Sunny Banana
I am a school chaplain and the content is intended to encourage curiosity about Faith and it's impact on day to day life
The Sunny Banana, is a play upon the Zulu greeting, Sanibonani, meaning I see you.
As tech wrenches us from real life, we are not seeing each other. The Greek word 'idea' means to see. It is as if we have lost the idea of what it means to be human; social, communal, relational. The same word, to see, in Old English is 'seon' which has connotations of understanding.
Let's start seeing each other again, listening, respecting, and understanding each other and ourselves. After all, we are people through other people.
Sunny Banana
The Boy called No Song
Embark on a journey with us as we recount the tale of a young boy whose life's dream is to sing, despite his unfortunate nickname, "no song." Imagine a village where every Friday is a celebration filled with music, dance, and storytelling, yet our protagonist is held back by a voice that even the elders shy away from. With Lent and Ramadan ushering in a season of reflection and self-discipline, we explore how a mystical fox becomes the unlikely catalyst for this boy's transformation, offering a gift with a profound lesson in responsibility and self-restraint.
Join us as we unravel this magical narrative of ambition and the power of promises. Through the boy's encounter with the wise fox, we delve into themes of self-control and the magic of honouring special moments. What happens when dreams meet reality with a twist of fate? This story is a perfect blend of wisdom and heart, inviting us all to reflect on how timing and commitment shape our journey. Discover how a simple stew becomes the gateway to a life-changing decision, and find inspiration in a tale that reminds us of the beauty in balancing dreams with temperance,
Hello Bedians, this is your chaplain speaking and this is the thought of the week. So I hope you've been enjoying the stories I've been telling you. And guess what no surprise, or maybe a massive surprise is I'm going to tell you another one today, and this story, I really like it. And this story, I really like it. I think not to give too much away, but I think it tells us about responsibility. It tells us about self-control and making promises. You know, and I think, as we lead up to Lent and Ramadan, our brothers and sisters in the Christian and Muslim faiths who are going to fast for 40 or 30 days respectively. It's a time of self-control, it's a time of responsibility, and this is the story I'd like to tell you today.
Speaker 1:A once upon a time there was a village, and in this village, every Friday night, everyone would go down to the hall and let loose, just let go a little bit. It's been a tough week, so people would like to let their hair down, as they say. People would sing, people would dance, people will eat, people will converse, stories will be told, fires will be lit, memories will be enjoyed and shared. And there was this one lad who was 15 years old, like a lower fifth guy and he had been going all his life and just gave it all his soul and life, and he loved this Friday night gathering. He looked forward to it every day, monday especially. And the thing about this boy is that he loved singing. He wanted to sing. This was his life's goal.
Speaker 1:But here is something I need to tell you. Here is something I need to tell you about this lad Is that when he opened his mouth to sing, it was a sound that only a mother could love. I mean, I'm talking about fingernails on chalkboard. Chalkboards are those things that used to be used for classes, by the way. We used to write on chalk on the board and scratching your nails across that board, screeching, ear-busting, disgusting sound of a voice. Disgusting sound of a voice.
Speaker 1:And, um, you know, the elders in this village even came up with a name for this boy and they called him no song. No song was his nickname, poor lad, until one day he just, you know, he got he actually got fed up with the whole thing because he would, uh, start to understand how people would start to get out the way when he started singing. So he said, ah, I'm not gonna go to those things. Um, and one night he decided that he was going to stay at home and cook a stew. Now, this lad could cook, let me tell you, he could cook. And the smells that wafted from the stew that he was cooking, he decided to cook it outside, as you do when you make a stew. And he was sitting there and along came a fox.
Speaker 1:Now imagine a fox, but now imagine a fox that you would see in lord of the rings or narnia. This, this, this fox was a narnian, ancient, strong, powerful, wise, old fox. And the fox said to the boy do you know that foxes love food? Young, young man. So I'm going to eat that stew. That stew is going to be mine, you see. But I can give you something in return, anything you want, I will grant it. And but you've got to give me that stew, you see, when I give it to you, okay, thank you. But you've got to give me that stew, you see, when I give it to you, okay, thank you.
Speaker 1:And the boy was captivated by this fox and he thought for a moment and he thought Wow, well, what do I want? What do I want? What do I want, what do I see? Ah, okay, mmm Ha. He said to the fox Give me big song, give me big song. Those were his words. Big song granted. The fox said you will have big song instead of no song. But there's one condition. You see, young lad, you can only use your song, your voice, your big song, at weddings and baptism and bar mitzvahs and eid celebrations and whatnot, and birthdays and parties. At special occasions, you can use your voice. The boy thought, nah, that's not too bad, got it? Yeah, special occasions when people ask me to do it, I will do it. Great, and so it was granted.
Speaker 1:And what did the boy do after this? He went down on Friday night to the village to have a party and there were all the people, and all the people looked at him and said, oh, here's no song. Here we go again. And he said give me this opportunity to sing, it's a special occasion, so let's do it. And he opened his mouth to sing.
Speaker 1:And I tell you what it was like looking at a robin on a clear, crisp winter morning and 7000 angels playing harps. You know what I mean. This voice just made you shake in the core, in your core. It just hit something in the middle of you. Your heart started to jump with joy when you heard this voice and everyone just went berserk. Actually, they just gathered around no song, as he used to be called. They were just captivated.
Speaker 1:And so, I mean, people couldn't get enough of him, he couldn't get enough, they couldn't get enough of him. You know, if that boy was around today, they would have made him into an app. They would have made him into an app and he would be accessible at your fingertips. But we're not talking about this day and age, we're talking about a long time ago, and so, as I I said, people couldn't get enough of him. He was doing weddings, baptism, bar mitzvahs, eid celebrations, birthdays, all sorts of things, charity events and whatnot. But you see, it got to get what he wanted to manipulate to like, for example, I don't know, get free drinks at the pub. You know, um sang a beautiful tune and he got a beer for it. And just then he noticed at the window the fox looking into the window, and the boy felt something disappear, felt something change, as if his song had disappeared, and the fox stood at the window saying indeed, indeed, indeed.