Message or Messenger?

Here's another silly submission that didn't get published at the UPI religion and spirituality column. I guess I got lucky with the one they published last year. *******************************************************************************

Through public radio and the internet I try to keep up on world and local news on a daily basis. The amount of conflicts and the chaos they bring is mind boggling. Most involve power struggles at one level or another have their roots in deep seated religious differences. I am a 4th generation Baha’i who like most has his daily struggles with applying the basic spiritual laws we are asked to follow. And as a Baha’i I was always taught that unity is of the highest priority. He might have only said it once (though I doubt it), but I can still hear my Dad saying, “It is better to be unified than to be right” echoing in my head while I roll through my daily tasks and their respective speed bumps. And so it always amazes me that I can have these fantastic discussions with friends of other Faiths and with so much enthusiasm we arrive at the amazing realization that we are talking about and believing in the same thing (whatever the topic) only to have it end with a, “Yeah, but the only way to the Father is through the Son” type of comment. And so I ask myself, “At our level, the level of puny human beings, what is more important, the message or the Messenger?”

Let’s rise above the chaos of surface detail and look for a moment at the emergence and basic story of each of the world’s religious systems. It seems that every 1000 years or so God looks down on the full population of the planet and picks one being to be a Messenger, a Deliverer, a Courier, an Envoy, a Herald. He “says” to the one chosen, Look. I have an extremely important, life-long task for you. I want you to be My Mouthpiece, My Representative. I want you in words and deeds to deliver a very important message to as many people as you can. Oh and by the way, you are probably going to be laughed at, ignored, opposed at every step, tortured, spit on, imprisoned, your family threatened and hurt, and will probably be killed for being delivering this message. I assure you will have all of My omnipotence, wisdom, power, vision to back you up but you still have to deliver it in human form with all that entails.

And off he goes arriving at the most spiritually dark, geographic location on the planet, somewhere credibility in the power to change the human heart is dying.

He sets up camp in the busiest area, steps out among the population and says, “Hi! I am here! God sent me to you with a new message.” And people’s ears tune in to the words. He says, “God wants you to know that He thinks that you are amazing creatures and He loves you very much.” And interest peaks and people stop and listen. “He also wants you to know that the basic spiritual laws that the last Herald brought are still in full effect and reemphasizes the importance of those laws. So please continue in your daily quest to incorporate those into your very beings.” People nod in agreement. “Also, He would also like you to know that there is a small group of social laws that no longer apply because you have all grown and matured so much in the 1000 years or so since the last Herald.”

After a moment of stunned silence some bold soul in the crowd invariably says, “Hey! No! The way I read it, this is NOT what the last Courier said, and therefore you must be a fake. You are here to try to take away what we have”. And most of the people hesitate then nod their heads in agreement.

And sure enough the Messenger and his initial small band of followers are persecuted, imprisoned and many are executed. But despite all this that little band of followers persist and share that Truth to as many people as possible. The number of followers grows until huge, glorious, prosperous and just civilizations are built upon the principles and laws that this Divine Envoy had been sharing with everyone. This civilization grows, flourishes and then eventually declines. The process then starts all over again.

Based on each specific Messenger the sequence will vary slightly but it’s the same basic story line. It is a circular process. And for us little folk here on the receiving end what is more important, arguing over which Herald brought the message or striving to other put all those laws and teachings into practice? I would say that the Source of these laws is one and the same so it seems pointless to pursue the former. What is more important for us at our level of existence, the message or the Messenger? Regardless whether it is Moses, Christ, Muhammad, Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Baha’u’llah, Buddha … it is always simply God saying the He loves us and wishes us to grow and be happy, prosperous beings.