BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU BELIEVE

 

There was once a woman who had a son with a man who later left her. Though it pained her to lose the father of her son, she pulled herself by the bootstraps to care both for herself and her son since his father provided no child support. 

Many years later, she met another man with whom she fell in love. She had reservations; but out of her concern to have her son grow up with a father figure in his life, she reluctantly allowed this man to move into her house. 

It wasn't long before the man started cheating on her. His unfaithfulness was so chronic that he would bring his girlfriend into their house and have sex with her on the bed he shared with the lady. One day, the woman's son came back early from school early and walked in on him and his girlfriend. At the hearing of the sound of a key turning in the lock, the man initially thought it was his wife. 

When he realized that it was only her son, he came up with the most devilish plan ever devised by the human mind when the boy asked him whom the woman that sat on the bed next to him was.  

He said, "What are you talking about? There's no one here." "But, I can see a woman next to you! Who's she? What's she doing in our house, in our room?", the boy queried. "Oh! I see what's happening. And I am going to tell you. It is a ghost!" the man retorted with a wicked grin on his face. The boy further said, "But I can see her. Ghosts aren’t visible. She is there! I can touch her." As he spoke, the boy moved towards the woman as she uneasily sat on the edge of the bed by now. However, the man stopped him and said, "Tommy, stop! I am going to prove to you that there is no one in this room. What you're seeing is in your mind. When I was your age I used to see ghosts too." "Close your eyes and count to five." The boy closed his eyes and started counting. Meanwhile, the man gestured to the bewildered woman to move out of the room. After a few seconds of hesitation, the woman quickly wore her clothes and ran out. The boy then opened his eyes and asked where the woman had gone to. The man said, "That proves it. It was a ghost. That's why after closing and opening your eyes, you can't see it anymore. But don't worry! It is our little secret. No one should know about it; not even you mum”. The boy smiled and said, "Okay Dad!"

A few weeks later, as they sat at the table eating diner, the boy drew in a book. When the mother asked what he was drawing instead of eating his food, the boy showed her his drawings. On the drawings, there were four persons. Upon being asked, the boy told his mother, "This Is mum! And Dad! And me! And the Ghost! The mother went like, "The ghost?" "Who's the ghost?" "Mum, I saw a ghost in the house the other day."  The now visibly unsettled man, to distract the boy from speaking any further, hurriedly cut and ordered the boy to go watch some cartoons. The mother got confused. But the man offered to explain things to her.

“Tommy has been seeing things”, the man said. “I didn’t want to tell you about it because I didn’t know how you were going take it. And also, I felt it was one of those things that children do. But it’s like it's worse than I thought.” The mother now flabbergasted mumbled, “Tommy sees things…? Ghosts…? “I don’t know what to say; but he needs a doctor,” the man replied. “Is it that serious?” the worried mom said. “I am afraid so!” the boyfriend said. 

A few weeks later the mother said at a doctor’s office who confirmed to her that her son was suffering from a psychological disorder that’s very common with children his age. He further told her that the disease could disappear as the child grew or even get worse with age. He, then, suggested that the child be observed for a few weeks after which, if there was no improvement would be administered some strong medicines.

As the sad mum took her son home, she decided to stop and get him ice cream at a café in the corner. As she watched him lick from the giant cone, she remarked that he was closing and opening his eyes. When she asked him why he said the ghost was there. When the mother asked him where, he said, “Behind you.” The mum turned and saw a beautiful woman at the counter. The more bewildered mother got shocked as the boy kept pointing at the woman as she left the counter and moved towards the door. A genius idea popped into the mother’s brain. She quickly ran to the woman who had now reached the door and begged to use her phone as hers, she said, was low on power. The woman obliged and gave the young mother her phone. She then quickly typed in her boyfriend’s number and dialed it. Low and behold! Her boyfriend’s number appeared on the screen under the name ‘Tiger’. She had got her answer. 

Her son was not crazy. He had seen her boyfriend cheating. And the boyfriend had tried to cover the whole thing up by deceiving the boy into thinking that what he saw wasn’t real. He had also tried albeit successfully to convince the mother that she was son was crazy and needed medical help when it wasn’t true. 

When we got home, she confronted the man when the information was in her possession. He had almost nothing to say except the classical line, “Honey, it is not what you think.”

The moral of the story is this. Never take action based on a single witness account. Always listen to all the sides of the story. As they usually say the truth always lies somewhere in-between. The mother didn’t listen to her son. She trusted her boyfriend to do the right thing. And that almost led her son into a psychiatric hospital. 

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

Don’t be quick to believe and accept everything people tell you. You must always cross-check every fact and information you come across before deciding whether you’ll run with it or not. This is because people have an agenda. Everybody has an agenda. False prophets have an agenda. Hence it is important not to trust everything you hear. Fact checks every information you hear to avoid being led down the wrong path.