THIS BANGA SOUP CALLED LIFE

 

I was thinking this morning..... about life. A week ago, I woke up to the sad news that the husband of a colleague had collapsed and died suddenly. He was only 60 years. When we visited her to commiserate, she, along with her 10 year old son, sobbed. It was heartbreaking even as we consoled them. Life.

Yesterday, we joined another colleague and friend to Ibadan to celebrate her mum who turned 85 recently. It was a very colourful and well attended ceremony. The children had gone all out to make the celebration one their mum will never forget.

There were lots of orishirishi as the invited guests feast in celebration. Amala and ewedu, Chinese fried rice, jollof and pounded yam were all in abundance, but it was the banga soup that got me thinking. By simply placing a spoon of the banga soup in my mouth, I could immediately taste the bitterleaf in it, but as I swallowed it with starch, it was simply divine. I shut my eyes to savour the soup and then it dropped, life indeed is banga soup.

You can't have a great banga soup without a tint of bitterleaf. Two Saturdays back, I was mourning, yesterday, I was celebrating. The bitter-sweet combination if what makes it banga soup. Life indeed is banga soup.

The sound of the owambe music from the all female band jolted me back to reality as I watched the 'Glam-mama' take to the dance floor. I imagined what could be running through her mind at that point in time. This year makes it 15 years since her husband died at 73. Painful as it was then, today, with family and friends surrounding her, she celebrates life at 85. Oh, this banga soup called life.

Like banga soup, there will be an occasional sprinkle of bitterleaf to make life tasty. Don't view an isolated negative event in your life as the summary of your life. That you lost a job, an asset or a loved one should not mean the end of your life. The good in your life far outweighs the bad. If you think deep, you will see that of a truth, life is like banga soup. Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.

Love God and enjoy life like I enjoyed my banga soup, because life indeed is banga soup.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey