As I’ve mentioned before, I am employed as a minister. While I have many duties associated with my employment,
my primary function is to lead and teach the youth of our church. Last night, I divided my wild bunch into
surgical teams of 2 or 3, and provided them with an operating table (paper
plate), scalpels (plastic knives) and a patient (a banana). I gave them the instructions to peel the
banana and cut the banana any which way they desired. The only requirement was that they keep all
the pieces (i.e. don’t eat the banana).
So, my little group of future M.D.’s went to work. Some made even, precise cuts. Some were sliced length wise, other in
half. Some were, well, let’s just say
not as precise.
And then I dropped the bomb on them. When they were finished, and had presented
their pieces of bananas, I then instructed them to reconstruct their “patient.” Of course, I provided a few surgical
supplies to assist with the endeavor-tape, paper clips, etc.
Hilarity ensued.
We ended up naming the “patients” post-op in our laughter,
and here I present to you Frankenana, Ninjana, Zombanana, and Body Bag Steve
(poor Steve).
The object of the lesson was to point that once we “do harm”
to of just outright hurt others that those that we inflict damage upon maybe
functional, but are never really the same.
Just like our bananas bared the marks of the scalpels, even after
attempts to repair them, so to do the souls and spirits of those who are hurt bear
the scars of their sufferings.
After I got home and began looking closer at bananas as I
posted pictures to the youth group’s Facebook page, I began to notice that all
four of patients, albeit completely unintentionally, highlighted a different,
but important result of what happens when we are harmed.
I first looked at Frankenana. Now, Frank’s team did a pretty good job in
his reconstructive surgery. He was certainly the most intact
afterwards. He was even wearing a
smile-unusual, if not slightly creepy-for banana who has just endured major
reconstructive surgery. Nevertheless,
behind that smile, Frankenana was just that-Frankenana-a sort of banana who
once was an actual banana, and who really had no hope of becoming a full banana
again through the help of even our most skilled surgeons. People are like that. Maybe they keep on smiling, and keep on
going. Maybe even on the surface they
appear to be pretty much together. But
once someone has cut them to their core, by word or deed, though the damage has
been repaired, some scarring remains.
Next there was Ninjana.
As the Ningana’s medical condition was appearing increasingly grave,
Ninjana’s team of gifted surgeons improvised an incredible life-saving
technique with a roll of black electrical tape that just happened to be in one
of the surgeons pockets. Ninjana was
wheeled out of surgery completely reconstructed on the outside with a new and
improved façade to boot. In fact, he’s
new facade was so tough that Ninjana was practically impenetrable. He was not firmly surrounded by a wall of
electrical tape which not only allowed our resident Banana Ninja to hold to his
original form (not to mention look like the most awesome Banana Ninja we know),
but also to conceal in that form on the inside he was completely a mess. You see, most of the inside of Ninjana was
impossible to piece back together, and so Ninjana’s surgeons managed to create
an outer appearance that served to
protect Ninjana from ever feeling like less of a banana again and conceal the
fact that inside, Ninjana was basically baby food. Again, we find this in some people too. Once people are hurt and hurt again, they
eventually learn to put up a wall. The
wall has two primary functions. One, the
wall protects that person from getting hurt again by preventing anyone or
anything from getting close enough to hurt them like they have been hurt
before. Two, the wall ensures that no
one sees how badly they have been hurt, and how they still hurt from past
grievances. It’s a difficult repair
that had to be made, to say the least.
And then there was Zombanana. Now, the question remains as to whether
Zombanana survived the surgery or not.
He appeared to be relatively intact, but there were definitely some open
areas, particularly relating to the brain area, and as I am not an expert in
zombiesque bananas, well, I’ll let you decide whether Zombanana is actually a
banana or not. What I can tell you, he
came out a bit warped, and forever changed by his experience. The wounds he suffered were a bit less
reparable, and it as a result he had a bit of form change (we also decided
against letting Zom near the other patients for safety reasonsJ). This too happens with people. Sometimes the wounds are so great, that
short of finding God’s love and grace afterward, people don’t heal in a
meaningful way. Sometimes hurt that is
inflicted is so painful that healing never really occurs short of divine
intervention, and that person ends up living life with an open wound that
effects everything they do in life-every action, reaction, emotion, feeling,
etc.-so much in some cases that it could raise questions as to whether they are
still, in fact, alive.
And finally, there was Body Bag Steve. Poor Steve.
We can safely say that Steve didn’t survive. He gave his life to science…er, theology...ah,
forget it. Steve wound up still in
pieces underneath the a mound of scotch tape that secured him to his funeral
pyre, I mean, operating table in a manner that he at least somewhat resembled
his former self-at least for the purposes of final viewing. You see, Steve’s initial surgery was just too
invasive for him to recover. He had been
cut, and cut, and cut again, and eventually there was no hope for our patient
to survive, even with a team of surgeons.
And sadly, there are people like that.
Eventually they just get hurt so much that they are only a shell of
their former selves-of what God created them to be-and they cannot heal at all
without the help of a God who loves and heals.
There’s a point to
all this. There are three primary
focuses to Get Up and Go 2014: Love
first. Do good. Pray for each other. All three come into play here.
First-just love. Don’t worry about anything else. Just love.
If you go in love for your neighbor as God has loved you, you’ll be
okay. And remember what love is-see 1st
Corinthians 13 if you need a refresher. Don’t go out of your own
righteousness, don’t because you’re right.
You’ll do harm. Christ did not
come forcing anyone at the tip of a sword-because that is not love. Go in love.
God’s love.
And in God’s love, DO GOOD.
You (Yes, YOU!) were created to do good for the kingdom!!! So do it.
Be a light. Be the good. That good will gain more for the kingdom
than anything that is forced will!! And
furthermore, that good might be an instrument that God uses to heal the
Frankenanas, Ninjanas, Zombananas, and yes, even the Body Bag Steve’s (Poor
Steve!) in this world.
Finally, pray. Pray
that love will prevail. Pray that it
will be your first instinct. Pray that
good will be done in love and that God will shine in that good. Pray for the healing of those who have been
hurt and that the good they experience will help that process. And pray for each other as we all get up and
go so that we might change the world.
(And, if you want to see all the surgery pictures, go to: https://www.facebook.com/DecaturUnitedMethodistChurchYouth)
