Knowledge
Dear reader,
Have you ever heard the following sayings:
- You are what you eat
- Your success in life is a function of who you meet, and the books you read
- Knowledge is power
Knowledge: what we know, who we know, how we apply what we know separates the the wise from the foolish. Who we know, what we know, how we apply what we know determines if we would make costly mistakes or not. When it comes to breast cancer and other forms of cancer, I have heard and seen people take life threatening, irreversible decisions based on what they know. It continues to happen. It gives me a lot of heart ache.
I follow a health and fitness group on Instagram, and a video was shared. The video was based on a research study that linked breast cancer risks with dyes and chemical relaxers. It was published by the International Journal of Cancer and you can read it here. The study says black women have a 30% breast cancer risk if they used chemical relaxers or dyes. It has been documented time and time again that black women have more aggressive breast cancers, present much later and are at least twice more likely to die from breast cancer if not caught early.
As a breast cancer advocate, yours truly wanted to see some of the comments and responses by other members of the group. I was amused. I was shocked. I was afraid. One commentator said “cancer is a demon”. Another one said “it is a demonic disease.”
Here is my question: what disease is not demonic?
Black people in general are religious. I understand that. When all hell breaks loose, the only anchor we have is our spiritual beliefs. That is fine. I have no issue with that. I always turn to the Holy Spirit at all times to shine light on different situations. He takes me back to the Word (the Bible) and I get solutions.
The wrong application of these spiritual beliefs has led many women to their early graves. By calling cancer a demon, it is elevated to a class of its own. It is subtly implied that it cannot be treated and might need to be exorcised. By calling it a demon, you give cancer more power than necessary. How do we conquer this mindset?
Many women in my home country of Nigeria are flooding prayer camps, prayer mountains, healing rivers, name it for “supernatural healing”. They fall victim at the hands of false prophets promising them they will be healed. The spend thousands of hard earned money for so called “healing”. The last time I checked my Bible, NO prophet in the old testament got paid to heal anybody. Gehazi tried it and he became leprous.
Jesus did not charge the lady with the issue of blood. Matter of fact, Jesus fed and He performed miracles. Paul did not charge, Peter did not charge. There was no charge. Today, women (who do not know) are paying hefty sums and still not receiving their healing. The same money that could have been used for chemotherapy, surgery or other treatment options. My blood boils writing this.
As we round up 2019, and work on 2020 resolutions, please do me the favor of learning to know God FOR YOURSELF. If you are a Christian, make it an effort to study your Bible and KNOW what the it says about Health and Wellness. Study to show yourself approved. Arm yourself with the right knowledge so you don’t fall prey of fake prophets.
xoxo
OEMA