Good morning…
“If you were a pancake,” the interviewer asked my daughter over the phone, “where would you be on the stack? Top. Middle. Bottom. Why?” This quirky question sparked a creative conversation around our family’s dinner table before it seeped out to saturate our online community. Look at the answers piling up from yesterday’s blog post One Quirky Question.
Top
“I’d be the top pancake, because I would soak in all the syrup and be eaten up first.”
“I’d definitely be the top pancake,” I said. “I love to breathe fresh air, look around, and enjoy the spacious world around me.”
“Love this! My answer is similar to yours — plus as a petite person I get claustrophobic when surrounded. Also need daily doses of light.”
“Top pancake…love to soak up all the goodness.”
Middle
“I’d be the middle pancake.” When asked why she replied, “I have no idea.”
“I’m definitely the middle pancake. I’m constantly trying to keep everyone in my stack happy and healthy!”
“I would be the pancake in the middle, because I take on the role of making sure both sides get along; the peacemaker!”
“I’m definitely the one in the middle. As the middle child for many years, I was often overlooked but without me it wouldn’t be much of a stack.”
“I’d be the middle pancake because I support the top pancake while connecting it to the bottom. I get the sweetness of the syrup that drips down and the support of the bottom one that lifts me up.”
“Interesting question. I thought middle. Initially, I thought of snuggling between the layers like not getting out of a warm bed in the morning. My next thought was holding the top and bottom together and not missing anything between the two. Like being communicator between family members.”
Bottom
“I’d be the bottom pancake, because when the foundation is stable the whole stack stands strong.”
“I’d be the bottom pancake, because I’m used to carrying the weight of everything.”
“As I learn more about the seed of true self that was planted when I was born,” writes Parker Palmer, “I also learn more about the ecosystem in which I was planted – the network of communal relations in which I am called to live responsively, accountably, and joyfully with beings of every sort. Only when I know both seed and system, self and community, can I embody the great commandment to love both my neighbor and myself” (Let Your Life Speak, 17).
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then? My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:13-16, MSG).
…Sue…
P.S. Listening to the podcast on grief we recorded earlier this week, (Unwrapping the Gift of Grief: Grief, Pandemics, and Garbanzo Beans), I heard myself say, “I think Northside Church is thriving during COVID!” Here are some creative ways to step into the stack of our faith community.
1) Sign up for in-person worship each Sunday morning:
2) During these same time slots, we offer online worship for those who prefer to join from home via Facebook or our website. No registration required.
3) Tonight, December 13, at 6:00PM in the Sanctuary is our Service of Hope & Healing, a special time of worship designed around the healing of every kind of brokenness. All are welcome.
4) We are so excited to celebrate Christmas with you! Registrations for the Christmas Experience and Christmas Eve are filling up fast. Reservations, cancellations, and online watching are all available here. Our pre-recorded services are available to everyone—no registration required.
