17) The Phoenix                      16) Reaching Out


            Somewhere in a darkened, room lies a man who eyes the gloom.
            His feet are cold but his head is hot. In it lies a burning thought.
 
            Somewhere he had seen a land, poisoned by the thoughts of man.
            He felt the fire frying all, he heard the haunting, howling call.
 
            Somewhere he had seen a face, wrinkled by time's disgrace.
            In his eyes were falling tears, in them lied the frightening fears.
 
            Somewhere lives a dying man, lying in a poisoned land.
            Trying to forget the day, crying for his eyes to stray.
 
            What could he do, what could he do,
            how would he know, how would he know?
 
            Somewhere at the edge of night, lies a thought that brought some light.
            Filling up our empty space, it brought a smile to someone's face.
 
            Somewhere at the dawn of day, woke a boy who spoke a ray,
            'Care for me, I'll care for you. Let your love burn me through.'
 
            What should we do, what should we do,
            now that we know, now that we know?


                                                                                                Malcolm Mohil
                                                                                                "We Know"


            Malcolm and Becky were making dinner, a scrumptious meal of curried ginger tofu and rice. Malcolm poured a glass of merlot for Becky and himself. He handed her a glass while planting a gentle kiss on her lips.

            "I'd like to propose a toast," Malcolm said, "to our continuing journey of unraveling the mysteries of life." They clanked glasses and savored the wine as it warmed their bellies.

            Malcolm had been contemplating the culture he was a part of. He was intrigued by its structure and function. He was concerned by the path it was heading down and wondered if there was anyway to change its course.

            "It's really strange to think about how we've ended up where we are today. We live in an amazing time. We have an unprecedented exchange of information allowing different cultures to learn about one another. We have incredible technology giving us all kinds of neat toys. We have medicines and lots of food to keep us all healthy. It's hard to think people lived before us without what we enjoy today, and really not that long ago. We have no idea how hard it must have been to live back then because we’ve become so accustomed to our creature comforts. We've gotten so soft, I don't think we could even survive if it all came crashing down," Malcolm stated.

            "You're probably right," Becky said. "Of course, there are other cultures that don't enjoy our gadgets and still rely on their hands for survival, yet they do pretty well for themselves. Sure, their standard of living isn't like ours and they might have a shorter life span, but who's to say they’re less happy? Since that's what they’re familiar with, their lives seem normal to themselves, even though we view them as less civilized. Perhaps they look at us as stress filled, confused and destructive people who are completely lost. I often wonder who’s smarter, us with our unsustainable technological advances, or them with their slower paced, less destructive lifestyle."

            "In the long run, it may be them, though we may take them out if we destroy the planet. So, neither of us is the winner in this case," Malcolm prophesied.

            "I also often wonder how we've gotten to where we are. From a cave dwelling Homo erectus to a city dwelling Home sapien. The funny thing is, though we might have more toys, behaviorally we’re probably not much different. We still have fears and the other primal emotions. We still have awe in powers we can't explain and, assuming Homo erectus could be happy, we still have love that brings joy into our lives," Becky said.

            "Actually, I think we’re less content than our ancient ancestors," Malcolm said. "I believe at some point in our evolutionary history, we understood our connection to God better than we do today. I think our present culture is extremely confused because we forgot why we love.

            “Perhaps somewhere along the line of evolutionary history, there was a species whose individuals weren’t trapped by their body, but were able to communicate with the creative power directly. These creatures still lived as a body would, but didn’t fear because they knew they were connected to all of life. If their body died, they knew they’d still survive as a spirit. They didn’t fear death. They only loved and developed a harmonious society as a result. It wouldn’t be even close to ours today. Maybe they didn't have buildings or creature comforts to keep them safe. They lived at peace somewhere, maybe not even on Earth. It could have been 10 billion years ago in a different galaxy. Maybe some weird flying octopus type creature. Or maybe they were tribal people Europeans wiped out in the conquest of the Americas, unable to compete with the righteous might of the Christian god.

            "As time went on, the creatures lived and learned. Somehow, they began to loose connection from God. Maybe through genetic mutations, manipulation or free will they began to change. This may have taken billions of years, but the result was the same: they began to think they were their bodies instead of knowing they were their souls.

            "I believe this story is similar to Genesis, where Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. In that story, they chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge because they wanted to be like God. Maybe being like God meant they had to be like all the other creatures on the planet. Since the Bible says humans were created in the image of God, who has emotions as seen in many of the descriptions of God, humans acquired those same emotions. Once you have emotions, they could potentially negatively affect your behavior, like Cain killing his biblical brother Abel. That’s pretty evil, the opposite of live. Those are our ancestors.

            "They also had to know what it was like to be their physical body. To be fully immersed in the drama on the planet. To be an individual struggling to survive, fearful of death and desiring to procreate. To learn how to adapt and eventually realize God at some future time. While all along, humans were already living manifestations of God since the fruit from Tree of Knowledge was said to impart that upon Adam and Eve.

            "Maybe in our lives outside of the Garden of Eden, we’ve discovered free will we use to live, experience, learn and gain wisdom with, all with the intention of discovering what God is. Maybe that’s our destiny, to discover what God is by living as humans on this planet," Malcolm finished.

            "Maybe that’s true, but in the meantime, we’re destroying our only home. Is that the price we have to pay just to discover what God is?" Becky asked.

            "No, I think what we’re doing is reckless, wrong and stupid. Nature isn’t designed to handle our greedy kind and the impact we’re inflicting. We’re so far gone we might not discover all of God, the precious life on our planet, even if we wanted to. It’s disappearing quickly.

            "We live on a beautiful planet, full of natural splendor that provides us with the ability to live. Earth is a living being like we are. It’s a resonant response of God's love. It desires to resonate so it can evolve and fulfill its potential. Life on the planet is how that love is expressed. All the species relate with one another creating ecosystems. they're learning, growing and evolving in the process, thus becoming more complex. They’re discovering what God is, and what God can become.

            "Somewhere along the line, humans came along. Let's assume we once were aware of our connections with the creative force. When we were, we treated our home with respect. We lived in harmony with the rest of the creatures. There wasn’t the peril our current predicament presents.

            "Earth is an extension of our mind because it reflects the effects of our lives. Everything we do is seen in our actions and the repercussions on the planet. Looking at the consequences, we can assume our society is out of harmony with the natural order. Society isn't resonating with Earth energy because our society is threatening Earth. Our society is killing parts of our home. We have caused the demise of tens of thousands of species since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. We have destroyed ecosystems, watersheds and the vital functions they perform in providing a stable environment.

            "Since we’re not living harmoniously now, and we certainly have an abundance of dystopic scenarios, let's assume we lost conscious contact with the creative force. We fell from God when we became our physical bodies. That is, we thought we were only our physical bodies. We began to fear death and develop religion to help make that dreadful experience more uplifting. That when we die we go to heaven. That it’s part of God’s plan. A fairy tale to mould the mind of the masses and keep us sheep rather than owls.

            "We forgot what the intention of love is. We turned love into physical passions and the desire to satiate the body. This is love, but only one resonant response of love. 

            "When you think you’re your body, you live in fear because you’re afraid to feel pain and to die. When you live in fear, you develop a society that’s based on fear. Thus, people are selfish, greedy and inconsiderate of the consequences of their actions. Society's actions are unsustainable, and will eventually cause the ruin of itself.

            "To love is why we’re here. When we begin to love all life, we realize we can live in a more harmonious way. We realize there are alternatives to technologies we’re currently using or they should be developed. The main thing preventing needed change is money and the fear of losing it.

            "Unfortunately, there are people who live in fear so much it makes them care so little about others. The same old ‘money changers’ Jesus condemned for tainting the temple. The ones who pressed for him to be crucified and who still crucify all that gets in their way today. These fearful people rush for power to secure themselves, trampling all that’s sacred in the process. Their greed prevents progressive change from occurring as quickly as it should.

            "When we don’t express our love in a positive way because of fear, we feel stressed and tense. We don’t feel well. We don’t feel whole. If we treat our physical bodies badly by abuse or repressing love because of fear, we get sick. If we treat our Earth bodies badly by abuse or repressing love because of fear, it gets sick. Both human and Earth bodies have immune systems to heal the body, to make it well, despite the fear corrupting love.

            "Earth's immune system is beginning to fight its dis-ease: our society. Plagues are developing. Catastrophes are occurring. Inspiration is being sent to those who can hear. It’s Earth's medicine. All this is a resonant response of Earth's love designed to wake us up and get rid of that which destroys the planet.

             "Since we reside on a living being, we must respect her life. We must live in harmony and balance on our home, the extension of our physical bodies, or else we’ll be forced to leave. We must change willingly and accept the gift of love so we can fulfill our destiny. It’s up to you and me," Malcolm said, ending his proselytizing.

            "I understand what you’re saying, but how do you realistically expect this to happen? There’s so much chaos that’s already occurred. There are so many people. There are so many problems. It's a bit overwhelming to think we'll change," Becky said.

            "What other choice do we have? There are so many injustices occurring all over the world. Certainly it’s easier to turn a blind eye away and ignore the obvious. Complacency very well may be the root of all our problems. However, to continue down this path only leads to further injustices. How far can we go until it all unravels? It makes more sense to me to confront the problems now rather than pass it off to the next generation who will have an even harder time solving the problems we’re now creating.

            "We're heading in the wrong direction as a society. Eventually it’s going to fall apart because it’s unsustainable. When it does, things will not be very pretty.

            "Imagine living in a city when the power goes out for an extended period of time. This isn’t unrealistic. It happens in cities in our country and potentially could happen here. If it does, the city comes to a standstill. Except people need to eat and drink clean water. Where is that going to come from? The stockpiles in the stores won't last long. When the food disappears, the looting, pillaging and fight for survival begins. Perhaps Martial Law would prevent too much chaos from ensuing. Either way, the scenario looks bleak.

            "If the situation is permanent or even indefinite, there will be a change in people's perception of life. TV and the stock market will suddenly be unimportant. Staying warm, finding food and water, protecting yourself, this will be the focus of people's lives. The stress will press everyone to their limits. Considering how soft we are today, the shock may be deadly to some.

            "Selection pressures will eliminate the weak. The strong will survive. Perhaps their progeny will learn from their parents’ failure in developing a sustainable society and create one that’s not so destructive.

            "Since we haven’t learned from the Romans, I find this hard to believe. As long as people still live in fear and have that be the motivating force in their lives, the next society will not be much better.

            "Perhaps, though, even if it all comes tumbling down, we still have hope for a future ideal society. Since all great catastrophes result in a leap of evolution because only the ones fit to survive pass on their seeds, maybe the seed race will be a people who survived because they realized their connection with the creative force. Maybe people who know they’re connected to life and to God will have the wit and wisdom to survive. Maybe they'll be the ones who will develop this ideal society. Therefore, from the downfall of our society will arise a race of beings who truly understand the power of love.

            "Perhaps this is what the Bible was attempting to describe in the Book of Revelations. The story of 'Armageddon' describes the great battle between God and Satan. Perhaps this is symbolic of every person's struggle to defeat fear with love. Or on a grander scale, our society's struggle to defeat fear with love. In any case, this story describes the second coming of love, the first being our original connection with the creative force and our understanding of love.

            "When this 'battle' is over, we will live in a world where Heaven manifests itself on Earth. 'On Earth as it is in Heaven' means love resonates from God into us and we express that love. All we desire will be given and we will love in harmony with Earth, living, loving, learning, growing and forever making known this unknown bounty of God.

            "The point is, why should we be living a lifestyle now that will create this destructive future scenario? Why should we continue to be a part of a society that’s obviously short sighted? Why should we risk poisoning our planet, eliminating species and changing the balance Earth has taken billions of years to establish? Why not develop a more sustainable strategy now?

            "It really doesn't seem that hard to me if you look at it on an individual level. This means I love as best I can. I open myself up, develop bonds, share information, learn, grow and change into something greater. All the while striving to make my lifestyle and the relationships I’m part of as supportive, respectful and inspiring as I can. I take responsibility for my own actions and hope my example will inspire others.

            "We’re living in tremendous times. As more people see the need to change by being inspired by Earth's love, which is a resonance of God's love, our thoughts will resonate out and cause changes to occur through physical and mental actions. This is the end of our fall into selfish greed based on fear and the beginning of our rise into the realization of collective connectedness based on love.

            "We’re like the phoenix who burns in its own flames, is purified and is reborn out of its own ashes. We’re like the alchemist who works in his internal basement, firing the base metals in the quest to transmute this matter into pure gold.

            "We all have so much love. We have to love. We have to resonate and connect with Universe because in doing so we realize we all are one. We are God dreaming our lives. It is time to wake up and let this understanding of love be our destiny."

            Becky looked at Malcolm, shaking her head. "Where do you get this stuff, my love? It’s beautiful. I just wish I could believe it’s true."

            "Me too," Malcolm admitted.

 

18) The Beach