Wednesday, April 4, 2001
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Wednesday, April 4, 2001 |
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Pancakes and prayer ... good for the soul By REV JOHN HATCHER A rare set of relationships receives weekly nurture at the Fayetteville IHOP. They are your pastors and ministers. Now, for more than five years they have gathered every Tuesday morning for breakfast, encouragement, laughter, and many times prayer. If you know something of the dynamics of a truck stop, well, this is a truck stop for pastors. After breakfast, we get back on the road. You'll be surprised that we don't talk about you church members, that is. We don't need to. Why? Because, all the pastors know that all church members like sheep are about the same whether they are in the Baptist fold or the Lutheran fold or the Pentecostal fold. So if we don't talk about you, what do we do there in that mysterious, often loud IHOP huddle? Of course, we eat breakfast. We enjoy eating. What minister worth his salt doesn't enjoy eating? Sometimes the order is just oatmeal after all ministers need fiber, too. Sometimes we split an order not only to save money, but also realizing we just don't need to eat a whole Tutti Fruiti Fresh and Rooti or something like that. Sometimes, a minister doesn't eat because he is on a fast. Nobody investigates. We just quietly accept it and know there's a reason. Before and after ordering breakfast, we enjoy the real meal of encouragement. When we ask one another, "How's it going?" For the most part, we are genuine. For the most part, at first, the response is, "Okay." But, if any minister will give this bunch of caregivers a chance, we will listen beyond the superficial. Mind you, it doesn't bode well for a minister to zip in and zip out and think he's got friends. Even ministerial friendships take their time to marinate the soul and consolidate the mind and rejuvenate the spirit. One brother pastor, who has been faithfully coming to Tuesday morning for several years, discovered just how durable friendships can be if tested and tried for more than a couple of lunches. Encouragement often comes by seeing others stick it out no matter the trials and temptations. I don't think the average church member understands how lonely a bunch ministers really are. Week after week, we peel layer after layer of facade and allow our fellow ministers see us as we really are warts and all. They respond by telling us that we don't look so bad after all warts and all. It's refreshing. Now, we also laugh. Sometimes at stuff you wouldn't think funny. It doesn't take a Saturday Night Live comedian to get us 'a-laughing.' We'll laugh at anything. Just give us an excuse. Our best sources of humor are ourselves. Although we take ourselves far too seriously when we are around you folks, we know deep down we shouldn't. Okay, we're ministers. Shouldn't we pray? Yes, we pray. We always pray before we eat, thanking God for the food, one another, and those precious waitresses who tend to us. It's not a long prayer, however. We wouldn't stand for that and besides the food would get cold. But we also pray for needs. One brother has been fired from his church. We gather round, lay hands, and pray. Right there in the restaurant in front of customers and God. One brother has cancer. You bet we pray and pray and take his face to our different churches for prayer. One brother asks prayer for a marriage gone sour in his church. We pray. We pray for stray missionaries and would be missionaries. Anyone who comes to the IHOP Tuesday morning from 8 to 9 a.m. and asks for prayer, we will pray! We will pray but we really want to get back to laughing. If your Christian pastor, priest, or minister does not avail himself (and yes, herself) of such a grand fellowship, give him $5 and tell him to come over for a couple of laughs.
The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville. |
