by Terry Smith
“Absolutely, it seems to be the countries that consider themselves leaders are the ones that are the most responsible for the problems Earth has. We will bring all leaders together and get them into the United Nations building. Just one person per country – no media, no interpreters, just the leader of each country. I know what I want to say and will probably will ad lib it a little. I would like you there with me to keep me on target and let me know if I am leaving anything out. I will make you invisible to everyone but me. Sound ok?”
“Gus, I trust you completely in what you are about to do. Earth is your creation, and a lot of harm has been done to it. It is wonderful that they are being given an opportunity to fix the problems, and I am sure you are hoping for the best. Your guide is this planet and the people here. I guess we need to remember that what we are looking at now is the result of thousands of years for both planets, but there needs to be an instantaneous change as a start for fixing Earth. Then it is up to them to move everything forward to maintain the momentum and insure that the repairs stay fixed.”
“Ok, we have six days to make this happen. We will tell everyone that I am giving you a grand tour of all of the universes and planets and will return soon. We don’t want to cause any concern from the people here that we will be visiting Earth and talking to the people there. They have a lack of trust of Earth and its people and they would be worried sick that something would happen to impact this planet. To be honest, I am a little worried myself but I am sure that between the two of us we can keep this planet and its people secret.”
“I will see you tonight and we will begin our journey. No need to dress up as you will be invisible to everyone but me and I am used to seeing you in your casual duds. They will all have their own image of me so I don’t have to wear my robe and halo. I think we are ready for this – see you in a few hours.”
Evin met Gus that night and before he realized it they were on Earth. Evin wanted to somehow see his wife but Gus talked him out of it. “I can tell you she is fine and life is being good to her. She feels you are no longer living but thinks of you often, just the way you think of her.”
The next morning Gus and Evin were at the United Nations building in New York. There were leaders from every country in the world, big and small, but only one leader and no one else. They all seemed confused and didn’t know how they got there. The leaders of the major countries looked for their regular seats but were surprised to find that all seats were the same within the building, no special seating and with no name plates. Everyone took a seat and Gus appeared in front of them. He looked different to each of them, generally representing an appearance from their home country. To some Gus was a man, and to some a lady. They looked for some headphones that would provide a translation of what Gus was saying but found nothing.
Gus began to speak and each person could hear him clearly in their home language. He began, “My name is Gus. I am here today to present some tough love, which I hope all of you understand the meaning of tough love. This planet and the people on this planet are in trouble. If there are not some changes this planet is in danger of being destroyed and the people on it will no longer have a means of maintaining life. I am going to tell you about the changes that will be made for your planet which will occur over the next couple of days. Let me emphasize that we will not be voting on these changes and your country cannot decide not to participate. This world needs repair and that is what it is all about.”
The attendees looked around and mumbled, probably not being used to being talked to in this manner. However, they kept their seats and listened intently.
“First, all weapons will be taken away from your countries. They will simply disappear. This includes nuclear weapons, chemical and biological weapons, and all weapons used in warfare. Your war machines will be taken away including military aircraft, naval vessels, missiles and military weaponry of all types. You will have nothing that can be used to harm others or cause damage to other countries. While I do not have the capacity to eliminate your military forces, I hope you will decide that a military is no longer necessary as no other countries will have weapons and hopefully they too will eliminate their militaries.”
“All harmful drugs will be eliminated from the planet completely and all ingredients used to manufacture such drugs will also be eliminated. Those that have such drugs will find that they will simply disappear. In addition, alcohol and tobacco products will also be eliminated with the exception of beer and wine which I hope will be consumed only in moderate amounts.”
“Space will be cleaned up including space stations, satellites with the exception of those used for emergency communications and space junk. There will be nothing established that would prevent those items from being replaced in the future but I hope that your countries will not find that necessary. There should not be any need to explore space as Earth should become a wonderful place to live for thousands and millions of years into the future.”
“The environment will be cleaned up repairing the greenhouse effect causing global warming. Hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and forest fires will be eliminated for twenty years allowing humanity to work on correcting the causes of such disasters. I trust that your scientific knowledge and ingenuity will be used toward addressing the causes of such disasters.”
“There are a number of other changes that I have considered including the use of cell phones to talk to other people and the web as a means of social interaction. People need to regain their ability to talk to each other and learn how to respect others. I am most concerned with the continued hatred and animosity that people show to each other based upon their color or nationality, their religion, their sex or desire to be recognized by other than their birth sex, their looks, their professions and many other factors. People should all be treated equally without any discrimination or judgment by others. Love, kindness and respect should prevail.”
“I also thought about the extreme wealth of some and poverty for others, for the danger created from vehicles at high speed and the use of robots to replace humans in manufacturing and other tasks, jobs that should be done by people. However, those changes you can make yourselves if you look at the benefits that could be received.
“I have been around for millions of years. I have suffered by observing life on Earth and the things that humans have done to harm their planet and to harm each other. I have not interfered in what has been done and have trusted that people on Earth would do the right thing. I still believe that you have the desire and capacity to do the right thing but have been engulfed by a world where you are working to protect yourselves from others. It is now time for everyone to do the right thing, for your planet and for the people that occupy this planet.”
“I recently have had the opportunity to be associated with people from your planet who have helped me in trusting that humans can be kind and loving, and they have shown me that friendship is a very meaningful feeling between people. These are people that I have grown close to and I value their advice. They are the reason why I have made the decision to help Earth continue to exist and prosper where before I felt that your planet was doomed.”
Evin watched the many leaders of all of the countries during the presentation by Gus and noticed that they began to hold the hands of the persons next to them. They began to smile and to shake the heads indicating approval of what he was saying. There were no applause and the place was quite except for Gus. Evin could feel the change coming over the group and was amazed that no one seemed to reject his statements.
“I wish you luck in advancing and protecting your renewed planet and your chance to begin treating each other with dignity and respect. These changes will all be made by the end of the day Saturday. I sincerely hope that you acknowledge these changes and look to them as a stepping stone to begin your voyage to a new Earth. As I leave you today you will still be here among all of the leaders of countries on Earth. Get to kn
ow them as people and as partners in moving forward. You will be served a great meal shortly comprised of burgers, hotdogs and fries. Give them a try. This is my favorite meal. You need to also share the favorite meals of the other countries here today as you travel to their countries sealing your new friendships.”
As the presentation from Gus was completed he observed them introducing themselves to the people sitting around them, shaking their hands and talking. The way Gus had them seated was to be around people who are different and from countries where they have had little or no contact in the past. Maybe it will work.
Gus and Evin left the building together and they talked. Gus said “I assume I didn’t misspeak or leave anything out or you would have let me know. Do you think I did ok?”
“It was great. I will pray that it works. And, by the way, did you listen to my prayers and do they mean anything?”
“Yes, I do listen and yes, it means a whole lot. It lets me know what kind of person you are by what you are praying for. More often than not you are praying for others, not for yourself, which is based upon love. I need to spend a couple of days taking care of things here on Earth. Do you want to stay or head back?”
Evin responded “I want to stay and watch you do your thing. I am still in awe even though I know it is because you are God, but I also know you are Gus, my friend. Is there any way we can stay here at the United Nations building for a couple of hours to join in the burgers, hot dogs and fries?”
Gus had the smile. “Evin, now I really know why we are here together. I knew I couldn’t leave out the most important part of the visit, but there it is.”
Chapter 15
A New Life
As the group settled into their new homes they realized that it is time to become productive in the community. They can no longer just be visiting consultants; they are now part of the community and must pull their weight.
Jim began to work in the schools. Normally he would not feel qualified to work in schools when he compares himself with the others in his group, but in this case the schools on the planet are partially traditional education with reading, writing and arithmetic and partially vocational training as they get an introduction into the various occupations. They are not really occupations as they are not working for a salary; they are working because everyone works to help produce the goods and services the people in the community use.
Jim has noticed that the schools have books, but many seem to be about life on Earth and written by authors on Earth. They even have pictures of things on Earth as illustrations. The planet has publishing capabilities which are much underutilized. One of his projects is to have books about the planet and written by the people on the planet of Home. There were many volunteers to begin writing books, and Jim of course accepted his former group as volunteers before they knew what happened. He would use his students to help in editing the books and to help in the printing. They would even draw pictures for the books as needed. Their excitement was welcomed by Jim and all of the people of Home. It would be their books, and about them and their planet.
Jim also made sure that all of the vocations and talents of the planet were included in the introductions at the schools, including being teachers of all of the other topics. The quality of the schools improved and the students began to show more pride and interest in their education. They also had their croquet teams, and Wanda helped them develop chess teams. The schools were like their own communities in their competitions. As with the communities the winning was not the most important thing, it was the fun of competing. Gus had to get assistants as he couldn’t referee all of the competitions. The new volunteers were actually no better than Gus as they created new rules and how they administered the rules, but no one really cared. They would even laugh when a new rule popped up, whether it was against them or the other team.
Wanda had soon met her match at chess, in fact, many times. The school kids became good at the game, real good. Both the metal shop and the wood shop got busy making the chess boards and pieces for the schools, and then the toy stores started having to stock them. The kids were beating their parents, and the parents would play each other on a new game night.
Each school now had a name. The names were no longer based upon names from Earth, they were now based upon features at Home. They had the Mountaineers, the Smiling Scholars, the Jumping Jacks, and a lot of funny names that they came up with. The schools could even change their names every year just to keep it interesting. They were never named after any person, as the people were all equal and no one should stand out in such a system.
Dianne went to the farm with Walter, but she actually worked with every farmer on the planet. She learned more about their products and how they were grown, and sometimes could make some improvements from her years of study. They would never alter the vegetables, fruits and nuts grown as was often done on Earth. They stayed with the basic products even though Dianne knew of some improvements from work on Earth. Their produce, fruits and nuts were great and they stayed with them. They did make some changes when they needed more or less irrigation, to provide more room between plants and trees, and when to rotate crops. The honey bees that Gus just gave them helped with the pollination. As with everything else, all of the produce, fruits and nuts were shared. They took their harvest to the communities and people took what they needed, never more. The farmers in turn obtained the products and services from the people in the communities that they needed, never more. They would work with the limited government to adjust output, and even with the schools when more or less workers were needed for certain jobs.
Dianne also worked with Walter on the weekly and monthly special meals. In addition to the basics of each meal, there was plenty of food that everyone bought with them. It turned out that their wines were also served in abundance which made everything even more cheerful. Their special guest, Gus or whoever he was to the other people, was always there and gave his approval for all new foods. For some reason there was only one grade for everything, which was wonderful. It was a wonder that Gus didn’t weigh 300 pounds, but maybe he did in the eyes of some of the people.
The schools added a new vocation to their educational mission, cooking. The people normally ate lunch at their places of work, and breakfast, supper and weekend meals were eaten at their homes but now had eating establishments where they could eat away from their home. They learned that eating together was fun and they learned more about each other. This comradery was a great addition to the planet.
Dianne and Walter then had an announcement. They were going to have a baby. The excitement was shared throughout the planet as it would be the first from a union between the old residents and the new guys. As was the usual process, the child would be able to pick their job after graduation, but everyone wanted to make sure Dianne passed on her skills at making hot dogs.
Dianne’s next project was to build hives for the honey bees that Gus had provided. She had spent some time researching honey bees as part of her overall botany education on Earth and was actually fascinated by the bees and their honey making process. She knew how their hives were built and the necessary protective clothing needed to harvest the honey they produced. Her first year in honey production was sparse, but from there it grew rapidly. Soon every farm had honey bee hives and was producing honey. They even named a school after the Honey Bees.
From there Dianne knew that honey was nothing without cereal. She recruited Jim from his work with the schools to help develop several varieties of cereal, and even some was made with honey cooked into the cereal. Now Jim wasn’t satisfied as he wanted his cooking skills not to go to waste even though some people were not fans, like Gus. So he started preparing breakfast for all comers and it was a success. When he wanted to expand to lunch and supper he was convinced not to press his luck. Jim’s work at the schools was easily picked up by Woody and Billie Jo plus the new additions from people who were developing through the extended
educational programs.
Wanda went to work with Billy at the foundry. She continued to work with mixtures of the metals that were mined from the mountains, and worked on different levels of heat that would make the metals stronger or more flexible. She would often go with the miners to the mountains to search out new metals. They were surprised when they found a vein of gold and Wanda explained to them the uses of gold. Wanda also worked with the miners to help maintain a high level of safety at the mines and in transporting the metals back to the foundry.
Billy became interested in chess, and worked with Wanda to develop a special metal composition for the chess boards and chess pieces. As soon as they had an output they would go to the plant making the chess boards and pieces and they were off to the toy stores. This time they knew they had to manage the production so as not to interfere with their normal work production, but it was hard as everyone wanted a game set.
Larry went to work on a ranch, and like Dianne found that his expertise needed to be shared with all of the ranches on the planet. The ranchers were fairly proficient in their care of the animals until it came time to provide some veterinarian type care. Even though Larry was not actually a veterinarian he did know a great deal about the care they provided, especially as it related to cattle and pigs. Each time he would work in such a service he would teach the rancher about what he had done, and why. He also gave them information about how to prevent some of the problems that their animals would have. This sharing of knowledge and experience was the best part of his work with the ranchers.
Larry truly loved working with the ranchers, and the care that they provided to their animals was vastly superior to anything that he had ever seen on Earth because they were dedicated to the animals. The animals were like their family. And surprisingly the animals seemed to be trained to do things like to go to the pastureland in the morning and return at the same time every day. They would come when called. It was always a sad day for the ranchers when they would take the animals to be slaughtered and processed.
