaching time:

From Rockdale we went to Bolton, and soon found that the Rockdale lions were lambs in comparison with those of Bolton. Edward Perronet was thrown down and rolled in mud and mire.  Stones were hurled and windows broken.

Perronet was 18 years younger than John Wesley and had always refused to preach in the elder evangelist’s presence. That posed a problem one day when Wesley announced to the congregation that Perronet would preach at the next service. When that time came, Perronet mounted the pulpit, said he hadn’t consented to preach, but would deliver the greatest sermon ever preached. With that, he opened his Bible and read Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” Then he sat down without comment.

Eventually Perronet and the Wesleys parted ways, a big issue being their disagreement over whether evangelists could administer the sacraments. Perronet went on to become the pastor of an independent church in Canterbury, and that is where he wrote this hymn

Perronet would write many hymns and sacred poems, but they were published anonymously, and this is the only one to survive.  It has been matched to several hymn tunes, one composed by an English layman and another a Massachusetts carpenter, self-taught musician and respected singing-school teacher.

Perronet’s last words at his death in 1792 were reported to be these:
Glory to God in the height of His divinity!
Glory to God in the depth of His humanity!
Glory to God in His all-sufficiency!
Into His hands I commend my Spirit.

Over the years, some amazing stories were told in connection with this hymn. One concerned a pioneer missionary to India who one day encountered a band of tribesman closing in on him with spears. He had a violin in his baggage and took it out, then began playing and singing this hymn. When he came to the third stanza that begins, “Let every kindred, every tribe,” he saw them lower their spears. Many were also crying. The missionary spent the next two years ministering God’s love and redemption to this tribe.

Ready to sing? Try these inspiring YouTube videos.

An a capella arrangement with words and scenic backgrounds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPT3lVSpmo



A more contemporary arrangement with the Maranatha! Singers:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=%22All+Hail+the+Power+of+Jesus+Name%22+You+tube&docid=608030870662021285&mid=50B7EFF3CC54ECC1AC7B50B7EFF3CC54ECC1AC7B&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

TONGUE-TRIED

My little grandsons have lots of fun with these teeth! But what

an appropriate illustration of an out-of-control mouth.

When the genes that became “me” were assigned, I ended up with a small mouth. I know that’s frustrating when I go in for dental care because I’m constantly asked, “Open wider, please.” Usually I try to make light of it by saying I’m sorry I don’t have the oral width of comedian Carol Burnett—and yes, I strain to “open wider.” It’s just part of how I was “knit together” after conception.

Sadly, my “open wider” dental requests sometimes remind me of a time years ago when somebody mocked that part of my body. I was living for a few months with two other single women. I was thankful to be able to rent their extra bedroom, but we just never got close.  They did come one time to my church, where I sang in the choir. Later, emptying the garbage, I came across a church bulletin from that visit. On it, one of them had written, “She hardly opens her mouth to sing.” That stung. I simply have a small mouth, and with it I do my best to make a “joyful noise.”  I didn’t say anything to them about the note, but that mean criticism was hard to shake.

That wasn’t the only time when someone wounded me with harsh, unfair or untrue words. In some cases, it was someone with a mental illness, and I asked the Lord to help me put that perspective on it. I would pray for them—admittedly, half-heartedly, because they didn’t see themselves as mean. Then somebody brought my attention to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “”Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). If I am truly trying to follow Christ and represent Him to my world, it’s not about me, it’s about Him.

I gained another perspective from a devotional book I’ve been reading that collects writings from godly men and women leaders of the past. This devotion excerpted from the writings of Guigo I (1083-1136), who corresponded with Bernard of Clairvaux. Little is known about his life, but this counsel survived the centuries:

It is a good thing to pray for anyone who confesses and asks for forgiveness.  It is even better to pray for someone who does not yet feel guilty about anything. Ask God to help them notice their sin.  And pray also for those who know they are guilty but will not admit it.  Maybe they are ashamed. Maybe they are actually enjoying their guilt.  Ask God to help them.*

I lost touch with my “small mouth” roommates after that year of sharing a house. But I’m grateful for the reminders God sends me to watch my own mouth. Most important: that I keep a heart tender toward His will for my behavior. Reading proverbs on a regular basis helps with that, with verses like these:

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. (Proverbs 4:23-24)

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. (10:19)

The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment (10:21)


*Bernard Bangley, compiler, Near to the Heart of God: Daily Readings from the Spiritual Classics (Wheaton: Shaw Publishers, 1998), entry for August 17.

CLOGGED

I had an “oh-oh” moment while browsing a handyman magazine. (Yes, they’re traditionally men’s magazines, but I really like their humor page where readers confess their major home project goofs.) The “oh-oh” moment came with an article on dryer vent fires from vinyl exhaust tubes under the house.  Yes, we were in trouble. A few weeks ago that fix-it job got marked off our handyman list with a new metal tube under the house to the foundation vent.  I couldn’t believe the lint buildup in the old vinyl tube, a fire waiting to happen. Unlike cars, houses don’t have “need attention” lights to blink urgent needs.

When I saw that buildup (the crazy way my brain sometimes works) I thought of a verse memorized a long time ago:

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this [referring to the new heaven and new earth, vv. 11-13) make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Peter 3:14)

What a goal: “spotless, blameless, and at peace with him [God].” I thought of people who wound others with lies and anger, then later excuse their wrongdoing by saying something like,  “Sorry, but I was having a bad day.” They give no hint of a contrite or repentant heart that would try to change that behavior. When I read this passage, I pause at the phrase “make every effort.”  In the original Greek, it’s spoudazo, meaning  “to hasten to do a thing, to exert oneself, endeavor, give diligence.” I think we can see those attributes in athletic events. There’s an honest and diligent effort to do better.

So where does the old dryer vent tube come in? I think it’s this: that our spiritual walks as immature or disobedient Christians let a lot of these sins pile up, blocking a clear and unsullied witness.  It’s sad, for example, when it might be said of someone, “He says he’s a Christian, but what a grouchy disposition.”  Or, “I see them in church, but their life choices sure don’t match up with what the Bible teaches.”

For clogged plastic vent pipes, there’s only one solution: complete replacement, preferably with a metal pipe without accordion ridges that would trap the lint. In the spiritual realm, that’s the counterpart of the “new birth”:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).