Shortly after I relocated from England back to my native Nigeria, I participated in three weeks of paramilitary training with the National Youth Service Corps. This training is mandatory for every Nigerian citizen who has finished university. We were taught how to march, and undertook vigorous exercises that seemed to aggravate a condition of piles that had bothered me every few months for eight years. I recall that after the exercises one evening I was in severe pain and I could barely walk properly. I felt unable to continue in the exercises.
As a result, I allowed a doctor at the camp hospital to examine me. She expressed some dismay at the seriousness of the condition, and I received an exemption letter from the hospital permitting me to withdraw from the training exercises and return home. The hospital staff explained that I would need surgery to remove the piles.
On my way home, it was clear in my mind that I did not want to have any of the treatments the doctors had suggested. I knew that human consciousness must be transformed, or spiritualized, before any real healing can take place. It is yielding to the consciousness of God—of who He is, and of His ever-presence—that effects the healing.
