Imagine, you went to the clinic with your friend who got a diagnosis of a lethal disease but a curable one. Thing is, the doctor confided in you because he sees your maturity in handling the matter and the level of trust you are endowed. The doctor informs you of the medicine, the dosage and the frequency and sees you off, entrusting to you the future of someone who trusts you to know what’s the best for them.
You think, “Eh, it’s too early to tell them yet, the symptoms aren’t that bad yet, maybe it will get better.”
You delay it a little bit longer and see their appearance get worse but they’re still able perform their daily routine.
You think “Oh it’s getting better because the pain isn’t as bad anymore as they say.” You never assumed the idea that maybe they got immune to the pain.
Weeks after, you go back to the doctor. He asks you “Have you told them?” to which you reply “Not yet, the pain seemed to have subsided. I thought they might be recovering.” To which the doctor responded “Because of all this, the disease has spread and the chances are now slim to treat.”
The doctor proceeds to tell your friend their status and their options. They take their chance for the treatment and it fails.
Most critical matters are more than what the eyes can see.
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Is it the doctor’s fault that the message wasn’t delivered to the patient? Probably.
Is it your job to evaluate things if it’s better or worse? Probably you can, but not as much as the doctor’s.
Is it your responsibility to have told your friend the option to make them better? Absolutely.
Are you blameless when all things fall down because the doctor should have told them in the first place directly? No.
You know the people you are with, better. Contextually and emphatically, you can deliver the message best with urgency. If you feel you could not bear to take responsibility as a messenger, don’t pretend to be one. Pass the message to someone who can for we are all messengers with a mission everyday.
We are all gatekeepers of information, secrets and knowledge that can destroy or build someone up. Messages that come our way either in the spirit of fulfillment, trust or by chance happen for a reason. There is rarely a point worth discussing that has no power to change a person for the better or worse. But know this, a painful message is not exclusively meant to destroy a person, it can be to align their attitude to the greater good, and in the same way, a pacifist approach will not always be for the greater good, on other cases, it is only to feign the innocence of the messenger.
Playing stupid or ignorant is not at all an act of goodwill. You are robbing people of their ability to reap a better future. To hold information especially when the delivery is necessary, is to be selfish. If we are to receive a message, truth and/or a knowledge, it is our responsibility to be able to communicate it to the right recipient in truth and love.
Too much truth will communicate severity and too much love will send matters unsettled.
Similar to a pipe, we need to channel these knowledge to the required destination as processed with our filters. If the pipe chooses to clog and fail to serve its purpose, don’t be too surprised when matters bursts out of control.
I hope and pray that before things get too late, that you’re able to fulfill your mission, messenger. But if it gets too late, that you do not feign innocence, because when the time comes to bury the dead, you were actually one of the people digging their grave.
