Caitlin's wish: #MemoirMadness Nov. 3rd.Age 3 yrs old.

Caitlin's wish: #MemoirMadness Nov. 3rd.Age 3 yrs old.: Life was a never ending game, I had a sister, a playmate, games were never the same.  We played with the neighbour's  kids, in each...

Caitlin's wish: #MemoirMadness Nov.2nd. Age 2 years old.

Caitlin's wish: #MemoirMadness Nov.2nd. Age 2 years old.: #Memoir Madness Nov. 2nd. Age 2 years old. Eyes of blue and now aged two, and what a year it was, Great Aunt Ruby flew across the wor...

Caitlin's wish: #MemoirMadness Nov. 1st. Age 1.

Caitlin's wish: #MemoirMadness Nov. 1st. Age 1.: #MemoirMadness #author #poet Always being one to please, Even as a bairn on my Great Aunt's knee, Angelic blue eyes that coul...

Too Long a Dusk

by Mom Godfrey

Evil comes but by night, the night to sleep only friend is that we almost always deny it ourselves to make good fortunes for the times and the future in perspective. We sleep less only to sleep forever, ignoring the whims of the temporarily awake.

We are left desperate and riddled with myriad desolut and rhetorics that only paint a picture of life in vain. The nights are always what they are enough some nights are far more dark than the rest. The night he Reverened brother and colleague David Victor Egba was snatched by the cold and merciless hands of death was indeed a night darker than the rest.

Replete with the vim of a model youth, he had long Answered God's call to serve him diligently powerhouse of feelings vineyard. He harvested in a manner souls of the rich man's bounty. To him we are all equals before God as he said before, at the birth day party of a friend and I quote "I am not the type of pastor that sees others as unworthy."

It must be clear to us that the world is not our home especially when we declare war against it. Imagine housing a fellow who has unequivocally declared war against you.

As we mourn you, Reverened-David Victor Egba you will forever remain in our hearts. You came, did the work that was assigned unto you and was called to the ethereal. ReverenedVictor-David Egbe you will forever remain in our hearts. You came, did the work that was assigned unto you and was called to the ethereal. 

I pray that God Himself will comfort the members of your family whom I believe no amount of words from any human being in my life placat them.

Farewell ... ..

Godfrey, MOM.

Girl Power in Age Management Medicine: Age 9: Sitting at the Edge of a Cave

Girl Power in Age Management Medicine: Age 9: Sitting at the Edge of a Cave:  / By Dr. Margaret Aranda I was in medical school, and it was the summer of 1986. Besides the fact that I needed money and drove an Ice...

Girl Power in Age Management Medicine: Dysautonomia: 1869 - 1999

Girl Power in the Age Management Medicine: Dysautonomia: 1869 - 1999 : Dysautonomia: 1869 - 1999 / By Dr. Margaret Aranda / ~ October is National Dysautonomia Month Series ~ ~ ~ In 1869, t ...

#WHATISTHEPOSITIVE - Conquer Your Fears! Persevere!

Dr Margaret Aranda is "On" "LIVE at about the 8 minute mark!



Did she deny Christ?

Would you?

Spurring You On

by Dr Margaret Aranda



Video 1. So What are You Going to Be? Do not wait on anyone; what you need is already inside you. Push on! Pick yourself up! Persevere!


"When you fall down, fall on your back! Why? So you can get up again!" ~

"Do not let anyone tell you who you are!"


"Do not be a REFLECTION of yourself! Be the real you!

Who is the 'real' I? I'll tell you what it is NOT. It is NOT a Reflection in the mirror. 

* It's NOT a "Selfie." 

* It's not what other people think of you. 

* It's NOT WHO YOU THINK you are.

* It's not what other people told you to be!

Be "YOU!"



#DRMARGARETARANDA
#MOMGODF

Who Discourages You?

by Dr Margaret Aranda



1. The Biggest Person to Discourage? It's You.  Listen to yourself. Go It Alone.


That's the only way that you can do things in this life. Keep working! Keep on going!

Spend time alone and do not, do not do not quite! If you fail at something, that does not make you "FAILURE!" Seriously!


Jesus walked on the water, in the storm. Peter took eyes off of Jesus and StartEd feeling to do what? .... He StartEd around sink in the water. WHY? Jesus was not sinking! Peter took off feeling eyes of Jesus and that was the mistake ...


.... He was distracted by the distraction of the Storm.

Listen! There is alway going to be one distraction after another.

..and another.
........... And another.

"I can do anything, through Christ who makes me strong!"



Amen!

Esther: Woman with Rewards of Humility

by Dr Margaret Aranda

We have all heard that "The meek shall inherit the earth." And we know the story of Christ washing the feet of the disciples, in order to show humility, a humble and giving servitude toward others. But what more can we learn? There are specific steps one can take:

* Proverbs 15:33:  The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.

* Proverbe 18:12:  Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor.

* Proverbe 22:4: The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life.

* Colosians 3:12: So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,humility, gentleness, and patience. 

Image of Esther. A woman who naturally demonstrates a humble nature, as God intended it to be. 

We are not always supposed to be the most outspoken person in the room. We are not always to draw attention to ourselves, but putting the whole room's attention on ourselves day after day. 

No! We must seek a meek soul, one with that soft-spoken soul that is of a servant, not a Master. Christ taught us how to be: charitable, kind, compassionate, forgiving, loving, forgiving again, forgiving again, and to be humble and not haughty through all of this. And to be forgiving again, 700 x 7 times a day. So do not "puff yourself up" with outward signs of pride or ego, so that others consider that you are 'special.' 

But rather, remain in softness and meekness, glowing in your growing knowledge of Our Christ. 

Our Sisters and Brothers, strive to give our Lord the 'credit' when blessings land in our laps! Indeed! And keep the humility of Esther, who enjoys so peacefully, her special place in God's heart.

Image 2. Create in me a New Heart.

 Prayer: Lord, cleanse us in the Holy Spirit, restoring us to Your sacred salvation. Give us humility first, dear Lord. Only then can we know what it means to begin to have honor in Thy eyes. Amen. 

» Age Management Medicine Physician, Medical Writer, and Forensic Medicine Specialist Margaret Aranda, MD, PhD, to be Recognized as a 2016 Top Doctor in Calabasas, California

» Age Management Medicine Physician, Medical Writer, and Forensic Medicine Specialist Margaret Aranda, MD, PhD, to be Recognized as a 2016 Top Doctor in Calabasas, California

DR ARANDA ASKS THAT DONATIONS GO TO HOPE & JOY MINISTRIES BY SUNDAY, AS THEY HAD TO BORROW MONEY FOR FOOD. THE LOAN IS NOW DUE. LET US NOT DISAPPOINT THE ORPHANS. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Please donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/vf58rvsa     and God Bless You. 


James 1:27

For pure, undefiled religion is to feed orphans and widows when they are suffering, according to God the Father, and to remain uncorrupted by the world.

Selim Yeniçeri: New Album on the Way

by Dr Margaret  Aranda


There are things, events, happenings in the world that are going on unnoticed around you. They simply get drowned out by all the 'bad news' and drama of the End Times we are in, with evil becoming more and more dastardly and prominent in the news. 

Amongst this, there is a rose arising from the rubble, a scented, rare breed of which the world has never seen. And only around the corner are we on the cusp of witnessing the unfolding, the grand re-entry of this phenomenon ourselves. 

Image 1. Selim Yeniçeri is on the way back! After his fiancé Dr Margaret Aranda gently urged and then repeatedly insisted (like any good wife) that he return to his great love of music, Yeniçeri is preparing his newest album. It has been 16 years since his last, "Road of the Kings." Now, this is the stuff that geniuses are made of, truly! 

Video 1. "Kralların / Road of  

 the Kings"

Meet Selim Yeniçeri, the most reputable book translator in Turkey, bringing a walking library of books into the Turkish nation over the past decades. Now, the master cannot withhold the innate gift that has been stirring inside of him all of this time!


The title of the new album is "Second Coming," after the theme of the second coming of Christ. This is completely instrumental album, of the Symphonic Hard'n Heavy & New Age genre. Yeniçeri has already collaborated with noted music teacher and Symphonic Progressive Rock musician, Yigitcan Kesendere.  

The album is a deliberate critique of religious dogmas. Yeniçeri believes that "everything about religion and dogmas went wrong with the people." To be filmed in Iznik, Turkey, Yeniçeri chose this video shooting location because ironically to the theme of the album, it is the place where the Catholic Church was started.

Image 2. Original Yeniçeri "Mask" Logo. Pure heavy metal, this iconic logo carries with it two meanings: warrior strength and music genre. Imaging wearing such a mask, one with tantalizing superpowers and magnetic strain! Best left to the imagination, let it serve as a guide to both stimulate and relax the brain with something that one cannot possibly anticipate: the cerebral neuroplasticity effects of symphonic hard rock music..... without vocals as a distraction....

AND....Expect a full album out by the end of the summer, asYeniçeri's brilliant talent surpasses even the most talented musicians! There will be a few noted musicians on violin or flute; it is still being creatively determined as we read this! In true form of his musical masterpiece to come, Selim Yeniçeri is writing all songs, lyrics, and mastering the album himself. Whoooa! 

SERIES: THE ANNUALS OF A WOMAN TURNED DOCTOR: Age 3: The Edge of the Cliff

by Dr Margaret Aranda

There wasn't a good way to tell this story. And it could not be told in full, because she was too little when it happened. She was only three years old then, bouncing brown curly hair and matching big brown eyes that belonged to an actual doll. Just mesmerizing. Every single morning, her Mum blessed the Lord for the gift of a new day, but she did not quite undersand why she did that. People were, after all, supposed to wake up each day. 

They were going to do some errands, Mom and daughter. As long as she had her toy for the car, she was fine with it all. Her Mum put her in the back seat of the Ford Expedition. All tucked in, yes indeed. Seat belt tight, pillow under the neck for when she took the inevitable nap.  

After shopping, it was a drive home, so the baby had a diaper change, a full stomach, and you know. The nap was next. They had just finished visiting Grandma with her heart attack. Grandma lived in a city that was "over the hill," and today they had taken the dog Biscuit for a visit in the Nursing Home. All was well with the world.

It was a sunny California Tuesday afternoon, April 24, 2006 at 2:16 pm to be exact. Pepperdine University was on the right, and the cliffs of Malibu beach were just beyond the baseball diamond that was straight ahead. The sea gulls swerved away from imaginary pockets in the sky, and

All of a sudden. Whoosh! CRASH! Spin. Smack. Stopped.

Video 1. Eyewitness News TV Coverage, Drs. Margaret Aranda-Ferrante and David S. Cannom. Getting the diagnosis of dysautonomia took over 20 doctor visits, several months, a Near-Death Experience, and lots of pain and suffering. Millions of patients go through this annually, so I wrote the Invisible Illness Petition to increase physician education as a Preventive Medicine measure for all. 



Cars driving past. Their car was facing the wrong side of the street, and traffic simply veered out of the way, passing them. No one stopped.

She didn't cry. She wasn't worried. She didn't realize what happened that day. She didn't know how messed up the future was going to be. She didn't have to know. She shouldn't have to know. None of it should have happened to such a beautiful girl. Mum used to look at her and Dad, the three of them together, and say, "This family is the best thing that I could ever have. It's the best present that I could ever give our daughter. We have such a beautiful family."

When her Mum opened the car door, she opened it too hard; it swung shut back onto Mum's arm. She screeched a bit, seeming really perturbed. She ignored it though, and asked the baby, "Are you okay?" The baby looked up at her Mum, wondering where her toy was, as it had fallen to the ground. "Yes, Mum. Can I have my toy now?" Yes, that was a three-year old for you. She was okay, and her Mum suffered all the pain and injuries so that her Mum wouldn't have to...just the same way as any Mum would have it. Thank God.

After that, Mum would leave the house sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a few weeks. The baby grew and came to know that the ambulance in the home driveway meant that Mum was being taken away again. Again. Something about her brain, something about well... her brain. She visited Mum in the hospital once, and Mum couldn't walk except with a walker but she didn't know why. All she knew is that Mum wasn''t allowed to pick her up anymore, and they couldn't play "Mummy Monster" with Mum chasing her all around the house any more. Mum was in bed, in pain alot. I mean A LOT.

Eventually, the toddler didn't want to go to the hospital to visit her Mum any more. It gave her bad dreams. She did, though, because it made her Mummy happy. She missed her Mum, and no one quite brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, nor read books to her like Mum had done before. No one tucked her into bed and made her giggle like Mum did. No more playing Peter Pan in the morning. The whole world was different now.

Weeks went by, then months, then years. Mum was in a wheelchair and she couldn't talk. Then she had an "iv", then she baked a Thanksgiving turkey after three years went by. COW! After that, she could walk with a walker. And after that, after a long time, she could walk with a cane. One day, she tripped on the cane and in her anger, she threw it in the trash can. She never used a cane again.

The toddler, she turned eleven. She watched her Mum drive, and she listened to Mum tell stories of morning glories, of ladybugs and of rhymes, of songs and of the times. And Mum even wrote a Ladybug book for her.

And she knows that the edge of the cliff is just the edge.

It can be diverted.

If you stay on top, it doesn't matter that there's a cliff below.

It just doesn't matter.

Just don't look at it, pray to Jesus, and one day your Mummy will come home. To stay.

The only thing that Mum ever really, really wanted to be was a Mummy. So she smiled that fantastic smile of hers, and made it past the odds.

How did Mum recover? She just took one day at a time, laying on the edge of the cliff and not rolling over the wrong way. And she prayed.

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

To Order Dr. Aranda's books, please click here:

http://drmargaretaranda.tateauthor.com/other-works/

SERIES: THE ANNUALS OF A WOMAN PHYSICIAN: Age 2

 Getting Past the Edge of the Bed

"Oh boy!"

She woke up and immediately had a quick thought.  "Oh!" Determination was set on her face, and her lips straightened.

Wide awake, the little two-year old toddler hurriedly threw the soft cuddly blankets back, sun-drenched room bright.  Her orange night-light was still on, for some reason, and the checkered red sheets spoke of things colored and happy. She still had her "Binky" in her mouth, her pacifier, and it comforted her.

Her dark green pajamas were those kind with a zipper and yellow feet, padded on the bottom with that sticky pad kind of stuff. Rolling over on her stomach, she positioned her body so that it was perpendicular to the bed.  She meticulously laid her head on the middle of the bed, then scooted her legs so they flipped over the edge.  This was the challenge of the day: to get past the edge of the bed. To get to greater things that were unseen. She had to do it!

Image. Wide Awake with "Binky" in her Mouth.  All she had to do was to get out of the bed without falling down. As she peered over the edge, the floor was far, far down there. She was on a cliff. But she was ready for her day. Onto the edge of the bed she went!

She laid on her belly, then grabbed onto the bedsheets with her little hands clenched tightly.  At first, her feet dangled over the edge, and she started to let herself slowly fall down in a controlled way. Now her knees were on the edge.  One hand loosened grip and moved closer to the edge, too.  Her hips pushed on the edge of the bed. Now both fists were white at the knuckles.  Slowly, ever so slowly, she let gravity pull her down.  The edge of the bed was at her belly now.  Her feet swung from the bed, and they inched down.

"Uh!  Uh!"  She grunted as her eyes looked backwards.  She looked backwards so hard that her eyes hurt.  It was morning again and she just had to do it!  "Uh!"  She couldn't wait!  She had to get out of this bed!

"Bam!"  Her feet hit the floor, and she went tumbling overboard. "Uh!"  Her body was going upward now, picking herself up.  She was glad to be off the bed, at least.  This was progress. She wasn't hurt at all!

Quickly, she picked herself up and started running.  Ahh!  But she was still awkward and didn't quite catch all her balance first, so she fell again.  She had been in forward motion, and her body lost control and pitched forward.  "BOOM!" 

"Uh!"  She was sprawled out with her hands before her, elbows down.  She struggled a bit.  "Uh!" Wiggling this way and that, she grunted as she lifted herself again, until at last, she was on her yellow padded feet. WHEW!

"Mama!  Where?"  Her eyes searched left and right, right and left as she made her way out of the sun-soaked room.  Into the hallway she went, scrunching her eyes to adjust to the dark hallway.

She looked under the bookcase.  She peered under the chair.  She searched.  She pouted.  Nothing was there.

Then she had a thought.  "Outside!"

She toddled over to the back door, hands smearing another set of handprints on the glass window. "Oh boy!" She smiled.  Relief. Bliss.  Now she could play! 

Her eyes widened as she saw them together.  The brother and sister cats were licking themselves in the sun, bellies up, no care in the world.  

She thought they were little people stuck inside of a cat's body. One was Fluffy, and one was Mattie.  Today she would put them in her blue bucket, then put them on her slide.  They would slide down the slide, and she would laugh.

Image 2. Two Kitties in a Bucket: Awe! She would do this over and over again, just like yesterday.

Her laughter and giggles would fill the air, just like her naturally curly hair that turned from brown to blonde in the sunlight. Just like her little hands would pick up one furry friend, and then the other, as if they were her babies. Real ones. They jumped and played, they got belligerent and tried to run away; they behaved, and then they misbehaved. And she loved the unexpected playfulness they had, and she pretended to scold them when actually, she wasn't mad at all. For some reason, she just liked to point her finger at their faces, and lecture them here and there. It just felt right. Humph.

She loved to curl them up to her cheeks, feeling their soft fur on her skin. It was as if their texture and life breathed newness into the world. They re-animated her 'space' like foreigners from another land, and they counted on her for food and water. She watched them lap up their meals after playing in the hot sun, and never understood why they didn't like to join her in the blow-up swimming pool. She thought they should want to cool down; she just never understood!

There was nothing else that she wanted to do.

That's all she wanted; that's what the whole day was all about. Playing with her babies, taking care of her babies, laughing with them and laughing at them! Keeping them 'in control' was quite the job! After swimming pool time, she was ready for a great nap. No complaining, no resistance, no whining, no saying, "No!" like a two-year old. She was pleasantly pooped.

That's it.

So simple it was, for her furry friends to be her companions 
in real life. She loved every moment of being with them.
She never thought about growing up. Not once.
She never thought that today and tomorrow would fade away. No. 
She just did the things she liked, the things that she was used to doing ~ being a mommy, feeding her babies, and playing with them. She didn't even have to work very hard at getting them to behave. They were just so naturally cute and cuddly!

And after dinner, she would brush her teeth and go to bed. 
And when she woke up in the morning, her first thought would be that of her babies. She would nurture them, spend time with them, talk to them, love them, and make sure that they knew of her love.

Each morning, this was her routine, once she balanced 'just so' on the edge of the bed, and let gravity pull her down until 
her feet touched the floor.

________________________

To Order Dr. Aranda's books, please click here:

http://drmargaretaranda.tateauthor.com/other-works/

SERIES: THE ANNUALS OF A WOMAN DOCTOR ~ AGE 1 MEMOIRS

Age 1: A Baby on the Edge  

by Dr. Margaret Aranda

It was my Father.  I knew it was him, and I had no fear.

My Father held me, and his arms and his scent were familiar to me.  In fact, I can still smell him if I close my eyes and reminisce just a little bit. There.  I can do it now.  I know he is gone but it's almost like he is just next door, always there.

It was a summer day, sun beaming into my grandmother's San Antonio living room.  The smell of bacon and coffee emanated throughout the room, boastful of the electric percolator that gurgled and puckered its congenial hellos to the morning.  My uncles and aunts crowded the room, as well as my cousins, and the room hummed with conversation here and giggles there.  

Children were running about, in and out the front door, boisterously slamming the screen door behind them.  The reason why I remember who was there, is because I was looking down on them all.

I could sit straight up, and no doubt my curly dark brown hair was tossed all about.  I didn't care about anything except my Father.  He told everyone,"Watch!"  My Mom echoed the usual, "Oh no, honey, your'e not going to do that thing again, are you?"  She was simply horrified and really, she was quite disgusted.  MORTIFIED! My Dad told her to relax.  She just stared at us. I didn't care. I just couldn't wait!

Image 1. Up! Up! Up! I closed my eyes and tried with all of my might to hold in the excitement.  I was sitting in his hand now, his right hand.

Slowly, ever so slowly, as I was Sitting on The Edge of his hand, he started to lift me up. He lifted me Up! and Up! and Up! and Up!  Straight up to the ceiling we went, and I closed my eyes and I held in the burst of exclamations as tight as I could.  Up! Up!  I went, dreaming of everything and dreaming of nothing.  I was On The Edge, and that was where I was going to stay.  I had no fear.  

My Father would hold me up, just like he always did.  

I could do this.  With him there, I knew I could do it. I held out my arms for balance. I straightened my back. I held my breath, ever so slightly.

My Father had me.  

He was my Father.  

I knew it was him, and therefore, I had no fear.

We should feel the same confidence in God.

After all, we are His children. 

And He is our Father. 

Amen.

________________________

To Order Dr. Aranda's books, please click here:

http://drmargaretaranda.tateauthor.com/other-works/

NEW BOY ON DA BLOCK

 NEW BOY ON DA BLOCK

by Mom Godfrey

Every star has a story to tell and when they do, its up to all and sundry who care to listen to take it, or leave it. Though a lot of rich kids have flooded the Nigerian music scene in recent times, from Wizzy to Davido and the rest, yet we still have a myriad of upcoming acts whose stories may be difficult to take, hook, line, and sinker.

DBJ, Dan Boor Junior is toying the unconventional path that beats all norms and will surely beat the odds to stay on top of his game. With a entry that is so professional for a starter, I can see him achieving all (what he started). He is good to contrive his critics.

Image 1. Dan Boor Junior.  

On the unconventional side, and making strides.

The video of his single "Sugar" speaks volumes about the heights he is poised to attain in his trades. Keep a lookout!

Video 1. Visual to the Song, "Sugar." 

A medical student at Benue State University, DBJ holds his own brand, his own style, and soon to be, his own patients!

We look forward to seeing more from you, DBj; soar higher and make us proud!

STOP THE FIGHTING, MY DEAR BROTHERS

by Mom Godfrey


Conflict is one of the oldest behaviors of man. 

The Holy Bible makes it clear to us that Lucifer was thrown from heaven to earth owing to the conflict that emanated between him and his Creator. Shortly after landing on earth, he wandered into the garden of Eden and masterminded that mindless disobedience was going to cost man's eternity. The destructive instincts were passed on to the remotest seed of man, and we saw how Cain murdered his younger brother, Abel, while they were out in the field. Cain was a farmer while Abel was an animal rearer. This fact pointed some biblical historians to the fact that the conflict between them was the origin of the war between cattle rearers and land tillers.

Truly, as a farmer its not easy to tolerate animal rearers, I can boldly say this without reservation of any kind. Experience has taught me that owners of animals claim they value their animals more than humans, and whatever matters to them. This applies to the common dog owner (whom most of the times let their untreated dogs on the loose to attack people), and the careless and mindless owner, who turns around and apportions blame to the victim.

When a free range goat rearer let loose his goats and they invade his neighbor's garden, the goat owner is quick to absolve themselves of any blame when the gardner complains to them. The commonest thing the rearers of such animals say is that farms are not meant to be in towns, foolishly forgetting that animal rearing is also part of farming which is even far more inappropriate to do, especially free range in the mist of people.

Image 1. Pointing Fingers at Another Still Points Three Fingers at Yourself. 

Courtesy BingPictures.

Everyone values their means of livelihood or at least that which they took their time to do, from that little garden close to the house to the large farm they sweat to put up out there in the farmland proper.  A land tiller has every reason to jitter each time animals come close to their farms because most of the farmers have nothing elsewhere to fall back to if their farms get destroyed. I still have a clear mental picture of how my own mother was so passionate about her own farm in which she put her all, to make sure it yielded its best.

Sometimes when we are about to close for the day and she saw that some goats or sheep were wandering around waiting for us to leave so they can invade and destroy her efforts, she could hardly leave the farm at such occasions, hoping that by the time she left late at sunset the wandering animals had gone back to their stead.

Most times when a complaint come to those that rear animals in villages, they respond with careless abundance. They look at the complainers as the ones fomenting trouble where there was none. When a rash action is taken by an aggrieved crop farmer the animal rearer's action always bears down heavily on the crop farmer. All animal rearers have a similar attitude.

The fulani cattle rearers  have killed a lot of people throughout Nigeria, especially in Benue state. The killings have gone on unchecked for too long. Nothing has been done to put a stop to this madness, that is almost becoming a norm in our communities!

If the cattle rearers live by rearing cattles, crop farmers also need to live by their crops. There should be no interference of any kind. We must learn to respect each other's vocation to give peace a chance. Period. 

#saynotothemindlesskillings#

THE TREND GIRL

By Mom Godfrey

Meet the trend girl of the moment. She is calling on 

all and sundry to get trendy with her and get the 

best out of themselves.

 Image 1. Trendy Girl. Hey! what are you waiting 

for? The Trendy Train is just about to leave! 

Can't you hear the sound of the whistle? If you miss 

the train today tomorrow is yet another day, so 

braze up and never miss out again.

Love you all as you join The Trend Train!

............BENITA.

WITCHCRAFT AND THE LITTLE MINDS

By Mom Godfrey

The information sparingly filtered through the community that a king witch hunter was going to pay a grand visit that will change her fortunes. The nugget of information was a bit vague to most of us, I particularly had no idea of what it was all about. It became more confusing getting to know that a huge sum of money was put together to host this master witch hunter to take care of him throughout his stay in the community. As days of his visit drew closer a great deal of his intents were explained by persons who had some fair knowledge of what we were anticipating.

Nyam or (meat man) was his name. The name was obviously adopted by him to suit his vocation. An arena was specially prepared for him, it was a vast expanse of land ceremoniously cleared to host the expected spectators and the master's victims to be. The build-up to the hunter's coming brought with it diverse reactions. A great number of people were excited about his coming, according to them he was going to cleanse their land that was riddled with witches and wizards. Just a few people and myself expressed indifference at the whole idea.

The year was 1999, it was about the first quarter of the year and a time all farming activities are usually on the low. The place was 'Alien' in the out sketch of the head quarters of the local council of Ushongo, Benue state Nigeria. It was a huge crowd my eyes saw on the first day I showed up at the event. The crowd beat my imagination, the event also attracted economic activities. People displayed various wares for sale while others hawked theirs. I and my friends moved closer to the main arena to scamper for a standing space to catch a glimpse of what was going on. We finally got ourselves some space to stand and observe events unfold. It was a bit weird to me what my eyes saw.

A good number of elderly men in their sixties and seventies were made to sit in the middle of the arena. They were the supposed wizards that were hunted on day one of the event. Some traditionally designed objects were placed right in front of each of them. The objects were the supposed portions they used in attacking and destroying their perceived enemies.  I became curious, my eyes wondered round the arena. I was looking for the man of the event as though I was acquainted with him.

Having no clue of him I finally asked a man beside me. He told me the master and his crew had gone on a break. He assured me that they will be back soon. Fifteen minutes later, a mad rush towards the arena by people around the place made me scared to the bone. It was almost a stampede scenario. A tall and dark complexioned man made it straight into the middle of the arena were the elderly men sat. It dawned on me he was the reason for the mad rush. The crowd around the arena swelled. I felt a bit lucky I was just on time to be where I was.

He began the second phase of the business of the day. He called out his assistant who went by the name principal to come out. A short but slightly stout man came out. He ordered him to complete the story of how he himself was captured.

To be Continued...................

                                              .........Continuation.....

The principal had a bad eye; I can't recall whether it was the right or left side. He was always turning to the side of the good eye. He began to narrate the much anticipated story of his capture.

"Once upon a time I was a perilous wizard, I killed and destroyed lives and everything thing that was meaningful to anyone in the my community. Farms yielded far less than they would naturally do, women went barren and children fiercely rebelled against their parents, all because of my demonic spells.  I went as far as interfering with the weather. I determined when the community had rains.

One faithful day I heard Nyam or was in my community to carry out his first ever task of purging the land of its evil doers, so I decided to make it to his event. It was really a tough encounter." The principal paused and took a deep breath.

I kept turning in to different things, yet it was difficult to escape from the master witch hunter. I turned into a spider, synthesized cub webs that was as long as I was able to run up to the clouds, yet I was followed up there.

Finally I changed into a crab and while trying to make it into a narrow hole he grabbed me by the eye. I tried to move but the master would not let me go. He grabbed me firmly; when it became obvious I had met my waterloo, I "surrendered." The crowd broke into an exclamation typical of the land in a coincidental unison.......................................To be Continued...........