{"id":63,"date":"2015-04-15T20:39:39","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T20:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/?p=63"},"modified":"2015-04-15T20:39:39","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T20:39:39","slug":"dont-hate-the-messenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/04\/dont-hate-the-messenger.html","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t Hate the Messenger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\">Don\u2019t Hate the Messenger<\/p>\n<p>As many writers before me have proclaimed, I am only a conduit for a force that is much larger than I. This is not to say that I am \u201cholier than thou\u201d and am receiving tableaus from on high. I am just aware of one of my gifts, which is that if I listen closely, the Universe will reveal its secrets.\u00a0 One may ask how does one \u00a0know when the Universe is speaking to you. Good question.\u00a0 \u00a0I base my postulate on resonance.\u00a0 I am filled with a certain energy when I am in the presence of an enlightened soul. I feel it when I read books that reveal their perspectives on existential subjects.\u00a0 I feel this presence when in prayer and meditation. Based upon my readings and speaking with people, the feeling is similar to what many call the quickening of their chakras.\u00a0 If you have felt the presence of what Catholics call the Holy Spirit, and Protestants call the Holy Ghost it is unmistakable and unforgettable. \u00a0If you have seen a mystic, deep in meditation and felt their vibration, you understand.<\/p>\n<p>There are many souls past and present who have had the ability to receive, understand and impart the truth to society. Usually, most of these brave souls are not recognized during their lifetimes. It appears that pure spirituality often is not in synch with the times.\u00a0 The Jews during Jesus\u2019 life did not appreciate his message.\u00a0 The Christians during Galileo\u2019s life most certainly did not appreciate his progressive views. The Greek\u2019s were not particularly happy with Socrates either. I could go on and on but I think the\u00a0 pattern is clear.<\/p>\n<p>The normal mode of attack when someone shares just a bit of the truth about our existence is to attack them through their human failings. \u00a0Invariably when someone brings a message from God that does not jibe with the current view of God, that person is attacked. They are called a heretic and their human imperfections are highlighted for all to see. \u201cHow can he be a man of God with those imperfections,\u201d they say.\u00a0 However if one examines the Bible, for example, there are many instances in which God brings his message to his people through imperfect messengers.\u00a0 Peter was a hated tax collector before he became the first head of the Church post Christ\u2019s ascension. He even weakly denied knowing Jesus out of fear for his own life &#8211; three times before the cock crowed. Once again the list goes on and on.\u00a0 The most fervent readers of the Old Testament could probably name 10 such people easily.<\/p>\n<p>It seems we are not getting the point. Each of us is capable of connecting with God and any time. As the Hindus are known to think, God is anywhere you find it and in anything.\u00a0 Jesus said according to Thomas, \u201cI am the All\u2026Split the wood, and I am there. Turn over the stone and there you will find me.\u201d \u00a0God is everywhere and in everything. So why is it a surprise that he is inside each of us and sometimes his wisdom is shared with the rest of us &#8211; through us. We are his medium.\u00a0 We are his vehicle.\u00a0 We are all necessary to spread the word of his existence. Some of us do it joyfully or mournfully through music or art. Some of us display his perfection with our craft and precision such as an amazing artisan cabinetmaker.<\/p>\n<p>When someone does display their Godliness, too often our first impulse is to point to their humanity and say it is impossible for God to have sprung from such a human mess. Let us focus upon the realization that we are all unique manifestations of God. He has a purpose for our existence that is distinctive. We are each sui generis spirits having a human existence. Instead of being surprised and defensive when someone manifests their connection with the inner spirit to us, let us celebrate the verification that God is good. God lies within us all. Our task is to listen and manifest the God that is within us all. \u00a0\u00a0Yes, I am an imperfect human being but within me is an indomitable spirit that never fails to support me and bring me through this life. \u00a0\u00a0Through the good and the bad he is always there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t Hate the Messenger As many writers before me have proclaimed, I am only a conduit for a force that is much larger than I. This is not to say that I am \u201cholier than thou\u201d and am receiving tableaus from on high. I am just aware of one of my gifts, which is that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":584,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don&#039;t Hate the Messenger - East Meets West<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don&#039;t Hate the Messenger - East Meets West\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t Hate the Messenger As many writers before me have proclaimed, I am only a conduit for a force that is much larger than I. 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He is the author of the book. \"In My Contemplation: the Musings of a Resonance Seeker.\" He received a B.A. from the University of Illinois in English and Mass Media Communications and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Whether it is through the parameters of a business setting, spiritual setting or practical day to day living, his goal remains the same which is to help people bring out their best selves. He has recently published an e-book entitled, \"In My Contemplation\" which is available now on Amazon.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/Seekerdwd"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/author\/douglasdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/584"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}