I have a deep respect for any understanding of spiritual care that translates into pancakes. This week is Spiritual Care Week at Northside Hospital Forsyth. My friend, chaplain Bryan Lake decided that this meant caring for the hospital staff with breakfast. So we volunteer chaplains set our alarm clocks for “dark” and arrived early at the hospital armed with griddles and aprons.
In spite of our half-open eyelids, we made some pretty good flapjacks if I do say so myself. The staff loved it. They sat together at long tables, munching on chocolate chip pancakes and catching up. I couldn’t help but wonder how often they got to do this in the course of their work. I especially hoped that they were aware of our presence for them when and if they needed us.
I’m not sure there really is such a divide between spiritual food and “real” food. Any offering we can make to another – love in any form – has the capacity to carry with it the grace poured out by a loving God. This is what we Christians are all about as we extend hospitality to our world. We are called to offer the mystery of grace to others so that they may experience it in new and deeper ways. If pancakes can make that happen, I’m all for it.
Blessed eating!
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