ONE SIMPLE STEP TO TURN EARTH INTO HEAVEN

ONE SIMPLE STEP TO TURN EARTH INTO HEAVEN

Some days I get the feeling that I need to do something. The world is in great turmoil but the answer to all the problems is so simple. That is the first step is simple.

Before we can solve a problem, we need to identify it. This is hard to do when we are living in darkness. So the first step in solving the problem is to turn on the light.

Now, I may be talking over the heads of some who have been completely blinded from the spiritual world. Some think, “If you can’t see it, it does not exist.” If this is true, then there is no existence for a blind person and no spirituality to one who is spiritually blind.

To turn on a light, we must have a source of energy and something that can convert that energy to light. Therefore we add fire (the energy source) to a candle and we have light. In modern technology, we have electric power, either from a battery or a utility company. We convert that to light by plugging a lamp into the power source. Once the light is turned on, the darkness vanishes.

In the spiritual world, we need to discover the spiritual nature of things. We find that God is the source of spiritual light. When this light comes into the world, the darkness of evil is dispelled. But where are the spiritual lamps?

It turns out that we, ourselves, are the lamps and when we connect ourselves to the spiritual power, we can see clearly and can distinguish good from evil. All we need to do is to learn how to connect ourselves. To do this we need but turn to one simple verse that millions of children all over the world have committed to memory.

O SON OF BEING!

Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

        (Bahá'u'lláh, The Arabic Hidden Words #5)

Yes, love is the connector, and we are already half connected. God loves us. All we need to do is to love HIM back and the circuit is complete. The spiritual energy will flow through us and we will light up the world. The darkness of evil will be dispelled and we will see clearly what we must do to turn this world into a virtual Heaven.

Economic Crisis

XCIX. The vitality of men's belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it? Is it within human power, O Hakim, to effect in the constituent elements of any of the minute and indivisible particles of matter so complete a transformation as to transmute it into purest gold? Perplexing and difficult as this may appear, the still greater task of converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been empowered to accomplish. The Force capable of such a transformation transcendeth the potency of the Elixir itself. The Word of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change.

                (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 198)

The Writing of my first novel

When I wrote “The Alternative” I felt as though I was being guided by the Divine. As I wrote each chapter it was more like I was reading a good novel. I did not know what my characters would do next and I only had a vague idea of the final outcome.

I did much research into the conditions of slavery and I wanted to paint a clear picture of what it would be like to be a slave during the first half of the 19^th century. One theme that reoccurred during research was the idea that many masters acted as their own stud when breeding slaves. I examined how this would affect the daughter of such a slave master. I had invented Mr. Lancer as a very evil man and I did not know how evil he was until near the end of the novel. His daughter had witnessed terrible behavior from her father, but it was later on that she, and I, discovered more heinous acts that he had performed before she was born. Surely this man was beyond redemption, but the plot took still more surprising turns. Could someone so evil ever have such a change of heart or was the goodness of a dying man simply an attempt to buy his way into Heaven? His family and his former slaves had to deal with such a dilemma. The readers are free to draw their own conclusions.

As I examined the conditions that led up to the USA civil war I was often reminded of the final note left by John Brown as he was being led to his execution. On  Dec 2, 1859, he wrote;

What is Love?

What is Love?

The word, “love,” is used in so many ways that it is difficult to know its true meaning. Many of the ways are selfish, but I would debate if selfish love is really love at all.

I once had it referred to as “fish love.” People who love fish love the way that fish tastes. Their passion is to eat fish, but they do not really care for the fish. In fact they want the fish to be killed, cleaned and fried so they can eat it.

Then there are those who love flowers so much that they want to decapitate them and bring the blooms into their houses so that they can watch them slowly die and wither away.

Animal lovers often want to limit the freedom of animals so they can be kept as pets or caged up in zoos to be gawked at by tourists who love to see animals trapped in a way that they can be observed without any threat to the observer.

Many times these selfish forms of love are transferred to human love. We choose someone to love and we love them as long as they do as we please and fulfill some need in our lives. If they can meet our basic needs such as food, beauty, companionship, etcetera, we are well satisfied, but when the purpose is fulfilled we no longer want anything to do with them and do not care if they live or if they die.

American Holocaust

Learning from the American Holocaust

When we mention “holocaust” we immediately think about Germany and World War Two. However there was another more severe and widespread holocaust that we are just starting to hear about.

Why does the German Holocaust get so much attention? Because Germany lost the war. Had they won we would be praising Hitler and the Nazi regime for their great effort of advancing the human species. Hitler’s idea was to speed up evolution by eliminating inferior races. Fortunately the rest of the world did not agree to his methods or even to the idea of an inferior race. The world war put a stop to ethnic cleansing.

If we now talk about the American holocaust it makes many people very uncomfortable. The terror of this holocaust lasted for more than 400 years. It is the ultimate story of bullying. A warring people invaded a relatively peaceful land and destroyed many ethnicities that had not advanced war strategies or weapons enough to defend themselves. The Americas at that time was the home of many nations. Although there was some conflict among them as they jostled for territory, they had no need to develop weapons past the point of bows, arrows and spears. These were mostly used to hunt for food but could be used for self defence when needed. The conquerors regarded these peaceful ones as savages when they put up a fight of self preservation and used that as an excuse to use their gunpowder and rifles to destroy  defenceless nations.

With complete victory over the rightful citizens, the Europeans began to fight among themselves. Now they were fighting on equal terms and sought an advantage. The original inhabitants of the land had a better knowledge of the territory and also used strategies unfamiliar to the Europeans. They had proved themselves in bravery and methods by the amount of resistance they gave the intruders using their simple weapons. The conquerors now used empty promises and outright lies to convince unsuspecting nations to join them in their effort to defeat competing European nations so they could lay solitary claim to this stolen land.

Meanwhile, the work of imposing European culture on a foreign land required much labour. An attempt was made to enslave the local people, but there were still friends and family that would help them to escape, so they turned to other nations to enslave and bring to America. The American nations had faced death to a point near extinction, but the African slaves had to endure a living hell. Murder was again used as a tool, but not to bring the race to extinction. Hellish ordeals were devised to force them into submission. A man would be selected and his four limbs would be bound to four horses. The horses would then be sent in different directions, tearing the body apart. This was done in front of other stolen bodies to show them what would happen if they did not do as their masters directed. Hard labour with insufficient food and rest took a toll of many lives, but not satisfied with that alone, these nations were subject to torture, rape and murder with no recourse. The law was on the side of the masters and any resistance was written into the law as a crime. They were regarded as possessions with no rights of their own and completely at the mercy of those who possessed them.

This holocaust we are not to talk about, because the decedents of the perpetrators are still living and in power. We do not want to embarrass the many European nations that played a part of this beastly terror. And what of the new nations of the Americas that were formed by these European renegades? They have become some of the most powerful in the world. How can we now tell them that the butchery and terrorism that they engaged in to earn their position was wrong? If they must correct for the wrongdoing of their ancestors, they may have to admit that exploitation in all forms is wrong, and if the rich cannot exploit the poor, the whole social system would be upset.

The eight richest people have as much wealth as half of the world’s poorest people. Thus, if we could find some equitable way to alleviate these eight people of this great burden by using half of what they own, almost four billion of the world’s poorest citizens could have twice as much. This is oversimplified and you know these rich ones are not going to hand over half or their riches without just cause. What we need is a new system that is not based on materialism, greed and exploitation. We must find new ways to evaluate ourselves without the need to put a monitory value on our net worth.

It was due to this view of our current situation that I wrote the fictional history, “THE ALTERNATIVE”. I regarded slavery as an extreme form of exploitation and showed how this system was not only hurting the slaves, but it was holding back the whole society. I didn’t base this on my own speculation, but studied the lives and writings of some of the wisest men and women of that time era. By suggesting an alternative to written history I was hopeful that errors in our current system could be corrected.

During slavery, much of the worlds brain power was kept in ignorance slowing down the rate of useful inventions. If the American elite had not engaged in this evil practice, technology could have developed sooner and better.

Today we see another form of exploitation were the rich try to maintain their wealth by keeping others poor. Since it is more difficult for a poor person to engage in higher education, the social elite widen the gap between themselves and the common workingman. Although the poor are given handouts to keep them alive, they are not given much opportunity for advancement.

Natural laws have a way of finding an equilibrium. Although man has a way of manipulating nature, humanity is not exempt from natural law. The system of the materialist puts power in money, but money is already losing its power. One hundred years ago two cents would buy a loaf of bread. Fifty years ago twenty cents had the same power. Now we need to search to find bread at $2.50 a loaf. The penny of one hundred years ago held more power than the dollar of today, but that is not the end, it is just a warning.

People are survivors and, if they cannot get by in one system, they will find another way to survive. When the freed slaves were struggling in an economic system that wanted to exclude them, they formed cooperatives and helped each other get by and succeed. In the same way, if those who control the money lock out those in poverty, they will develop a new way to survive and find new ways to measure success. Money has already taken a big hit and it will not take much more to render it of no value. Even when the gold standard was in effect, the gold only had such value as people assigned to it. Now, being replaced with paper, plastic and electronic bank legers, the value of money is at the whim of those who use it. If one segment of society has too much while another does not have enough, it will not take much for it to mean absolutely nothing. Suddenly the playing field will be given a new set of rules and those who produce what can be eaten will have the power. Money was only used as a standard of exchange to purchase our needs. If it no longer does that it will become useless and people will put value on things that are more tangible.

The Pathway to Peace.

The Pathway to Peace.

Learning to get along.

Many are convinced that wars and aggression are an intrinsic part of humanity. In our children we see such traits as flaws that must be corrected. When Johnny hits Suzie we tell him he needs to be nice to his sister and that hitting her is bad, but when our country wants to hit another country we feel it is our patriotic duty to aid in the battle. In this sense I use we as the collective conscience of the nation, but there are many exceptions, myself included.

I grew up in the 70’s when protest against war was prevalent and the most common slogan was, “Make love, not war.” Now I try to avoid the sexual connotations of that quote, but I still believe that peace is better than war and I believe that most people want peace. Unfortunately many buy into the propaganda that the way to peace is through destroying our enemies. If that is true we should have encouraged Johnny to kill Suzie so he could be done with her irritations and have peace. When it is our children we insist that they learn to get along with each other. Why can’t we do the same thing with our nations?

More from George McNeish, read “THE ALTERNATIVE.” Visit www.9li.ca.

My Book Page