17 Dec Are We Likely to Be Invaded by a Hostile Alien Species This Christmas?
This is a time of year when the dream of world peace comes up more than usual. Maybe, despite the ever growing array of plastic gift options and people stabbing each other to be first in the door to Walmart on Black Friday, we still “get it” on some level. We get that stuff – and more stuff – isn’t the source of that warm fuzzy feeling we associate with the holidays. It comes instead from a connection with non-plastic entities.
We think to ourselves, This – here – all of us together, laughing, playing, singing, watching the children – this is what’s really important. And maybe, if we’re so inclined, it occurs to us that if the world could somehow experience this en masse and in a sustained way, then, well, it would change everything.
We have a limited capacity to focus on warmth and fuzziness before the new year arrives and losing weight eclipses world peace, so I’ll get to the burning question on everyone’s mind: Will we be invaded by a hostile alien species that wants to plunder our natural resources and make us slaves?
Before I answer that question, let’s consider what world peace might look like. World peace, as I see it, would be predicated upon everyone’s allowing themselves the undiluted, unconditional experience of love. It’s entirely our choice, completely under our control, absolutely our birthright … even, some would say, our very identity. There’s only one thing in the way of the pure, abiding experience of love – our minds.
I won’t pretend that – despite the insubstantiality of the mechanisms our minds use to restrict the love in our lives – they represent an easy hurdle. We would need a miraculous healing of minds to have world peace. But, if you’ve been paying attention, perhaps it seems to you, as it does to me, that we’re closer than ever to understanding what such healing would entail.
If we all felt love and peace, think of what we might do and what we might prioritize. First, fear would disappear and the greed that it engenders would go away with it. Our drive toward acquisition would dramatically decline. What, really, would a happy, peaceful populace want? To create and admire things of beauty, such as music, art, nature, and life itself? To help and serve our habitat and planet-mates? To share love with other humans? To solve the world’s problems? To explore and grow? These all seem likely possibilities, especially when we look back at the kinds of pursuits the saints and sages of history engaged in.
What might be possible without massive amounts of money, energy, resources, and life being expended on defense and offense? What would be possible without the need to develop, manufacture, distribute, and consume everything we use – from drugs to distractions – because we don’t have enough love in our lives? What would be possible without any financial or political agendas hampering scientific progress?
I believe we would feed each other. We could tackle world hunger with our brains tied behind our backs. We would solve the energy crisis. By focusing some of our freed up ingenuity, we would quickly develop clean, sustainable sources of energy. We would make giant advances in medicine. We would explore the world with renewed fascination. And perhaps we would embark on space travel for the mere adventure of it.
I don’t think these predictions are grossly off the mark. Humans are impressive. But if we’re pondering what could be possible with fear and greed out of the way, we also have to see what is not possible if things stay the same.
Considering that we can’t even get a human onto one of the two nearest planets (Venus or Mars), we must realize that our chances of going outside our solar system (to say nothing of leaving our galaxy) are exquisitely bad. We would have to be unified and focused on this goal, and realistically, that would only come after a long period of unification and focus on our domestic needs.
So, we’re getting close to the answer now. It seems to me that only a culture that has already achieved world peace could even begin to make the kinds of advances that would be necessary for intergalactic space travel. And such a culture would have overcome the need or inclination to enslave and plunder.
Therefore, my friends, we need not worry about being invaded by a hostile alien species this Christmas! And with our minds now at ease, perhaps we can spend the remainder of this holiday season meditating on questions such as these: Do I believe world peace is possible? What stands in the way of my allowing myself as much love as I want? What might happen if I forgave myself and the world for everything? Can I let go of restrictions in my mind and body that impede my experience of love? What sorts of additional questions – or answers – can you come up with? Share them with us in the comments.
Wishing you love and peace,
Peter & Everyone at The Dragontree
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