Pancake Day

Pancakes for lunch today. Being away from home on Shrove Tuesday doesn't have to mean missing out on the best part of Lent. Today's Leap Day seems a good opportunity to celebrate Lent in style. After all, Lent is a day longer in this Leap Year.

The foundations of Lent lie in the gospel accounts of the devil tempting Jesus. Fasting during Lent is based on Jesus' refusal to alleviate his hunger by turning stones into bread. Traditionally, Christians intending to observe the Lenten fast cooked pancakes on the day before Ash Wednesday to use up some of the foods they would be denied during the forty days of the Lenten fast.

The notion of Lent as a time for giving up things we enjoy persists in today's secular world as a result of an emphasis on this one aspect of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. The link between fasting and spirituality continues in many Christian traditions.

While in the wilderness Jesus battled more than the single temptation to use his power to feed himself. Both Matthew and Luke record two further tests that relate to the ministry Jesus would exercise during his earthly life. Forty days of isolation and temptation were a time of preparation for Jesus as he began his life's work.

Lent in its fullest sense is a season of opportunity rather than six weeks of obligation. Pancakes on a Leap Day are just the start.