Page 19 of the Daily Graphic dated 22nd May 2013 has a cartoon representation of infamous stampede at Prophet T.B Joshua's church in Ghana.

The cartoonist, signed Daavi, captions his depiction "Holy water and the Thirsty flocks"

In the drawing a smiling prophet is holding in his right hand a jug full of water with some splashing away and his left held towards heaven exclaiming: Come ye all those who are heavy with earthly problems and drink the Lord's annointed water and your business , marital, unemployment and stubborn problems will sleep like Baby...!

In response an enthusiastic and eager congregation rushes to get hold of the said water, and in the cause stepping over one another. A young congregant had his face knocked by the elbow of a stoutly built man. The man is captured as saying Oso [pastor] Matthew 11:12 "... the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by Force", ostensibly supporting his actions.

A worried observer-frog surmises: Ei! Prophet B.T this! what about Jesus! Hmm!

It is interesting how Christianity has succeeded in breeding congregants who decide to seek miracles at all cost in their lives. Basic laws and even biblical admonisions are not followed but a favorable outcome is expected. People seek short cut in life and latter day charismatism readily promises such illusion. Many Christians hardly study the scriptures and are easily deceived .

We are at a greater risk of being cult worshippers than Christians the former following blindly what ever the leader says and the latter searching the gospel to establish the veracity of what the leader instructs.

James Thurber's story about the owl who was god illustrates the tragedy of following blindly.

His story tells of an owl who noticed two ground moles trying to slip by quietly one starless night. The owl exclaimed "you". The astonished creatures retorted back "who". The owl replied "you two". The moles never believed that anyone could see through such darkness.

The moles hurried away and told the other creatures of the field and forest that the owl was the greatest and wisest of all animals because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question.

"I’ll see about that" said a secretary bird, and he called on the owl one night when it was again very dark. "How many claws am I holding up?" said the secretary bird. "Two," said the owl, and that was right. "Can you give me another expression for ‘that is to say’ or ‘namely’?" asked the secretary bird. "To wit," said the owl. "Why does the lover call on his love?" "To woo," said the owl.

The secretary bird hastened back to the other creatures and reported that the owl indeed was the greatest and wisest animal in the world because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question.

"Can he see in the daytime, too?" asked a red fox? "Yes," answered a dormouse and a French poodle. "Can he see in the daytime, too?"

All the other creatures laughed loudly at this silly question, and they set upon the red fox and his friends and drove them out of the region. They sent a messenger to the owl and asked him to be their leader.

When the owl appeared among the animals it was high noon and the sun was shining brightly. He walked very slowly, which gave him an appearance of great dignity, and he peered about him with large, staring eyes, which gave him an air of tremendous importance. "He’s God!" screamed a Plymouth rock hen. And the others took up the cry "He’s God!" So they followed him wherever he went and when he bumped into things they began to bump into things, too. Finally he came to a concrete highway and he started up the middle of it and all the other creatures followed him. Presently a hawk, who was acting as outrider, observed a truck coming toward them at fifty miles an hour, and he reported to the secretary bird and the secretary bird reported to the owl. "There’s danger ahead," said the secretary bird. "To wit?" said the owl. The secretary bird told him.

"Aren’t you afraid?" he asked. "Who?" said the owl calmly, for he could not see the truck. "He’s God!" cried all the creatures again, and they were still crying "He’s God" when the truck hit them and ran them down. Some of the animals were merely injured, but most of them, including the owl, were killed.

I pray we shun shortcuts to prosperity and apply ourselves to hard work for the good Lord will definately reward our hard work.

Dr. Nathanael Adjei-Kyeremeh adjeikyeremeh@gmail.com