Ramblemuse -- Parable on flexibility & dual relationships

This story was sparked by a couple of September 1996 threads of discussion on the predecessor of the current Body_Work email list under eGroups. The main impetus was a discussion of bodywork ethics and dual relationships. Another list member stated emphatically that once a person was a client of hers they were ALWAYS just a client. While there is no question that dual relationships can be both unethical and emotionally hazardous, there are also cases such as barter of services or even just life in a very small town in which dual relationships are both ethical and nearly unavoidable. Hearing a flat statement proscribing all dual relationships prompted me into pondering how far and inflexibly one could take this, irrespective of the situation or who the client was. Could there be situations in which the presumed imbalance of power in favor of the therapist did not exist? Could there also be situations in which blind adherence to well meant rules acted only to limit larger benefits to all involved? How far could I go in looking at this theme? My muse hassled me unrelentingly until I began to type out the parable below.

A character reference to the Angel Moroni in the parable was taken from a concurrent thread of discussion about the source of particulars of Utah massage law. The Angel Moroni was credited with having given the Mormon teachings to Joseph Smith. Someone hypothesized that perhaps Moroni was also involved in inspiring some otherwise puzzling aspects of the massage laws. In my mind's eye, Angel Moroni took on the characteristics of being both goodhearted and for having the reputation among other angels of being somewhat of a loose cannon.

A Parable on Flexibility & Dual Relationships

It was back a number of lifetimes ago when I was a massage therapist in Jerusalem. While many things had been going well, I was finding my life still felt a bit incomplete. One day, I was just finishing up with a client when I heard a pigeon flutter into my in-box. After tidying up, I looked at the message. It was a request for a session the next afternoon from a prospective new client; a carpenter who had strained some shoulder muscles in a recent shepherd's hut construction project. I checked my appointment book and sent out a return message that 3:00 pm would work for me.

He arrived promptly at three the next day; medium build with a beard; in his late twenties I guessed. I handed him my intake form. He glanced at it, and turned to the medical history part. "How far past the present would you like this information", he asked. Perhaps I should have guessed at that point that something was extraordinary about this client.

I saw him a number of times over the next several months for carpentry related back and shoulder strains. He had an amazing ability to relax into the deep work and always healed quickly. Still, I felt he wasn't doing himself any favors with the amount and type of carpentry work he was doing. Finally, near the end of one session I said to him, "You know, you just aren't in your early twenties any more". "You're courting an overuse injury with the amount of work you're doing". He smiled and looked at me with one of those penetrating looks he sometimes had. "I have been working hard to finish up some projects", he said. "In fact, this will probably be my last session with you. I'm going to be leaving carpentry to become an avatar". I expressed my appreciation for his use of my services and my best wishes for him. "You know", he said, "I will be needing some apostles in the near future. You have some valuable people skills that would be helpful to me. Of course," he added with a twinkle around his eyes, "it would mean terminating our client-therapist relationship".

The alarm gongs sounded in my mind. "I don't think that would be appropriate", I said. "Maintaining professional boundaries is important to behaving ethically." He gave me another of those slow penetrating looks, then smiled. "You surely make the universe abide by some pretty inflexible rules in it's attempts to bring fulfillment into your life", he said. "I had hoped you would be able to be more flexible about our mutual roles as the context changed", he added. "Still, I appreciate your feelings. Think about it for a few lifetimes. There's going to be a pretty dogmatic/bureaucratic period for a while after I release operating control, but after that things will start to relax. We'll still need some good souls in the organization."

He did something with his hands in the air that I couldn't quite follow with my eyes, then handed me a small, flat, rectangular stone. It was a business card. Pretty impressive -- dappled granite with the writing inscribed in the new Roman font. It read, "Angel Moroni -- Account Service Representative". "I've tagged this card to your karma so that it will follow you over multiple lifetimes", he said. "Moroni won't always use the best judgment, but his heart is in the right place. If you change your mind he can use the extra credibility of being your contact". "Like I said", he commented with another of those piercing looks as he walked out of my office for the last time, "Think about it".

I have and still do, even after all these lifetimes. But you know how it is. Ethical behavior is important. One has to have boundaries, and once a client has filled out my intake form they're always a client. One can't just go shifting roles because it feels right intuitively. Still, I do occasionally look at that granite card that always follows me. It's still holding up pretty well, although the corners have rounded slightly over the years.

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