The Prodigal Daughter

The bible has a story about a prodigal son and how his father forgave him. I know it very well, because we learned it in the subject called Religious Studies. Mama and grandmother were also devout Christians. What makes me furious is how they believed, but they still suffered. The more they toiled in apartheid South Africa, is the more they suffered. The more they prayed, the more things went from bad to worse. Then I got to England for further studies, only to find the British playing sports on Sunday, filling Wembley Stadium to watch soccer, riding horses that jump over fences, sitting at the pub for a pint, or combing flea markets for bargains. I was there for three years, and there was not a classmate, neighbour, nor market woman who mentioned the name Jesus. Poor mama!

I digress. I want to talk about a prodigal daughter, a real live prodigal daughter that lives on television and most online platforms. People who have been following her for years, on her crusade to distance herself from her racial family, are mad as hell that she wants to return to the fold. One guy said she won’t be invited ‘to the cookout’ no matter how much she tries. Apparently, she was fired from the platform she used, to rip the said family to shreds. I don’t know much about her. All I know are proverbs.

1. East, west, home is best. Is that a proverb or a line in movies?

2. All roads lead home.

3. You reap what you sow. Pastors use it to caution ‘sinners’, so it must be from the bible.

4. Don’t leave #10 under a tree. One day you’ll return to it for some shade, forgetting you messed it up. (Zulu proverb). It’s more profound when you say it in that language.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger