Devotional 3-30-11

Banana Fever

J. D. Salinger wrote “ A perfect Day for Bananafish” in 1948. It was the first in a series of short stories about the Glass Family. Seymour is the main character. He and his wife are on vacation at a beach in Florida. His wife is talking on the phone with her mother about nothings so Seymour leaves the room to go to the beach. Seymour is a veteran of World War II and the conversation of Muriel, his wife, seems too trite to him. He meets a young girl at the beach. Seymour tells the girl about bananafish. The fish never know when to stop eating so they get bigger and bigger until they burst. Then Seymour goes back to the room and shoots himself in the temple.

The story is still well known because of its abrupt ending. Why did Seymour kill himself? We are given enough background in the story to know that Seymour had previously attempted to kill himself. Some interpretations say that he was suffering from mental problems associated with the war. There are many different interpretations that we find over the years. Salinger died a recluse at 91 in 2010. One interpretation reminds us that life is more important than fancy clothes, cars, and houses. Muriel was discussing clothing on the phone with her mother.

When I taught this story, we discussed the problems in the world. We become like the bananafish. We begin to “own” hungry children’s plight, earthquake victim’s situation, tsunami in Japan, 911 and other such global problems. Some of us become like the bananafish so we get bigger and bigger. This becomes the fever. How do we deal with this? Certainly, we do not want to do as Seymour did. We can contribute to different charities and web sites. Some of us become frustrated with others because they do not act as we think they should. We keep hoping and thinking that we should be responsible for changing others to no avail. This is another aspect of banana fever. What else can we do?

We can place ourselves at the feet of our heavenly father. He is our protector, He is our salvation. He gives us permission to LEAN ON HIM. Instead of getting bigger and bigger as the bananafish, we can help but not own by letting Him bear the burden for us. As we approach the Easter season, we must remember that He died on the cross for all of us. We must have faith that He will help us carry life’s problems until they become as light as gossamer angel wings.

Let us pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Grant us the wisdom to know that we do not have to carry the world on our shoulders but to lean on You to help us deal with life’s global problems as well a personal problems in our lives. Help us to know what is important and what is not important.
Amen

Carolee Brown