It is a clean crisp dawn on the Mount of Olives, birds fly overhead and the sun rises on the old city of Jerusalem. There is a hum of activity in the distance as news crew and onlookers gather for the arrival of ‘the messiah’, one of the most anticipated events in human history.
Thankfully God had given humanity plenty of notice as the specially formed committee took many years to work out the seating arrangements and make sure clergy of all faiths had been invited and sat in the right order.
Behind the enclave of clergy were barriers for the general public who wore T-shirts, hats and held commemorative placards welcoming ‘the One’. The clergy preened and adjusted their regalia, everyone moving with a nervous excitement.
At the appointed hour, a man stepped forth from behind an olive tree. He wore no special clothes, arrived without thunder or light parting through the clouds. The man has a presence but he was also ordinary. The clergy didn’t know what to do, was this a member of the public that had jumped the fence?
He steps up to the waiting microphone and waits in silence, until one of the clergy asks “Who are you?”.
“I am a son of God” comes the reply.
The crowd cheered as they hear the words they had been waiting for, but some of the clergy grew suspicious.
“What do you mean a son of God, don’t you mean THE son of God, how do we know you are who you say you are?” one of the clergy responded.
After some time he said “We are all sons of God, equally so. I am no different to you or you to each other”.
“Show us a miracle; prove to us who you are” they demanded.
“I live everyday with joy, love and vitality” he responded simply.
“Yes, yes but tell us something about God we don’t know” came the abrupt reply.
“You already know God, he lives within you” was the answer.
“Jesus already said that; tell us something we don’t know…” they persisted.
“You have created an illusion that life is what you think it is, rather than living simply from the inner heart”, was his simple response.
“Buddha already said that, tell us who will be saved”, they demanded again.
“Anyone that chooses to put love for themselves, their body and their light will be saved by themselves and in doing so will truly give love to others. It is the fear of your own light that you fight” he responded lightly, unperturbed.
“Yes, yes, now you’re just combining Patanjali and Nelson Mandela – tell us something new” was their impatient retort.
Again he replied with the same.
“There is nothing new here; there is nothing different to be said. The choice has always been there – be willing to step away from things you do that give you identity and ask yourself about how you can live in harmony with the divinity that is already in you. That is where God lives.”
There was silence among the crowd. Some people walked away in despair, some started to shout out questions, some started to interpret what was said to suit their own ends. The clergy started to fight among themselves, simultaneously trying to discount the credibility of this man and about whose religion had taught these principles first.
The day descended into humanity once again choosing to search for an answer that was outside of their own choices, an answer that confirms what they have already chosen to believe, an answer that keeps everything as it is.
On that day humanity invested in complexity once again and preferred to restart the clock on its wait for ‘the real messiah’, rather than consider the possibility that all those messengers past and present saying the same thing, might be onto something.
God lovingly looked on, allowing man free will to chose how they learnt this simple lesson, wondering when his beloved children would realise the merry-go-round they live on, is of their own making.
But this is not the case for all of humanity…
There are more and more people all over the world who are no longer waiting and have taken their destiny into their own hands.
They wake rested from their nights sleep. They treat their body with tenderness, communicate with honesty, work with integrity and laugh with true joy. They are not perfect, but each drop into an old way of being serves to remind them of how amazing they are, rather than confirm that they can’t save themselves. Each choice builds from the last and makes the next easier to make. Each choice comes with a loving disciple that holds life with tenderness and grace.
They make these choices because each of them accepted that ‘they are a son of God’ and there is no better time to start living that fact than right now.