The Reluctant Messiah

When I was a know-it-all in my twenties I used to put down Richard Bach of "Johnathan Livingston Seagull" fame as being a media-created lightweight, etc. Many years later when I was in therapy for a while, my therapist who is really a cool guy gave me a copy of "Illusions - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah" by Bach in which he (the therapist) wrote: "Tom. Just another level/way of looking at life/fantasy/illusions. Hope you can enjoy it. Dave."

Since then I have read the book, or parts of it, many times. I was just looking at it tonight, reading over one of my favorite parts in which Shimoda (the reluctant messiah) and Richard are sitting outside in the darkness talking. Shimoda says that "we are all free to do what we want to do." Richard corrects him saying that's OK as long as it doesn't hurt someone else. At that point a visitor appears who has a heavy Transylvanian accent. After some small-talk the visitor says to Richard, "you can help me. I need this very much or I would not ask. May I drink your blood? Just some? It is my food. I need human blood."

Richard freaks out, but the visitor persists, noting that he will die if Richard does not let him suck his blood. At this, Richard gets violent and threatens the visitor with physical harm. At that point the visitor "looked up at me and smiled, completely at ease, enjoying himself hugely, as an actor on stage when the show is over. 'I won't drink your blood, Richard,' he said in perfect friendly English, with no accent at all. As I watched, he faded as though he was turning out his own light ... in five seconds he had disappeared."

(Now the lesson from Shimoda)

"Richard in being so fierce toward my vampire, you were doing what you wanted to do, even though you thought it was going to hurt someone else. He even told you he'd be hurt if ..."

"He was going to suck my blood."

"Which is what we do to anyone when we tell them we'll be hurt if they don't live our way."

. . .

"The thing that puzzles you," he said, "is an accepted saying that happens to be impossible. The phrase is hurt somebody else. We choose, ourselves, to be hurt or not to be hurt, no matter what. Us who decides. Nobody else. My vampire told you he'd be hurt if you didn't let him? That's his decision to be hurt, that's his choice. What you do about it is your decision, your choice: give him blood; ignore him; tie him up; drive a stake of holly through his heart. If he doesn't want the holly stake, he's free to resit, in whatever way he wants. It goes on and on, choices, choices."

"Listen," he said, "it's important. We are all. Free. To do. Whatever. We want. To do."

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Dig it! The whole book is full of this kind of stuff. And, there are all these cool sayings from the Messiah's Handbook interspersed throughout. I'll leave you with a couple of them:

"Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully."

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours."

Ciao for now,

~ Tom