Features
Mysteries of this world
A young boy was travelling on a school trip to Mountain Afadja and his younger brother asked him to buy him meat pie when returning home from the journey. On their way back to Accra, he saw a vendor with meat pie and he moved quickly towards the front of the vehicle to buy one through the window.
A few seconds later, a vehicle smashed into the back of the bus where he was moments before and the aftermath was a disaster. His desire to honour his promise to his younger brother, saved him from death.
A lot of the students at the rear area of the bus died. Such is life and certain things are inexplicable. What made him see the meat pie vendor and leave the back seat towards the front of the bus, moments before the heavy truck crashed into the rear of the bus?
There are happenings in life that does not simply make sense and if you try to apply logical reasoning to them, they fail to explain why what happened.
Recently a young man who was working at a construction site decided to stop work briefly to get something to eat. On his way returning back, the whole three story building that he was working in had completely collapsed with a couple of his colleagues under the rubble.
Again the question is, why did he not delay his going out of the building for a few minutes which would have made him a victim of the incident? No logical explanation to this.
A cousin of mine was living in Takoradi during the early days of the 31st December revolution. One morning on his way to work, he was stopped by a soldier holding a gun and he told my cousin to get unto a truck parked by the roadside, ostensibly to join others already onboard to go do some job.
He was annoyed by someone just ordering him simply because he had authority. He brushed the gun aside and went past the truck heading towards his shop. According to him he heard behind him a gun being clocked and then he heard a soft voice telling him not to look back but continue along. He then hear people shouting “oh, oh” but he did not turn around to look back.
The place was a short distance from his refrigeration repair shop so he soon reached his shop. A few minutes after sitting down in front of his shop, people came rushing to him enquiring where he got his ‘power’ from. He asked them what they were talking about and they told him that the soldier clocked his gun to shoot him but as he suddenly started collapsing unto the ground.
This led them to believe that my cousin have some kind of juju powers, hence they asked him where he went for spiritual fortification. The intriguing question is, whose voice did he hear ordering him not to look back? It still baffles him up to this day.
The June 3rd disaster is another instance of a deliverance from certain death that my brother-in-law experienced. That afternoon he had gone to buy items for his JHS 3 son and as usual when going home, had gone to a store where he has some friends to chat with them for a while before going home.
After some few minutes, he decided to go home since he had been drenched by the drizzling that came after the earlier heavy rainfall. When he got home about 35 minutes later, he switched on the TV and a fire disaster that has burnt people to death as well as destroyed a fuel station, vehicles and buildings near the filling station, including the store where he had stopped to chat a short while ago. A voice had convinced him to leave the place and that was what saved him.
Being a Christian, I would attribute it to God but why he choose to deal with certain individuals and deliver them and the criteria for selection, is a mystery
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Features
Navigating your emotional landscape: A journey of self-discovery and healing
Introduction
Our emotional landscape is a vast and intricate terrain, shaped by our experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and memories. It’s a world where our emotions, both conscious and unconscious reside, influencing our relationships, decisions, and overall well-being.
In this article, we’ll explore the concept of the emotional landscape, its components, and how understanding it can lead to greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and healing.
The components of the emotional landscape
Our emotional landscape consists of various regions, each representing a different emotional state. These regions are shaped by our:
– Life experiences: Trauma, relationships, and significant events.
– Thoughts and beliefs: Positive or negative self-talk.
– Emotions: Joy, sadness, anger, fear, and more.
– Memories: Happy, painful, or neutral.
– Coping mechanisms: Healthy or unhealthy strategies for managing emotions.
Exploring your emotional landscape
To navigate your emotional landscape, start by:
– Identifying emotional patterns and triggers.
– Recognising areas for growth and healing.
– Developing emotional awareness and regulation.
– Cultivating self-compassion and acceptance.
Benefits of understanding your emotional landscape
By exploring and understanding your emotional landscape, you can:
– Gain greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
– Develop more effective coping mechanisms.
– Improve relationships and communication.
– Enhance emotional resilience and well-being.
– Unlock personal growth and transformation.
Conclusion
Navigating your emotional landscape is a journey of self-discovery and healing. By understanding the components of your emotional landscape and exploring its regions, you can gain a deeper connection with yourself and develop a more authentic, wholehearted existence.
Remember, your emotional landscape is unique and ever-changing, and embracing its complexities can lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
BY ROBERT EKOW GRIMMOND-THOMPSON
Features
Dead babies, no grave
Many babies are conceived but do not, see the light of day
Man is God’s most wonderful creation. According to biblical legend, man was created in “His own image”, and was made lord over all living things on earth. Apart from the first man, however, all human beings had to be conceived in the womb and born of woman. Such was God’s design for the human race.
No matter one’s origin or race (Asian, Caucasian or Negro), the life of every human individual begins right from the time it is conceived. The male sperm unites with the female ovum and LIFE begins therefrom. Nine months, thence, a baby is born. It grows and grows to become an adult.
Many babies conceived do not, however, see the light of day. They never will.
They are scooped out of the womb before they develop eyes and limb. As such, they are deprived of the right to live. And their plight is apathetic instance of human cruelty.
And do they complain? They can’t! But assuming they could, all aborted babies in their frightful multitude will protest these injustices in a demonstration never before held on the planet. And a typical placard will read:
“My Mother Aborted Me
When I Was 3 Months Old
In Her Womb. How Much I
Loved My Mother. But She
Never Loved Me. She Killed Me.
O My Mother. She Killed Me.”
The blood of such a baby is forever upon the head of those who terminated its life against its will. The soul of the child cries to the Lord. The voice is tiny, but it reaches the ear of the Lord.
“O Lord, why did thou allow
My conception in the womb
Of that cruel woman.
Look at what she’s done to me.
She took me to a doctor who
Destroyed me with a dangerous weapon.
I bled and bled.
My soul returns to eternity.
That is the sad tale of my short life,
O Lord.”
Tens of thousands of human foetuses are aborted every single year. And in Sikaman, not less than 10,000 babies are returned to where they are supposed to have come from. They have no right to live. On their foreheads is written: “If undelivered, return to sender.” And for sure, they are dispatched with the promptitude of first class mails.
There are several ways of killing unborn babies. “Many ways of killing a cat.” But until the advent of modern-day methods of death, crude means were sought to get rid of babies growing in human wombs.
Concentrated dosages of chloroquine, sugar, coffee, blue (for washing) are abortion agents that painfully terminate the lives of babies. In the attempt, however, these unsafe methods are also effective in dispatching both mother and child to eternity. TOGETHER WE PERISH!
The modern method is Dilation and Curetage (D and C), which is the most ingenious way of killing unborn babies without arranging for an obituary for the mother also. And prices paid for the murder are quite high of late.
A recent survey has shown that the effects of the ‘Gulf Crisis are felt here too. If you want to abort a one-month pregnancy, you’re sure to dish out ¢7,000 to the killer. Two-months -¢8,500, three-months- ¢10,000 etc.
And some rationalise why they feel compelled to lend their babies to the slaughter houses. They cite such reasons like economic constraints, family planning or the father denying the pregnancy. Others who are prostitutes by profession say that babies disrupt the business and must, therefore, be gotten rid of.
My view is that abortion in some cases may be justified, for example in cases of rape. A fifteen-year-old girl who got pregnant after she was raped by several soldiers in the United States, was granted the choice for an abortion by a law court, although it was illegal at the time.
Abortions may also be justified when the health of the mother is jeopardised as a result of the pregnancy, which is for medical reasons.
Aside these extreme considerations, to willfully abort a foetus is a transgression abominable to God. This is so, but because moral decadence is so widespread, no one cares whether or not a baby is killed. No wonder that certain countries legalise abortion to control population.
But why not prevent pregnancy rather in lieu of KILLING babies? To prevent pregnancy is not as disastrous as killing babies. And abortions sometimes have irreversible effects on mothers-barrenness.
These days, the first borns of some people, are not their first-borns. About four or five earlier ones have been thrown somewhere without offering them graves. And sooner or later, some of these dead babies will become personified and preach the gospel of revenge:
“Dear Wicked Mother
When I Was 5 Months In Your Womb
And You Were Planning My Death,
With My Cruel Father
I Wanted To Put In A Word
For Myself
But I Could Not Be Heard.
My Heart Was Punctured.
I Bled And Died
God Bless You.
And God Curse You!”
This article was first published on Saturday, November 24, 1990.
