The caption above shares a lot in common with the title of an American movie that premiered in 2007, featuring screen veterans like Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, et al. The clear and unambiguous storyline of the movie drama was projected in a manner that even the dumbest viewer would not need to watch the motion picture twice to grasp the warning messages regarding seeking easy and spurious means of achieving happiness, wellness or success.
In the past couple of years, there has been a disturbing upward trend in the manner in which healing/maternity homes are springing up in the "Land Of The Rising Sun". What is even more disturbing is the rate at which believing men and women are thronging these healing/maternity centres without recourse to proper investigations as we were enjoined in the words of our elders, "Look Before You Leap".
Often, we hear about couples who waited on the lord with great faith and admirable patience in keeping with the admonitions of the "Good Book". This was in spite of their harrowing experience, the height of which was their stigmatization which came in various forms such as, unsavoury compliments, mockery, being branded witches, lastly but most heart-wrenching, the idea of a second wife being sold to the man by the so-called concerned relatives.
When confronted about it, those who feel obliged to defend their dance with the devil, would quickly but erroneously quote Machiavelli, "The End Justifies The Means", and with such mindsets, they turn blind eyes amidst strange and disturbing occurrences unfolding before them in the places they go to seek help.
To give their outfit a desired appeal, owners of these enterprises(i.e healing/maternity homes), front Religion and with such colourations, gullible and half-witted victims flock to them in a manner that quickly brings to mind the words of Carl Max, which says, "Religion Is The Opium of the people" and of course, they will do the bidding of the spiritual leader without question.
A friend once confessed to visiting a healing home he heard about over the radio. Prior to the visit, this fella had been doing remarkably well at managing some niggling ailments, all of which at some point seem to vanish after taking 33-bottles of Clean Shield medication. He was aiming at 100-bottles but lacked at the time, the financial capacity to accomplish such audacious feat. According to my friend, he became a little apprehensive on arriving at the healing home. Some of the things he saw within the vicinity looked fetish.Squabbles however started when the wife to the owner of the outfit who also doubles as Nurse/Attendant to the healing home, wanted to draw his blood for a supposedly Laboratory Analysis. And our friend, true to his nature(Stubborn and Superstitious), quickly withdrew his hands. Some days later and after leaving rather unceremoniously (insisting he only came to enquire about the cost of treatment), he called the owner of the healing home and asked him to take part of the money he deposited on the day of his visit as consultation fee and use the balance to buy a drink for himself.
There was another case of a lady who had only one child and not having more, from the account of those close to the family, was the least of the worries of her husband. They had a happy home. However, when the lady in question heard about a trending miracle/solution centre, she decided to give it a shot, to make her husband happier. After obtaining permission from her workplace and with the consent of her husband, the said lady took a trip to the "Wonderland". On getting to the "Business Centre" as many would refer to such places, she paid whooping sum for lodging and at night, joined the "Soul Train" (i.e GATHERING) of the foolish virgins and some foolish bridegrooms heading for a "Midnight Rendezvous"(Night Virgil), in the said miracle centre. After the Abracadabra and the hocus pocus in the name of calling down heaven awhich that lasted all night and during which those who tried to outshout their neighbours in HALLELUJAH!, AMEN! ", I CLAIM IT!, as commanded by the spiritual leader of the healing home, ended up shouting themselves hoarse.
By morning the said lady who had come to seek help was ushered into the consultation room where she sat face to face with the "Miracle Doctor" who also doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of the healing home.In the course of discussion the lady in question felt something was not quite right.Although she could not put her finger on what was actually amiss but she was having the feeling that someone was trying to hypnotize her.Out of the blues however, a voice whispered to her ears "Chidinma!, what are you doing here? Immediately she came to her senses and hit the table in front of her twice, shouting, Blood Of Jesus!, Blood Of Jesus!, and that was how her venture into the strange Maternity /healing home came to an end.
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