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
In the Darkness Before Dawn: A Parable of Belief
One baby intuits that their current reality—with its darkness and limitations—must be preparation for something more. Why else would they have legs if not to walk someday? Why mouths if not to eventually eat? The other baby counters with scepticism, demanding empirical evidence and rejecting anything that contradicts their immediate experience as logically impossible.
This simple story invites us to consider how our perspective shapes what we believe is possible. Like these babies contemplating a world they cannot yet comprehend, we too may benefit from moments of stillness—pausing our busyness to listen deeply for truths that exist beyond our current understanding. Whether you identify with the faithful or sceptical baby, this parable offers a gentle reminder that sometimes wisdom comes not from certainty but from quiet openness to mystery.
What might you hear in your moments of stillness? Take time today to listen for what exists beyond the boundaries of your current perception.
Hello, wonderful to have you this morning or whenever you are joining us. Today, one of my favourite stories takes place in a womb where there are two babies. A womb where there are two babies. Baby one turns to baby two, and you know as the deep mind can accept these things. Babies can talk in wombs, can't they so? And baby one asks baby two whether they believe in life after delivery. Baby two responds by saying well, of course, there has to be something after delivery. This can't be everything. This life, this world we live in, maybe is a preparation for what comes after delivery.
Speaker 1:And baby one says well, I don't agree. I don't think. I think whatever you see here is all we have and know. And maybe one thinks a little bit and goes well, what are these legs for? Do you think we'll start walking? Maybe we'll start eating with our mouths, maybe we'll have senses that we just don't understand now. And baby one says that's a bit of nonsense, isn't it? I mean, walking is impossible. Eating with our mouths that's also absurd to think about. And all the senses we have here? Again, what you see is what you get, and plus this umbilical cord that we have here, you see that that is the only thing that we need that is giving us everything we need, the nutrition and so on, and plus it's probably way too short for us out there, whatever out there is.
Speaker 1:Maybe one thinks a little bit again and goes I don't know, maybe you know, maybe it'll be different, Maybe there'll be more light for one. Like, this place is quite dark, isn't it? Maybe it'll be more light and also maybe, as I say, it'll be different. Maybe we won't need this umbilical cord. And yeah, no, I'm sorry, there's just no proof of the afterlife, said baby one. There's just no proof and it should be logically excluded.
Speaker 1:I think, maybe two things a little bit more and goes I don't know, I don't know. I think you know, after delivery we'll meet mother and mother will take care of us. Mother, you believe in mother? I mean, come on now, mother does not exist. If mother does exist, exist, where is she now?
Speaker 1:Baby one says she's all around us, we are of mother, we are in mother and in fact, if there was no mother, this I don't think our world would exist. Come on, guys, come on, you can't see Mother. Logically, you have to exclude Mother. Mother doesn't exist, just not, true? Baby one responds with this. Sometimes, when you are quiet enough and sit in silence and you really, really listen, you can perceive her presence and sometimes you can hear her loving voice calling from above. May we all take moments of stillness and if you've been listening to my stories up until now and you heard about St Mokai last week just to take those moments, to stop what we're doing, stop being busy, sit in silence, reflect, be quiet, listen and who knows what you may hear. God bless you all.