Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday Life Correspondent
WELL-KNOWN in his community at Esigodini as a soft-spoken teacher and to some as a man of the cloth, Pastor Que, as he is affectionately known, has penned his third book titled ‘‘But we piped to you’’.
The former Mzingwane High School and now Mvuthu Secondary School (both in Esigodini) teacher presents one of the biblical illustrations and how it is wittily interweaved with daily life issues while expressed in fine humour and realism to help one reflect on his own fair share of contribution towards hurt and pain.
In this book Qiniso Mpofu departs from the traditional methods of counselling a person out of a crisis and infuses a very light tone to lighten the burden off the shoulders of the readers. Speaking to Sunday Life, Mpofu said the title of the book is derived from Jesus’ generational analysis according to one of the scriptures in the Holy Bible.
“This book finds its anchor in Jesus’ analysis of the generation in Luke 7 verse 32. Jesus likens this generation to children playing in the marketplace. In this brief story, Jesus gives us, a picture of a game that starts off very well.
Kids from the two camps are playing a piping game. In this game, the first group plays any song on to the flute and gives it a jovial rhythm. The rival group has to dance impressively.
“The groups then change roles. Those who were playing have to dance and those who were dancing have to play their choice. In as much as the game wasn’t necessarily a competition, each group depended on the other for endorsement from the audience. If the group did not dance to a happy song, or if it did not mimic weeping when the musicians played a dirge, it implied that the musicians were so bad at what they were doing. The audience would then jeer the musicians off stage at the behest of the other group regardless of how well they have performed. But ‘We wiped to you’ then becomes the question musicians, after being betrayed by the dancers, ask. They, like the world today, feel that they have done all things according to script, but their efforts have been mocked by circumstances,” said Mpofu.
The book challenges the often prescribed solutions or coping mechanisms that have been applied on the different human relations issues by cleverly interweaving relevant Bible stories that parallel our everyday modern lives. It presents a critical insight into relatable everyday issues using the traditional wisdom of the Christian faith and principles of Ubuntu.
Asked on the objective of the book, Mpofu said the book seeks to locate some of the steps that have led people to frequent disappointments.
“This book intends to take us through the common yet very weighty disappointments haunting humanity in general and (in some instances) believers in particular and it also attempts to trace steps that have led men and women to the dark pit of disappointment over and over again. The broader conversation here is informed by the need to save a life from sinking into depression post a series of let downs and hence beam the light on the thought patterns and expectations that inevitably lead to misery,” said Mpofu.
His other works include Family is forever Volume 1 and 2 (2018) which talks about family dynamics and pays attention to character defects caused by background issues and Citizens of Eden (2019) which tackles gender issues within family set-up and raises consciousness on issues which attempt to balance gender relations in and out of a home. — @nyeve14