Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale
radio microphone
BBC Radio 2Janice Long Show
Alex Lester Show
Pause for Thought
Richard Littledale: Series 2, Number 3
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Wednesday 6 February 2008

How were your pancakes then? Flat? If you found time to make them yesterday on Shrove Tuesday, I wonder how successful they were? If you ask me, they are never as easy to make as they look. Sometimes they come out like semi-cooked shoe leather, and others like lightly burnt lace. Anyway, since it's Lent now and a good time of year for honesty, I've decided its time for a confession.

It all goes back to the days of my youth, and to a pancake night in the scout hut. Think about it - flour, eggs, heat, sugar, jam, teenage boys - what a combination! Something was bound to go wrong - and it did. Some people tossed their pancakes beautifully, one or two even got them stuck on the ceiling. But not us - oh no. It was all going brilliantly until the moment when my pancake left the frying pan, turned an acrobatic loop in the air, plummeted downwards, missed the edge of the pan and fell on the floor with a resounding "splat". None of which would have mattered, really - except that the scout master was on his way round to inspect our culinary efforts.

You've guessed it, haven't you? Quick as a flash, the offending pancake was scraped off the floor, dusted with sugar, and served to a smiling scoutmaster who consumed it in blissful ignorance. So, all these years later "sorry skipper"

If there were a way to rewrite the past politicians and world leaders would have copyrighted it long ago. If only we had a means to undo past acts much worse than feeding a dodgy pancake to a scoutmaster, we would seize it with both hands.

I'd love to have been there on the day long ago when a back from the dead Jesus and a shamefaced disciple Peter looked each other in the eye. After all, Peter had let Jesus down big style. He'd denied outright that he even knew him. Whatever could they say to each other? We don't know - but we do know that Peter came away with his head held high and ready to fight another day.

Undoing the past is impossible, but dealing with its effects doesn't have to be.

rjl signature


© BBC 2008
This talk by Richard Littledale was first broadcast as BBC Radio 2's night time "Pause for Thought"
at 01:30 during the Janice Long show and at 03:30 during the Alex Lester show.
It is reproduced here by permission of the BBC.