Sylvia Wynter's Dream

BY JAMILLA MORGAN

I was there for the food – guava jam on diagonally sliced white bread with the crusts cut off and Tang. Yummy! That part came later. Now I had to sit and wait but I wasn’t worried. The food never usually ran out and I was with my friends.

I was sitting on one of the seven grey folding chairs in the semicircle. Three of the other children were sitting on the old bed behind the semicircle crew as some of the teenagers had taken the chairs to use in the next room. There was no fan in this room at the back, only a big louvre window that was opened to let the light and some air in. The door was open too but that was where my godmother was sitting with her chair turned to face us.

She must have been 20-something. She was wearing a white dress and a round white hat was pressed on her head. She had rectangular glasses and a book in her lap. She also had a Bible, and she began to talk about Jesus – the same man Mummy loved to talk about. How did she know Jesus too? He must be famous.

Jesus died on a cross? Why? For the bad things we did? All of them? Wowww!

It was getting a little hot with all these 5 and 6-year-olds talking. She said Jesus was thirsty on the big wooden cross. When I’m thirsty I like to drink juice but I don’t think they had juice when Jesus was alive. They gave him vin-e-gar? What is that?

She poured some liquid from a bottle into a white cork and passed it around for us to smell. She said that it was vinegar and that it was like what they gave Jesus to drink. It was clear, like water but it smelled baaaad, like it was really sour. Why would Jesus drink this?

She asked if we wanted to taste it. She passed the cork around again, refilling it each time someone drank from it and screwed up his face. When the cork got to me I waved it away. I didn’t want to drink it. I wasn’t stupid. If it smelled that bad, why would I want to taste it?

The people were really mean to Jesus. Why didn’t they give him some water if they didn’t have any juice? I think this Jesus must have been really nice. I would have beat them up.

Well…if Jesus didn’t beat them up, maybe it’s because it’s like what Mummy says. We should love each other, even if people are mean to us. Maybe.

Riiiiinggggggg!!!!!

The bell! Food time!

**************************************************************************

The memory I shared here is one of my earliest recollections of being in a Sunday School class. Sunday school is where I first learnt about Jesus and where I continue to learn about Jesus today. It is where I get to strengthen my faith and understand more about the will of God. It is still one of my favourite places to be.