This conversation is informed by some situations of insincerity among friends, relatives, lovers, married people etc. There is a song in the Twi language which sums up the mission of this literary chat: “Onipa nye; aboa nipa nye. Onipa nye, aboa nipa nye, Onya wo a, ase one wo ka. Osere kyere wo, na okamfo wo din.
“Na ode asikyire ahyehye wo se ase. Dane w’atiko, oyam makotoa tetare ho na eka wo eka wo tese owo”. This translates roughly thus: Man is bad. He pretends to love you with laughter and praises, punctuated with sugar-quoted words. But turn your back, he grinds balls of pepper and applies them to your gum, which bites you like a snake”.
“Balls of pepper” has been used figuratively to mean damaging gossip; acts of treachery and all unfavourable utterances against others at their back. Nowadays, sincere love is suspect. It appears pretence has taken over to the extent that it is difficult to differentiate a sincere friend from a fake one, who is capable of lingual tearing a friend to shreds.
The causes are diverse. Sometimes, some friends are bitten by the bug of envy. Such people may go to great lengths to discredit their friends secretly. A story is told of two friends, who were, from all indications, very good friends.
Let’s call them Yaa Baby and Akua Mary. Yaa had a faithful and loving husband, while the husband of Akua had always been at loggerheads with her. Both of them had a friend, Akosua Manu.
One day, when Yaa closed from work in the market and was going home, she branched to say hello to Akua in her house. She was about to enter Akua’s house when she heard her conversing with their common friend, Akosua who had visited Akua.
Yaa heard her name being mentioned. This made her stop within earshot. She nearly collapsed when she realised she was the topic of their conversation, which her bosom friend Akua, led.
They were discussing how Yaa’s husband was “mad” about her, concluding that Yaa had bewitched her husband. Akua, indeed, wickedly said that she herself accompanied Yaa to a medicine man for a love potion, which was a pathological lie.
Yaahad heard enough and revealed herself to the two treacherous gossips. Their countenance brightened up with welcome smiles. Yaa overlooked them and simply thanked them and left them to battle with their guilty conscience.
The fact was that Yaa was humble, dutiful, respectful and submissive in line with Ephesians 5:22.
This made the husband reciprocated gesture based on Ephesians 5:25, but not that he had been given a love potion.
What is the cause for the numerous divorce cases at the law courts? All marriages start with love so strong that the love birds solemnly promise to be together till death. Even though, this is an official marriage vow, lovers initially do make such a promise before they wed.
If so, why are so many divorces? The answer lies at the doorstep of INFATUATION. Strong feeling of love is the culprit. During such period some men are tempted to make mouth-watering promises to impress their unsuspecting targets. When they finally settle down as man and wife and the latter realises that “all that glitters is not gold”, thoughts of a divorce take their turn.
Similarly, the man may be helpless about the striking beauty of his partner and set out, immediately with her on a journey to the realm of connubial bliss. When later the truth dawns on him that “beauty fades but character endures”, insincere love separates them.
The Biblical Sampson fell in love with Delilah whose treachery and avarice later led to the capture of Samson by the Philistines. They tortured and blinded him till his hair grew again to give him back his phenomenal strength, which enabled him to take his destructive revenge on the Philistines.
There was this story in a newspaper some years back. Two women were trading partners. Through that, they became very good friends. Trader A approached her colleague B for a loan to complete her house
For a long time, the debtor refused to refund the loan to the creditor, B. The debtor, A, therefore decided to eliminate B, the creditor, to cover the loan. She hired a would-be assassin to murder the creditor. But the would-be killer reported the case to the police, who arrested the debtor. Was such a person sincere friend? Certainly no!
There are numerous instances I which some treacherous men have snatched their friends’ girlfriends or vice versa. Some family members conspire to kill other members for inheritance, to occupy stools and skins, etc. Some greedy politicians may think of eliminating their rivals to occupy some positions.
How can you be sure that the loving lady lying beside you will not end your life in your sleep by planting a sharp dagger into your heart? Can the man you have known as a loving darling spare your life one night when he decides to strangle you?
With such instances of insincere love all over the place among the Sons and Daughters of this fleeting life, are we safe? What then must we do?
CAUTION AND VIGILANCE, backed by our strong FAITH in God and his capabilities can help us to stay clear of these agents of the dark forces.
To such agents of insincerity, there is hope for them to turn over a new leaf with the Glorious Birth of Baby Jesus, with the host of Heavenly Angels joyously proclaiming, “PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN”. Surely, it is a period for God and sinners to reconcile.
PERISCOPE, in advance, wishes my noble Md cherished readers a Merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year.
By Godfried K. Arhin-Kumi
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
