iDo you recognize any of these people?
By Barbara Gwanmesia

The following piece is taken from the 3^rd novel of a little known author. That novel is still in the creative process (as is a non-fiction) and will become available for consumption only next year; yet it has become imperative for me to extract this piece out of that work-in-progress and offer it exclusively to you, my gentle reader. I have done this for one simple reason: that it need not take a novel - however exciting the novel - to impart certain insights to a deserving readership. You are so worthy my dearest friend, far more worthy than you know and so I present you food for thought on a matter that has had phenomenal impact on many lives.

In this extract a genie is speaking. The genie´s intention is to jolt the receiver of the information out of depending on his own human intellect...  his own human ability to deal with people and wickedness on earth. The genie wants the receiver to realize that man lives in a jungle of skewed emotions and intentions and the only line of defense of mankind is dependence not on our wisdom, but dependence on the wisdom of God and His promptings in our hearts by way of (but not exclusively) our conscience. For the purpose of this column, I have titled the piece: DO YOU RECOGNISE ANY OF THESE PEOPLE?

I hope and pray that your minds and hearts become quickened as you read this so that you may see clearly the type of people surrounding you, and as such avoid, or at least survive falling in traps created by the selfish aims and temperaments of others… or perhaps your own temperaments and aims. 

DO YOU RECOGNISE ANY OF THESE PEOPLE?

There are people who survive on lies, manipulations, boastfulness and bullying. Some of them do everything in their power to put up a front and seem like nice guys or babes, or to seem like honest, caring individuals. Others give the impression that they are humble, friendly and simple in their ways… and often, they get this image through to their audience until something ticks them off.  I said ´tick them off´ deliberately. This is because these people are, almost without exception, highly temperamental. They have violent tempers that flare whenever their ego or, more precisely, their real nature faces exposure, or, as a matter of fact, their manipulations, lies and cover-ups are in danger of exposure.  They become angry people - not  because of injustice done to others, nor suffering weighed upon innocent and helpless shoulders but because they are having trouble having their way, because their attempt to manipulate is under scrutiny, because their route to cheating for their own ends or for self aggrandizement is in view of the insightful. Do you recognize these?

What about the sly - those as sly as the biblical snake… as cunning as the folklorish fox/tortoise.  In the presence of everyone, they behave like gentlemen and ladies of good report, using whatever ability (they are convinced) they have (be it education, protocol, marketing finesse, eloquence in speech and writing, or something else) to put themselves up as men and women of integrity. Yet they snake on others furiously behind the backs of these victims, destroying, damaging and devastating the reputations and honour of unsuspecting people behind their backs - sometimes doing so while only metres away from their victims. Then to their victims, they take on sheep skin, becoming the ideal gentleman or gentle lady. Do you recognize them?

Now, there is the incessant gossip. Dames and gents whose tongues hang  as though limb within pouted and painted lips, lips that pretend to be honour bound, lips that call loudly on God´s name or quote intellectual tidbits supposedly for the edification of the mind.  Dames and gents who wait like ghosts in the darkened corners of their pretences until that hour when the sting of their croaked tongues swipe their victims to the ground - verbal machetes cutting through the throat of unsuspecting friends, colleagues, acquaintances, sisters, brothers, families etc… tongues that send missiles miles away from Europe to Africa, to America, Asia, Australia or vice versa… bringing hatred where love should be, bringing war where peace should be, bringing conflict where understanding should be, bringing bitterness where restfulness should be and so on and so forth. These gossips are murderers - for their lips cause others to kill; they are rapists - for their backbiting bring such disdain in the hearts of others as to result to the attacking and raping of innocent people; they are satanic for their lips take away the blessings of others and leave victims exposed to the whiles of the evil ones.

Do you recognize any of these people?  Have you met any of them? You may have, and only realized it later since their true nature invariably always shows. That means you must know by now that against the machinations of such persons you have no visible defense. So what do you do? Consider therefore the following suggestions: Avoid them when you can and if you cannot avoid them because they are either your co-workers, or your family, or your customers, or your clients, or your acquaintances, or your business contacts, or something else, lift them up mentally as though lifting up a piece of foul-smelling rag and hand them over to the only power that no human machinations can manipulate - The one who created you. Make this a daily effort and ask that greatest of power who created you to protect you from these people and to deal with them in His Powerful wisdom. And then watch and see what happens to them!!!