Why are the bananas curved?

Sunday, my brother officiated at the introduction of our weekly GoedBericht-meeting in Zoetermeer. He does this with some regularity and his specialty is that he is able to highlight interesting things from the realm of nature. He knows a lot about nature and is a captivating speaker, explaining aspects of this complex subject. Sunday, he brought along a few bananas, and the proverbial question was posed: Why are bananas curved? That seems like a silly question, but it is a valid one. And he explained why. Let me, in this blog, gratefully expand the truth involved. The answer to the question, why bananas are curved, is this: As the banana-bunch grows, the plant, in due time, becomes top-heavy. Then it succumbs under its own weight, so that the banana-bunch end up in a hanging position. But bananas are (like all plants) naturally oriented upwards. That phenomenon, scientists call: negative gravitropism. It refers to the tendency of plants, stems and flowers to find a way upwards, against gravity (which pulls them down). And this is why the ‘fallen-over’ bananas curve, i.e. grow upwards. Is that trivial? No, it contains hidden, instructive education for us from the Creator. Perhaps it is the most important lesson of life a human being can learn. For as a human being ‘matures’, the weight of existence becomes more and more pressing. This decline arises involuntarily in us. Everything begins to ‘hang’; literally in many ways, but also figuratively life is becoming heavier. The entire book of Ecclesiastes is about the phenomenon of a ‘declining’ creation. GOD has subjected creation to futility and impermanence. Concerning this, the hanging bunch of bananas speaks. Is that depressing? For a banana, in any case, it is not! Bananas are not down. Regardless of the conditions in which they find themselves, they seek things that are above them; where the light is. That is why a banana is curved! The curved banana reminds us of the universal fact that life is hard. But it teaches us to lift up our heads, and our hearts to things that are above! For there is a GOD with Whom never anything goes wrong and Who will make all things (in His time and way) perfectly well!

For to vanity was the creation subjected, not voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation that the creation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption… -Romans 8:20,21-

Delen: