by Michal Hall
I have walked back up to the podium, and it feels good to hold onto it, because I really am tired. Still the voice in my head leads me on. "They will show us how to naturally love each other and the other life forms of the Earth as much as we love ourselves. They will help us to turn from destroying the Earth and its ecosystems to supporting and helping them. The Federation will teach us how to rediscover the culture of the Earth. We will live in a very different way that will allow the Earth and all of its inhabitants to freely evolve without our interference. For instance, we will all live in small dwellings made from the Earth’s natural surface, and we will never again build with anything but natural materials from the land. We will live outside to enjoy its wonder and only go inside when it is too wet, too cold, too hot, or when we are sleeping or sick.
"We, as animals, have to eat, but we will only eat one-celled organisms flavored as we like, because they are the least complex life-forms on the Earth. The Federation will supply us with these one-celled life-forms that will be grown and then harvested from the ocean. As reflective, caring beings who still need food to stay alive, this is the least intrusive way, that a reflective being on our planet, can eat. This means that we will never again kill any other life-form for any reason, because all life is miraculous.
"One of the hardest things we will do in working to assist the Earth in its evolution will be ending our insane overpopulation. This can only be done by having either no children, or having only one child per couple. This must be done until we can move from a world population of 8 billion to a population of around 750 million. That, of course, will take many generations, but soon we will find that it was worth it. Of course, even after we reach 750 million, people will still only be allowed to have two children to allow the population to be where it must be for the animals and plants to survive, and also allow the ecosystems to always be balanced. Obviously, all of this will save us from extinction and allow our species, and many of the other species now on this planet, to have a future.
"I could go on listing other things the Federation will assist us to do, but for now, I think, we can see that real change is needed, and it can only come with the Federation’s help. However, we need to remember that perhaps the most important of these changes will be to allow for us to reconnect with the Earth where we will soon see wonderful, positive results. As I said, at first the Federation will provide for our needs so that no one will ever go hungry, go without water, lack health care, or have to worry about being safe ever again. The Federation will also use its amazing power to help us erase our past mistake of building and paving over the Earth, as they provide each family with an adobe home powered by the sun.
"Soon they will provide us with new ways to travel on radio waves so that we can arrive anywhere in the world in seconds without affecting the land, air, waters or anything else. Relationships with each other and other life forms will grow to give everyone a peaceful, safe and happy life-style. Needless to say, all of the many things that were previously used for killing, including the many national militaries with their aircrafts, ships and bombs, will be gone. The world will eventually be ruled by a world representative, democratic government elected by everyone. This will ensure the continued end of war and the equality and freedom of everyone. Perhaps the main thing that the Federation will do is awaken our consciousness of the Earth so we can be real and live upon it joyfully and long. We will come out of our present culture of pride and greed to return to the culture of our ancient ancestors that is the real, sustainable, fulfilling culture of the Earth!
“Money, which is a means of exchange in our pride-infested economic systems, results in some people having more wealth and advantages than other people, so it will be gone. This system has always been horribly flawed by our pride, because we now have a very few possessing most of the money, while the majority have little, or no money at all. Many around the world are even starving right now! In a system based on pride’s greed, there can be no justice. Thus, this money system will be removed and cease to exist. The truth is that every human is of great value, so every person should be able to share their special and unique gifts with all others and with the cosmos. Thus, we will learn to live equally to the benefit of all. Of course, none of this can be done unless we are working to move our evolution out of pride and into humility.”
I stop when I have gradually moved with the screen to the floor of the auditorium. At the instruction of the voice in my mind, I step closer to the framed figure that stands in front of me. I look close into the image’s eyes and say, "The Federation cannot help unless we allow them to help us! That’s because the Federation doesn’t believe in changing the cosmic evolution of reflective beings who have the ability to choose for themselves. Thus, the Federation can only help if we indicate that we want the Federation to help. Thus, now we will vote on whether we will accept the Federation’s help or not. In doing so, we will choose whether we will be a force for good and unity in the cosmos, or whether we will remain a destructive, disunited force of pride destroying plants, animals, the ecosystems, and even ourselves. Let me say again that if we choose to continue in pride’s grip, we will soon naturally be expelled from the Earth and cosmos. However, if we do choose to allow the Federation to help us move into humility, peace, love and sustainability, we will become a positive force in the evolution of the Earth and the cosmos for a very long time to come.
“We don’t have to do anything to vote because the federation will know what we think when I’ve completed this talk with you. Remember that most people live in pain, misery, and discontent in the world today, because no one can really be happy in this mess that pride is making of things. I’m aware that many people, especially those in the middle and upper classes, pridefully find ways to shut themselves off from the suffering of others. They try to escape into a fantasy world that ignores the injustice and pain that’s all around us. They lose sight of the fact that we are all interconnected and what happens to one, happens to all.”
I suddenly become caught up in the magnitude of what I am doing, and my voice begins to shake. Still I am able to stand tall and say, “However, it appears that at this pivotal time of hope for the future of our species and the descendants who will follow us, and also of finding opportunity for a real quality of life for everyone, everything now depends upon us! I believe we can stand up for those who will follow and our planet. I believe we can come out of our pride, fear, and multiple escapes enough to allow the federation to help us come home to the Earth. Think about it: a future of living at peace with our planet with its animals, plants, air, water, ecosystems and each other is now before us. From deep within each of us, I do believe that the kindness, love, goodness and desire for truth and dignity, that is at the core of our religions, and also at the core of us all, will prevail. Let this be our finest hour as Homo sapiens as we take up the chance to be real, live well and live long!”
Tears were running down my cheeks as the voice in my mind stopped and the image before me dissolved. I stood in this glorious auditorium of peace and hope, all alone. “Please let me stay here for a little while before you project me away,” I said quietly. The voice gently agreed. So there I stood without thinking and only feeling the magnitude of what had just happened.
Chapter 6
The Results
"If you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth, rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else, you see that we are the earth, we are the consciousness of the earth. These are the eyes of the Earth.
And this is the voice of the earth."
Joseph Campbell
“The tides are in our veins, we still mirror the stars, life is your child, but there is in me, older and harder than life and more impartial, the eye that watched before there was an ocean.”
Robinson Jeffers
Suddenly, I found myself back in my living room at home. It appeared warm and comforting, but now it was also a little strange. The light appeared before me and said, �
�We put your wife into a deep sleep so we could talk to you here. You really did a wonderful job. We think it’s the best we’ve ever heard. We are very grateful to you for assisting us in this way.”
“What will happen now?” I ask. “Can you tell me now how they all responded? Will you be able to help us?”
The light paused and didn’t answer right away. There was an awkward silence that frightened me. My mind was whirling with possibilities. Finally, they answered, “We are sorry, but it doesn’t look good. Less than half of your species responded in any positive way, and those who responded negatively did so with enthusiasm. We don’t see how we can move forward with these responses. There would just not be enough initial support to make it work. We are sorry, because we can feel your profound disappointment…”
“Wait,” I interrupt. “You said it was close. That means there were billions of people who are for it. That has to mean something! Please don’t desert us. As you said, we just took a wrong turn into pride, but we can come back. We’re not crazy. With your help we can do it. Please…just think about it for a while. I’m begging you…don’t desert us. I know we can do this!”
Once again, after a few minutes of silence, they responded. “We can’t move forward with this now, but after some reflection there might be one more thing we can do.”
My heart and mind jumped forward in anticipation. “Yes…yes…please tell me what you can do! Anything…anything to leave some room for hope…”
Slowly they replied, “We can’t make the decision to move forward with these readings ourselves. However we could take them back and have them studied by the whole Federation, and they could make the final decision. Of course this is problematic because it takes a long time for us to travel back. Also since we travel at light speed and wrinkle the space-time continuum to go through it, we all have to enter the kranth. That is something that adjusts, and puts us into, the proper time line for each of our planets. There are many other things that will slow us down like the unfortunate slow communications between our planets that we have not been able to address because we generally live many light years away from each other.”
They paused and then said, “Thus it would be some time before we could come back to this planet if the Federation did decide to help your species. Also, it would make no sense for us to travel back to say that they had decided against it, so if you don’t hear from us, you’ll know that all we have to offer is bad news.”
Clearly, this did not sound good. I could feel my enthusiasm leaking out of me. I bleakly mumbled, “How long would you estimate it to would be if you were to come back…I mean, what it might be? Are we talking about a really long time?”
Probably because I had now been around these beings for a while, I could actually feel their compassion for me and their pain at having to disappoint me. It was really strange because I wanted to reach out to them and give them a big hug or something. I could clearly feel their sadness when they said, “We would guess it would be something like three years of your time, but that would only be if we were able to come back. We are so sorry about this, but there is nothing else we can do.”
“Well,” I said trying to lift our spirits, “that’s better than nothing. I mean there still is a chance that you will be coming back…it could happen…right?”
They agreed. Then they told me that none of my species would remember any of what had gone on that night, but they would leave me with the memory. They expressed again their appreciation for what I had done, and then without any drama at all, they said goodbye and were gone.
I sat alone in the chair, in which I had just conversed with the Federation, for a long time. Then I took another chair and went outside. It was about two o’clock in the morning and the stars suddenly seemed much more evident to me. I put down the chair and sat looking into the cosmos reflecting on all that had so quickly happened to me. Seeing the stars was somehow comforting, and from that time on, I would often leave the confines of my house to stare at distant stars. I would be filled with wonder at the strange friends I had made who were out there somewhere. I continued to be filled with sadness at what I had heard from them, and I would hear the horrible news on television that underlined who we have become as a species and where we’re going.
Chapter 7
The Repeat
“We are surrounded by a rich and fertile mystery.”
Henry David Thoreau
“The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.”
Christopher Paolini
I’m dying as I lie on the Earth in a large field. I’m one hundred and twenty-six years old, and I have lived a long and amazing life. The last ninety years after the return of the Federation have been amazing, because everything has changed so much, and all been for the better. Around me now are the hundreds of friends I’ve made along the way, and also the muffled light of the remaining two members of the Federation of Planets. My health monitor, which has been given to each individual or family, has told me that I will die tonight. That’s nice because it gives my friends and me some time to celebrate and remember our journeys.
The hardest three years of my life were spent waiting for the Federation to return. After that I gave up and tried to shut out the insanity of my species as they slaughtered each other and abused the Earth. Then after five years of their absence, at the exact same time that they had come before, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, I saw that strange, beautiful, oh-so-welcome light shining brightly before me again. My wife, who had been away with her sick mother, was in the back of the house. I called to her and said I was talking to friends, which was true. I had never told her about my early association with the Federation on their advice, because they said she might think I was crazy.
I turned around, and they immediately asked again for my help. They said their coming back to this planet had been a very hard-sell before the Federation, so it took a lot of time. However, in the face of the story these Federation members shared and their obvious love for the reflective beings on the Earth, and when all of the evidence of our possibilities and worth had been submitted, they finally gave in. Then enthusiastically they said, “Here we are!” I had never cried since that day I was standing in the United Nations, but in seeing them again and knowing they had come back to help us, I couldn’t hold it back. I stuttered out my overwhelming joy and relief. Of course, now that I’ve gotten old, I cry all the time when I think about it, because from that moment on, everything changed!
After leaving a note for my wife that I would be back soon, I once again stood in the United Nations. I made another speech in the same place, in the same way, because the memory of the last one had been erased from everybody’s mind. I mostly said the same things; the only difference was at the end when I said that now there will be a future for us. I also said that with the Federation’s help, we will reverse our abuse of each other, the Earth and its life-forms. I said that the Federation of Reflective Planets will now do more amazing things than we could ever imagine as they try to save us. I admitted that this transition will be very hard at first, but in time the things they do for us will give us a much better, real, quality of life. I said we will also reverse our present evolution into divisive pride to put us once again in touch with both each other and the Earth…and that this will result in a real, loving, humble life-style for everyone. I also said that the Federation will help us to rediscover our real home, which is the Earth.
I said, "You must understand that unless this is done, our whole species, and numerous other species on this planet, will be gone. The fact is that unless we assist the federation and go along with these changes, our extinction will be eminent. Also if we cooperate, we will continue to not just exist in violence and fear, but we will learn to live in love, unity and peace. Right now there is still enough time to correct the horrible, self-ins
pired mistakes we have made because of our evolution into pride. With the help of these compassionate beings from the cosmos, who have lived 2 billions of years longer than our species, we will be able to move forward into the cosmos. They have worked with other planets with reflective being who have also sunk into pride’s slavery, so they really can help us. With their help, we can embrace the Earth, each other, and a life of love, justice, and peace.
"All of us will be shocked at what will soon happen, because we will move out of a culture of selfishness, greed, and pride, into a culture of humility, equality, sharing, and meaning. However, in time, all of us will adjust and realize that our lives are much, much better as the future stands before us. Perhaps the most important thing that this will do is open us to a real, close relationship with each other, the Earth and the Earth’s many life-forms. This will allow the Earth to evolve without our cruel interference…and it will also allow us to evolve on and on into the cosmos.
"Soon you will find yourself in a small house that is made out of mud, ice, or other natural materials. You will be somewhat close to where you lived before, and there will be some other people around you. The federation will provide, as much as they can for everyone in the world to have the same amount of space in which to live. All of our other previously intrusive buildings, that were made out of things like concrete, wood, or plastic, will be gone. This means that there will no longer be cities or even towns as we once knew them. There will only be us, the Earth and its many life-forms. That’s because it is crucial for us to return to a unifying culture of the Earth, and throw off the culture of pride’s divisive nonsense. This must be done if we are to have a loving, humble evolution that has a future. We are meant to, and we must, accept and embrace these changes to live peacefully on this Earth from which we have come, and live peacefully with each other. This will not be a game, but it will be a necessary, vital reach for or our existence.
