Lent and Pancakes

Giving up the noise. I’ve decided to give something up for Lent. It’s definitely not coffee. I’m aiming for inward reflection, not a full personality collapse. I’ve been researching Lent in Germany (Fastenzeit) and how it’s less about dramatic sacrifice and more about conscious restraint. People don’t just give up chocolate. They give up habits. Noise. The things that occupy more space than they should. While it can seem like a punishment, it’s more about clearing a little room. The idea of “clearing space” stuck with me. I grew up in a tech-savvy family. We started with a Commodore 64 in the 80s, which meant there was a ritualistic cartridge-blowing ceremony before every game. Then dial-up arrived, which didn’t just connect you to the internet so much as publicly declare it. If you logged on, the whole street knew. I’m part of that in-between generation. Playing in the mud all day and exploring the primitive World Wide Web in the evenings. There are Polaroids of my childhood tucked away somewhere in an album, unseen by most (thankfully). Meanwhile, the algorithm running my adult life knows I once paused on a cast-iron skillet video and has now decided that cookware is my identity. So for Lent this year, I’m giving up social media. Not because it’s evil. It connects people and fuels creativity. But it also occasionally makes you question humanity in under 30 seconds. When life feels heavy, scrolling is easier than trying to fix everything, and equally, nothing. But what happens when you remove the doom-scrolling noise for 40 days? Will I be well-rested? Unlikely, as I have two small children.Will I instinctively reach for my phone anyway? Absolutely. I briefly considered extending Lent to the family. Perhaps my toddler could give up his favorite monster truck. But that could cause societal collapse in our household (and I’m not sure he would get the idea anyway). The baby, however, may not question if her loudest toy quietly enters its own season of reflection. I call that strategic spirituality. Maybe Lent isn’t about grand sacrifice. Maybe it’s about noticing what fills the silence once the usual noise steps aside. If you’re curious how Lent is observed in Germany today (and what people gave up before processed sugar), it’s all here → Lent in Germany The thought of making do with less applies in the kitchen too. Simple recipes are key here. And butter. Lots of it. I grew up on Pfannkuchen instead of the fluffy American-style pancakes. Twenty years went pancakeless until my wife recently introduced me to crêpe-leaning banana pancakes. So today, I'll not only be doing pancakes for dinner… I'll be doing a fusion of Banana Pfannkuchen. And if it all goes wrong, well, that's what the bottle of maple syrup is for. Of course, I'll be following the recipe that grounded my childhood. Find it here → Oma's Pfannkuchen Unlike my typical dinners, this one feels extra simple. And that's a bit of a relief on a fairly random Tuesday night. Which, now that I think about it, less extravagance is what I’m hoping Lent feels like too. Not a heroic transformation of character. Just a quieter stretch of weeks. Maybe even enough calm to enjoy the sound of nothing happening. If you decide to give something up this season, I hope it gives you a little breathing room. And if all you give up is one noisy toy… enjoy the silence. Herzliche Grüße, Eran Fulson

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Lent and Pancakes

Giving up the noise.

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