Once upon a time by Sivol Hamra

This is a story that I am guided to warn readers about modern prejudice. For many a time, when this phrase, Once upon a time, is used, many readers situate the narration in the modern light, and contrast it with as told in the past, and judge the trustworthiness of the narration with today's probability. But we cannot judge the believability of a past story because it can't happen today, for what we take for granted was once a subject of intense debate. Who will hold in contention today that hand washing has some health benefit? But once upon a time, it was unknown and became a subject of serious enquiry.

In earlier times as narrated above, existed a priest in a village, where their major foods were mostly bush hunts and tubers, which existed then in abundance. It was not the case that other alternatives such as fruits were not in their locality but one could not tell which ones will wrought serious wounds in the gums, so in this sense, they proceeded to introduce new foods only as sanctioned by this priest.

One day, this said man, in his search for herbs, chanced on watermelon in the forest, and being thirsty and hungry performed some purification acts and pronounced the fruit edible. Having consumed enough and finding it delicious brought some to the village.

He cut the fruit, scooped out the seeds, and gave the reddish water filled mass to his neighbors. They enjoyed it and so it became a newly introduced food but then the fruits availability became their next headache. A search through the area of finds in the forest didn't change their lot.

With time however, the seeds scoped by the priest began to germinate in and around his hut to the bewildered villagers. Aaah, at last, this is their searched watermelon. They took notice that the fruit grew only in and around the priest's hut. Some explained with superstition why the fruits grew around only the priest's hut. It was the work of poured libations.

The priest shared the fruits as many as came with all. Some prepared drinks fr

Water melon

om it whilst others steamed their bush meat with the squeezed sweet reddish water that came from it.

 They all tried to reproduce but the short of it is that no one in the village succeeded. However, the priest produced enough watermelons and gave out. With time, all lost confidence in their ability to grow their own watermelon and reserved that for the priest who equally shrouded the whole process in superstition.

And so, the situation, regarding the growth of watermelon, remained, for the said village, until one day, a young lad was sent by his family to barter bush meat for some watermelons. On his way home, he happened to playfully crush one of the two watermelons at a favorite playground close to their hut. With time, word went around that this lad had acquired the power to grow their favorite fruits. Hearing about it, the priest invited the parents of this lad, and told them how through his libations, the gods had asked for one person to be blessed with this gift and he had voluntarily chosen the lad from personal fondness and the gift was to remain with him to the extent that the child keeps everything in secret. Why the priest suddenly love this lad wasn't asked.

 The child having been told of this arrangement, whether out of sincerity or from some childish joy couldn't keep it secret . He trumpeted the way of planting watermelon to all. But the villagers strangely rejected his path.

Not soon, the lad happens to fall seriously sick, which all, associated with his mysterious watermelon growth. All, including the parents, pressured the lad to confess and so as to be restored. This he promised to do under only one condition:that there will be a gathering of all dwellers in the village. When all was gathered, the sick lad asked to be served watermelon from the priest, "if it is true that," the lad started, with weak feverish voice, "there is only but one creator of all lands, but have gifted only the priest's land with the ability to grow sweet watermelon then may this watermelon grant me instant healing," the lad paused, all eager to know what will happen afterwards. The lad took the fruit and to rule all doubts waited till the next day, but his situation got worse, and all lost hope.

Then the lad asked for the watermelon from his playground, and once brought said, "if it is true that," the lad started, this time with hopeful voice, "there is only but one creator of all lands, and have gifted all lands equally with the power to give forth sweet watermelon then may this watermelon grant me instant healing," as if by some mysterious touch, the child was instantly restored, immediately , and began to do what hitherto couldn't be done.

How come none could reproduce from the watermelon was the question everyone asked.

"The method employed by your preparations harmed the seeds and rendered it impotent," the lad answered.

It dawned on all gathered that the priest had played a fast one on them. The priest confessed and was forgiven.

The villagers asked that the hitherto privilege be given to the lad, but the lad said, "all lands are lands and all humans are humans and all are endowed equally, and just as watermelon seeds if correctly processed will germinate on every soil, so are there great deposit within every soul and if obedience is made to the rules of nature will all flourish with grace," and rejected their favors.

All left the grounds never again to be confused to seek goodness here or there, for "the kingdom of goodness and greatness is within every one."

The Joy of Unannounced Kindness By Sivol Hamra

There once lived a very kind but boastful man who had twelve children of near adult age, in a small village. The man worked as a hunter, and so the man gave meat to the poor in the market square, but often wondered why the happiness that he got ceased with the claps?

The man will each night send out the children into the adjoining forest, and with each cautioned to bring home a catch. They all brought some catch except the eldest who came home always empty handed.

No advice turned him around and so the man resorted to "no catch home, no meal for the day." But the eldest son who seemed to only care about radiating happiness still brought home no catch! "Useless child," replaced his name, and sooner the Dad exceeded the limit of his patience on him so the child left home.

After much struggling, the eldest son founded a settlement, and named the community "anigyekurom."In anigyekurom, before one was granted a place of abode, one was required to do three things; cut and park firewood and leave for an unknown fellow to use, clear a footpath one will never walk, and build a bridge on a river one will never cross, and soon everyone went about doing good except the right hand not knowing which left hand did, and the more everyone did, the mightier the sound of their reverberated joy.

The father soon heard rumors about the wonders of "Anigyekurom", and contrary to his own wretchedness, and that of other communities founded by his other children, and decided to visit and get to know the truth about the matter.

At the gate of Anigyekurom, he met a man who conditioned his entering permission on him going back to show three acts of kindness where the receiver doesn't know the giver.
He grudgingly went back and pulled a log over some portion of a river, and not seeing either the benefit or the sense of it, couldn't continue any further and so the next day went back to confront the person that he termed "useless" at the gate of Anigyekurom.

The son had heard about the father's visit the previous day, and knowing who the Dad was, the son was very sure that he would not complete the 3 acts of kindness, but will still stubbornly insist on seeing him. And so was at the gate when the Dad came.

No sooner did he come did a man all sweaty followed and knelt down before the Dad, and with heavy breathing punctuating his speech said, "for.. forgive, for.. give me," "why? " The dad asked. The man explained, "having being angered by one of your son's acts, I had planned to burn down your home as revenge but seeing you make a bridge on the very portion of the river that I planned to cross was like heaping coal on my head."

The Dad who couldn't make sense of what the man said was instantly engulfed by remorse, and so knelt down and asked that the apology should rather go to the son who in time past he had described as "useless" and if not for him will not have done "this useless act" which was an entry requirement.
The son in turn knelt down and said, "thank you Dad for helping me discover the happiness that accompanied unannounced kindness."

"Son, what did I do?" the dad asked.

"By insisting that everyone come home with a catch, and my attempts to make you and my other siblings happier, made me end up giving my catch to them, only to discover that, by keeping silent about my kindness, I became far happier. "

"Oh so you did that?"

"Dad, I wasn't going to tell you except to make you know that you helped me in my discovery of unannounced kindness."

They dispersed.

The Dad understood why despite the huge kindness that the community hails him for, he remained far less happier and less satisfied than his son who only did a little act of unannounced kindness.
He went to complete the remaining act of unannounced kindness, and having experienced trumpeting on the street and unannounced kindness, knew the euphoria of the former was deeply fake, and latter was far superior and produced real internal quality.

What men discuss. Episode 1

Not long in Accra, six male friends between the ages of 30 to 35 years gathered in front of an office located on the Barnes road street in Accra. Four out of these six men were married. They were victims of corporate stagnation, a case where work task continually abounds but with no added benefits. Three worked in the same company, two worked for rival companies in the telecom industry. There was one among them who had lost a job recently and therefore in job search. Their identity will be hidden so no one can trace them except for their stories. And usually such as it is the custom among friends that when they meet, after exchange of pleasantries, they fall to discuss random matters, so they did. Their conversation ranged from corporate business, families and life in general, and later converged on marriage discourse.  The single men among them were always their mocking bird. They joked about their marriage status. They accused the single status men to be adding unto the reasons why there are several pretty women who remain single in Accra.  

But the first single, a tall lanky man with his hands always in the pocket and carried the look of a philosopher than the engineering he practiced disagreed and with thoughtfulness asked, "do you see this problem in the village?" To this several replied “No”, and he continued," if there are more married women in the villages than there are in the cities then it is perhaps that, the order of things has been disturbed in cities and that, it is a matter of the water finding it's course after disturbance."  On this he explained strongly that women in Accra being highly educated and occupying higher positions still surprisingly expect to marry men who are above them, forgetting that, it is these same men that they have displaced and humbled into lower roles and therefore rendered them unable to meet their standing criteria. "These choosy women should change and consider men for who they are rather than what they do. If they do, cooks, low wage carpenters and well-built but empty pocket construction workers will all make their list," he continued, massaging his stomach with his left hand.

"In the era when  only men worked and  occupied the top roles and women occupied the kitchen, men still found most women  marriageable, but now that women work, they discriminate against not only the-non-working but also the poorly-working-men," he said, with conviction and the look on his face suggested that he could be a victim.  All gathered agreed that education, money, and power has the tendency to falter women's taste about men to a funnier level.

The second single suggested that, the course of nature was in favor of multiple partners and that to him the transgression against this single holy commandment by men was enough to explain the unavailability of enough criteria-meeting-men to single women. 

This statement of the latter, even two who were newly married showed concealed faces of approval, but the first single  who was  motivated by philosophy than by  practical thoughts countered by saying, "if nature approves of multiple partners, but men are shunning the practice altogether then, they must have learnt the hard way that, it always come with the price of pain and of suffering," and proceeded to quote king Solomon of the holy Bible who after marrying and enjoying several beautiful women of his time suffered some pain and therefore concluded that they were all vanity of vanity.

At this, a third who was married replied, "I disagree that we men are shunning the practice of indulging multiple women because of pain, I will rather think that it is the case of money. I believe given the same amount of wealth, all men will do what king Solomon of Biblical time did. Also concerning life in general being of vanity, one need to test by doing what he did so one can independently come to the same conclusion,"  

This statement from the third brought some debate between him and the philosopher who said one need not repeat what leads to pain and that even rich people cannot escape the consequences of a promiscuous lifestyles as the married man sought to say. He then broadened the definition of the consequence of that lifestyle not just on the individual but also on the family.   And this the married man replied that, " though I admits a man's promiscuous lifestyle will live some effect on his immediate family and that of society at large but that is for those whose conscience are not seared," and confessed that, "of all ladies I have laid, the easiest catch are those who were victims of a bad family example," at this they all paused to reflect, after which the second single  guy,  either he wanted to benefit from this new theory  or from sheer curiosity, asked, "how do you pick out ladies who are from distress homes?" "It is very simple," the latter began, " In your conversation with them you will soon discover a pattern; that is, either they have single parents, or one parent  is traveled and so isn't around, or they have siblings with either a different mother or different father and this experience I have come to believe  blurs  their judgement and motivate them to seek love outside their home and so once you can demonstrate some genuine love to them, you can go to whatever extent that you want with them.  So that is my personal philosophy: I hunt for ladies from a disturbed home,” and this, all men gathered, seemed to agree to that, ladies from distressed homes, they found them the easiest to date. 

After some pause, the married man who thought that he needed to drive home the point that money and not pain decided men's cause of action continued, " for those who give a hoot not about morals and conscience, money can reduce their pain" and to illustrate it, he told a story about two different men who went to the aid of these numerous single women and what became of them.

"On the case of the first man, he was a cool and respected gentleman who after several years of working at the bank rose to the rank of a bank manager and happened to be married to a beautiful working woman and lived happily in Kumasi. They had 3 children with 2 having graduated from the university whilst the last born was at the final year during which the incident that I am about to recount happened. Unfortunately for this man, he got laid off and having stayed home for so long without any job, it was the wife and children that supported him. After some time, the man decided to go to Makola law school in Accra to acquire new skills and get a new career. And so, when he moved to Accra, it was the wife and children that supported him financially in his upkeep and in the schooling. He went to Kumasi only on weekends, and being in Accra alone and seeing beautiful single ladies well dressed and well perfumed, he took one and together stayed with, but unfortunately for this man the lid  opened and so the wife happened to find out but how and of what means that I cannot tell,  and the short of it was that all the financial support was withdrawn and the man was abandoned and later on the man developed a stroke and died,  so yes the man brought pain unto himself but the pain was because he had no money, " he said.

"Here is a different case,"  he began, "there is this rich lawyer in Accra who is a rascal of a man and given to seeking pleasure outside his home, he will on Friday close from work, come home and changed into a different attire, change his car into one that fit the occasion and spend the whole night with single young women at night clubs and only come home at dawn, yet his wife knowing all that this lawyer does still wakes up early to ensure that on Saturday morning breakfast is always served before sunrise."

"My friends the problem is money, the only way to help our young single ladies is to get more money like the lawyer and that way our pain will be less if we do what nature approves but our wives frowns on, " he ended

The Love Clock by Lovis Kwasi Armah

One day a woman gifted to her daughter due for marriage an old clock. The clock was covered in ash and dust and looked rusty and cranky. "It wasn't and couldn't be a wedding gift, but can save your love life one day," the mother said. They were from a poor background and she knew it was the best the mother could afford. The daughter had seen this same clock hang in their room. And there had been days that as a young girl she resisted the fantasy to get rid of it so she doesn't have to sweep the particles that came off the clock.

The mother insisted if she was going to take her gift- then she hangs this rusty clock in their bedroom where husband and wife can daily see. Short of it all, the daughter took the gifted clock but held it somewhere and the only periods that she hanged it was during planned visit by the mum. But by and large the mum passed on and so was the burdensome task of keeping the hanged clock.

However In the sixth year of her love life, something occurred that renewed her interest in the clock- both partners became entrenched in who they are and what their roles should be so they became less caring, more abusive and lied even when it was not required. They were gradually getting to a firm resolution that they were not meant for each other and their relationship was a standing mistake. But unlike her mum where with every love trial gushed a new peace fountain, she was in a fiery furnace.

When the husband left home and her situation got aggravated so was her search for answers in strange palaces; one said she should start giving another person the chance, another said she should learn new act of love making, and at one healing quarters she was asked to return the mum's gift for further directions. The healing quarters was run by an old woman who asked her to come to the healing quarter every mid night. Reference to the mum’s gift worn her trust and so grudgingly she went home and returned the further deteriorated hidden clock.

On the first day, when she arrived, and whilst obeying the instructions to hold the clock firmly, the old woman hit a small part on the clock and asked her "which part of the clock did I hit?” "The wooden part," replied the lady. "What does the clock reads?" "12 midnight" and at this the old woman dismissed her and continued her care for another patient.

"I came here to find answers to how I can use my gifted clock to restore my love-life," the lady said, she sensed the old woman had forgotten her mission and therefore her ask that she repeats time that was already obvious. But the old woman not uttering a remark hit a small part on the clock and asked her "which part of the clock did I hit?” "The metal part," replied the lady. "What does the clock reads?" "12 midnight" and at this the old woman dismissed her and continue her care for her patient.

The third day when the lady came, the old woman not uttering a remark hit two parts on the clock and asked her "which part of the clock did I hit?” "The metal and wooden part," replied the lady. "What does the clock reads?" "12 midnight."

"I came here to find answers to how I can use my gifted clock to restore my love-life," the lady said. "I have shown you how already," the old woman answered.

The man being taken care of had observed the three days directions and so stepped in to help the lady, “just like the clock where the different parts are not the focus but the time is,” the man started, “so is a relationship of two different people, who we are or what our roles are relevant to the extent that it delivers on the single goal- love.”

The man was right, the lady thought, and so went closer to say thank you. Lo and behold, it was her husband! They reunited with a strong resolve to deliver on the focus of their relationship - Love.

The Priest with no Sermon by Lovis Kwasi Armah

Many many years ago, there lived a priest who preached good sermons in a village chapel. Many gathered every Sunday to hear him. On one of such days, He saw a lady in a white transparent dress seated therein. She sat in the middle and held a big book akin to a compilation of all holy books in the chapel. The priest became scared as she appeared invisible to all congregants. However, this freed him from the anxious feeling that he had not prepared any sermon for use today.  

“Praise him,”   the Priest manage to say when he rose to preach. The congregants seemed relaxed and joyous and he felt isolated with fear. 

When the congregation responded, “Halleluyah,” the lady in white stood up with her big book clad to her chest. She kept her penetrative gazed on the priest, and opened her book so the Priest could read.

 “The saved,” the priest read loud. The congregants took this to be the title of his sermon. The Chapters of her book were names. Some of which the priest Read loud: “Hezekiah, Isaiah and Clairissa.” The Priest did not notice that the first elder, their Prayer leader, and Clairissa responded to their name call. They moved close to the pulpit. Clairissa was a young woman who still could not speak in tongues and often was prayed for week-on-week to receive the Holy Spirit. 

“Turn the Chapter to Isaiah,” the priest asked, making eye contact with the lady in White for the first time. And at this the flock picked their bibles whilst the Lady in White flipped to Isaiah’s Chapter.” 

 “Isaiah organized prayer and fasting sessions at least twice in the week,” the Priest read, and at this the prayer leader took two steps to receive what he interpreted as their priest’s recognition of his efforts. 

The priest continued reading, “But he could not make the saved list, his prayer efforts were self-directed- he encouraged church members to curse their enemies instead of plain instructions to love them, he encouraged members to hope for miracles where they needed hard work. These dim the overall light of their society- created hatred and encouraged laziness.”

“Unbelievable,” the Priest exclaimed, and which surprisingly the congregation responded with a resounding Amen.

 “Unbelievable,” the Priest repeated. “No one can make it then,” the priest thought after the lady in white flipped many chapters. 

“Turn the Chapter to Clairissa,” the priest asked, out of curiosity as her chapter looked different. The flock now realized that something was wrong - Clarisssa was not a chapter in the Bible. They were awakened. 

“Clairissa made the saved list. She is stoned daily in the village because she is on the side of truth- she protect the village rivers, reports illegal tree cutting, reports wrong application of pesticides on crops by village folks. The only Holy Spirit she need is the one she has. ” 

“What Sermon is this?” Hezekiah and Isaiah who felt embarrassed asked.

 “Sorry Church, the sermon is that, no one goes to the Father except those that have through their righteousness moved their society forward. Only they can make the save list,” the fearful Priest told the awakened congregation. The lady in White closed the book and disappeared with Clairissa.