A pile of overripe bananas helped me say a good goodbye to my job that unexpectedly ended earlier this month when my entire department was closed as part of a reduction in workforce. I found myself buying bananas at the on-site dining room during my final days of employment, spending down meal credits. 

At 95 cents a piece and stationed near the check-out, the bananas were an easy add-on to hit my meal voucher max of $15. When the lunch came to $12, I’d grab 3 bananas. After several days of this, the bananas from work were piling up at home. 

On the eve of my last day, which was spent working remotely at home sorting computer files, I needed a mid-day screen break, so I went downstairs and was met by a bunch of browning bananas. As I looked at them, it was as if they were whispering to me in a coy way, quietly and playfully proposing to be part of a last hurrah that I hadn’t planned. One final recipe, for the people! they said.

I think that was Holy Spirit on the move. My response was instant: YES! Brilliant! Let’s do it! How fun! I was delighted by this gift of an idea to create an unexpected gift — a parting recipe that I could share with the many people I’d gotten to work with over many years.

They say people remember how you leave. How joyful to be remembered as giving out free food and a delicious recipe on my last day. I donned my chef hat and walked around, handing out samples and recipes. I loved that this recipe was about transformation: taking something unappetizing and turning it into something nourishing. 

Spiritually this spoke to me of God’s transformative work in our lives, of redemption, of finding goodness, of trusting that there is a blessing in here somewhere even when we can’t see it in the moment. God can be at work in this goodbye.

Interestingly, I just learned that the word goodbye is actually a contraction of “God be with you.” Similar to the French adieu or Spanish adiós, both translating literally as “to God,” our secular goodbye is a farewell that carries a blessing.

Sharing of food is also fitting for farewells, a natural and universal act of blessing. Giving out food allowed me to comfortably say goodbye in a caring, crowd-pleasing way. A little bit of processing, and inspiration from Holy Spirit, allowed me to leave with a sweet taste in my mouth, rather than being left with a rotten pile of bananas. This is good. This is God at work in our lives.

I want to share the Bye-Bye Banana Bread recipe with you, too. I welcome your prayers as I sit in this transition space. I want to sit with curiosity, listening for God’s call into a new chapter of my career, as I digest all that has been, am present to all that is and am nourished for all that will be.

RECIPE

Bye-Bye Banana Bread

Inspired by a pile of overripe bananas and the ending of a job, this recipe emerged as an embodied way of transforming a situation and finding sweetness that made for a good goodbye.

Makes: one 9×5 loaf

Ingredients: 

• 1 stick (½ cup) butter 
• ¾ cup sugar 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large or 3 small bananas) 
• ¼ cup milk (any type, dairy or nondairy) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 2 cups whole wheat flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped (optional) 
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed (optional) 
• Optional toppings: walnuts, cinnamon-sugar mix

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. 
2. Cream together butter and sugar. 
3. Mix in eggs, banana, milk and vanilla. 
4. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. 
5. Mix wet ingredients into the dry. 
6. Stir in chopped walnuts and flax, if desired. 
7. Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle on any optional toppings. 
8. Bake for about 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before taking bread out of the pan to cool completely on a wire rack. ENJOY!