If you've never eaten scrambled pancakes, well, you haven't missed much. You see, scrambled pancakes are a mistake, a good plan gone bad. Or are they?
My Scoutmaster meant well, he really did. For some reason he was the designated camp cook that morning. We awoke to the smell of sizzling pancakes. After we had washed up and unpacked our utensils to receive the sure-to-be-delicious food, Mr. Browne dished out a serving of pancakes to each of us. Scrambled pancakes. There really is no other way to describe them, they were scrambled.
I won't say exactly what Mr. Browne said in response to our groanings and chuckles, but suffice to say, it wasn't pretty. We ate our pancakes and thanked Mr. Browne nonetheless, but 25 years later I still remember those scrambled pancakes.
Isn't that the way our lives are often? We have good intentions but for whatever reason the cook - God - seems to scramble those intentions into something that He desires. You taste it and it's pancake all right, but it just doesn't look right. The texture is still the same. The flavor is fine especially after it's smothered in hot maple syrup, but it gets zero stars for presentation. The cook, though, knows exactly what he's doing.
You may grumble and complain and bellyache all through the meal, but you will remember it for a long long time. And with the passing of time, you may even laugh about it.
What do scrambled pancakes look like in our lives?
- You get fired with no visible means of support. Scrambled pancakes.
- You have to relocate after you've spent only three months in one location. Scrambled pancakes.
- You struggle to raise a difficult child. Scrambled pancakes.
- You “hear” a call to go overseas. Scrambled pancakes.
- [Insert your messed up situation here]. Scrambled pancakes.
You never planned for those pancakes but you were served them...
I often wonder if Mr. Browne had scrambled those pancakes on purpose. Nobody would remember a simple pancake breakfast on an autumn Saturday morning. Everyone, however, would remember scrambled pancakes.
