Tag Archives: Robert Heinlein

I Dream An Anthem Of The World

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I dream an anthem of the world

How do you feel when you hear the national anthem of your country? The national anthem of my country is The Star-Spangled Banner. It speaks of the gallantry of the men who defended the country in the War of 1812. As I hear it and sing it, I feel a stirring in my soul. I feel gratitude for the efforts and accomplishments of those men in the past. I aspire to emulate their bravery.

I dream an anthem of the world

I don’t blame you if you feel something similar when you hear the national anthem of your country. Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) wrote:

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
“This is my own, my native land!”

I dream an anthem of the world

I dream an anthem of the world. At a certain point, something happened. I do not claim to know when this happened. The unity of humanity became more important than the success of any one nation. The New Message from God teaches this in the revelation “Entering the Greater Community.” This teaching is one of the chapters in the book “The Greater Community.” When the New Message from God speaks of the greater community, it speaks of a greater community of intelligent life. Humanity is emerging into this greater community at this moment.

“If you begin to think within this larger arena of life [humanity’s emergence into the greater community], you will begin to see things you could not see before, and you will see that human unity and cooperation are not simply a desirable future goal or a preferred option, but instead a necessity to assure the freedom and the future of the human family.”

I feel a desire for a song that celebrates human unity, and stirs my soul as much as The Star-Spangled Banner does. American author Robert Heinlein (1907-1988) imagined such an anthem. He didn’t write the words or the music, but imagined the title: “Hymn to Sovereign Peace.”

As I ponder such an anthem of the world, I hear a melody in my mind’s ear. It is the melody of the Christian hymn “In Christ there is no East or West.” John Oxenham wrote this hymn in 1908.

In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north,
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.

As I ponder such an anthem of the world, there is an emotional tone I feel. It is the feeling of the poem “I Dream a World” by American poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,

Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!

I dream an anthem of the world. Who knows, maybe it is a foolish dream. All I know is that it is a dream that I must dream.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Ready, Willing, Capable, Permitted

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Woman-Priest Ready, willing, capable, permittedThis post is my contribution to the 2015 observance of International Women’s Day. I also wish to share that the New Message from God has a number of things to say about women’s roles in a society. Furthermore, the New Message from God has some things to say on the subject that aren’t being said by very many other voices. These things appear in the revelation “The Age of Women,” received by Marshall Vian Summers in November of 2007. The New Message offers, shall we say, a larger perspective:

“It will be interesting, perhaps, for you to consider that in advanced nations in the universe—advanced nations in the Greater Community of intelligent life in which you live—that where there is a distinction between men and women, or male and female, in those particular races, the races that are not androgynous in nature, that the female is usually given priority in matters of conscience and spirituality.”

Ready, willing, capable, permitted

It’s not like women have never held these roles. Deborah judged Israel in the Old Testament book of Judges. Huldah was a prophetess in the days of Jeremiah. Priscilla was called by Paul as “one of his fellow workers in Christ Jesus.” Rabia Basri was a Sufi saint and poet.

“Clearly, if you look in the past century, you have seen in all of society’s evolution, in many places in the world, the rise of women to roles of prominence that were previously only assumed by men. This is a natural evolution and should be continued. There are now heads of state who are women, but they are still blocked from becoming religious leaders in many, many traditions and in many cultures. They can become the president of a nation, but not a priest or a rabbi or an imam, in many circumstances.”

Ready, willing, capable, permitted. I therefore wish to modify this well-known quote from the book Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein:

A man or woman should be ready, willing, capable, and permitted to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Ready, willing, capable, permitted. Furthermore, I wish to add a few things to Robert Heinlein’s list. A certain man or woman should be ready, willing, capable and permitted to celebrate mass, to lead Friday prayers in the mosque, initiate Buddhists as monks, say or sing the Kol Nidrei, pastor a church, prophesy, heal the sick, raise the dead, cure people with AIDS, cast out devils, display profound intuition, inexplicable knowing, wise perception of the present and future, wise understanding of the past.

Ready, willing, capable, permitted. I realize this may take a while to happen. That’s all right. It has to start somewhere.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Who Had The Vision To See The Danger?

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Spaceship_Earth_2 Who had the vision to see the danger?This is the sixth post in a series of posts in the New Message from God revelation “The Race To Save Human Civilization,” received by Marshall Vian Summers in 2009. The first post in the series is here. The previous post in the series is here.

2/10/2015 UPDATE: The next post in the series is here.

Who had the vision to see the danger?

Who had the vision to see the danger? What have we seen so far? Humanity faces wrenching adjustments, due to a disrupted climate, due to destructive use of a lush, abundant world. This destructive use came from ignoring the deeper intelligence within us. Our political and religious leaders are blind to these adjustments, as they only see the future as more of the past. This is the twentieth paragraph.

“All of this is inevitable, you see, given humanity’s attitudes, its use of the world and humanity’s relations between nations. Of course, you would reach a point of saturation. Of course, you would affect the world in such a way that the world would respond not to your benefit. Of course, you would hit a crisis point.”

Who had the vision to see the danger? At this point, I’m recalling the words of 20th Century American author Robert Heinlein in “Time Enough for Love”:

“No man is an island — ” Much as we may feel and act as Individuals, our race is — a single organism, always growing and branching — which must be pruned regularly to be healthy. This necessity need not be argued; anyone with eyes can see that any organism which grows without limit always dies in its own poisons.

I remember being taught as a Boy Scout that every natural environment had a certain “carrying capacity,” an ability to support a certain amount of life. When the amount of life in that environment exceeded the carrying capacity, there was either migration or starvation. The world is no different, it has a certain carrying capacity, but humanity acts as if it wasn’t going to hit a limit anytime soon.

Getting back to Marshall Vian Summers:

“There are visionary individuals who have seen this coming. But humanity is deaf and blind and dumb and proceeds willfully in its pursuits of wealth and power—easily corrupted, easily misled, desperate amongst its poorer peoples, unable to control its population, unable to control its use of resources, unable to restrain its conflicts and its historical prejudices. Like a willful child, it is going headlong into the future—heedless, not thinking ahead, not looking ahead, only meeting the needs of the day.”

Who had the vision to see the danger? I consider R. Buckminster Fuller to be one of those visionary individuals. In 1968, he published the book “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth,” a collection of ideas for an indefinitely sustainable world. Some people in my world consider Jacque Fresco to be another visionary. The average human being is such that if there are 7 billion of them in a group, they are deaf and blind and dumb, proceeding willfully in their pursuits of wealth and power, etc.

“At this moment, you can stand in the middle of a city of two million people and in 20 years, it will be desolate. What will happen? How will the world respond? If you can see without prejudice and fear, it will become apparent to you. You do not have to be a genius to see this. You only have to be wise and objective. But how people respond is a question that you cannot foretell. People can choose how they will respond. There is choice at this level.”

Who had the vision to see the danger? The city in which this revelation was received was Aleppo, Syria, which was a city of two million people in 2009, when this revelation was received. Reed Summers, son of Marshall Vian Summers wrote of those days here. I have written about what has happened since that time here. What is Aleppo now? A plundered, looted heap of fallen ruin, well on its way to being desolate in the year 2029. I regret to inform you that without a lot of magnanimity and cooperation on the part of a lot of people, that is the world’s future.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

How Will We Feed A Million Hungry Guests?

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multitude How will we feed a million hungry guests?This is the fourth in a series of posts on the New Message from God revelation, “The Race to Save Human Civilization,” received by Marshall Vian Summers in Aleppo, Syria in 2009. The first post in the series is here. The previous post in the series is here. The following is the thirteenth paragraph of The Race to Save Human Civilization.

2/10/2015 UPDATE: The next post in the series is here.

How will we feed a million hungry guests?

“The peoples who will have to flee the stricken areas, they will have to be absorbed by nations around the world. They cannot simply move next door because the nation next door is likely to be facing the same crisis. It will be a great diaspora, a dispersion of peoples out of their homeland away from their traditional way of life into a very different set of circumstances. This will produce greater strain and difficulty.”

How will we feed a million hungry guests? As I pondered this, I could imagine that people living on an island facing rising sea levels couldn’t easily move to the island next door, as the island next door would be facing rising sea levels as well. People living in a coastal region facing rising sea levels couldn’t easily move to the coastal region next door. It was mentioned in an earlier paragraph that millions would have to flee the arid regions of the world. People fleeing an arid region couldn’t easily move to the arid region next door.

“Primary here is literally how will you feed the peoples of the world when the world loses 30% of its agriculture, which is what you are really facing, you see? Violent weather, the change in the climate and the impact upon the world’s geologic and biologic systems will create so much imbalance, that even if you could find a home for all of the displaced peoples, how would you feed them? And the residents of the receiving nations, how will they respond towards this? These are questions that have yet to be answered, questions that you should now consider—you who stand at the threshold of great change, you who perhaps have the luxury to consider these things and to plan your life and to rearrange your priorities.”

How will we feed a million hungry guests? The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel was shown a valley of dry bones. God asked the prophet “Son of man, can these bones live?” The prophet answered “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” It is as if the purpose of this paragraph is to get us out of thinking that with a little technical and logistical cleverness, we’ll get through this series of big, ongoing disruptions. It’s going to take more than that.

“The cities will become so filled with people that it will be very difficult to provide food and water for them, even in the well-established countries, even in the countries where there is greater affluence. How will you feed a million new people added to a city of millions already? The teeming city, you can hear the sounds. How much can a city hold? What are the limits of its provision? What is the tolerance of its people?”

How will we feed a million hungry guests? 20th Century American writer Robert Heinlein wrote: “Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.” The problems are so much more than just food and water. How well can you live without the artifacts of your culture? How well will people be able to live without a certain amount of private space? What kind of stress will the million new visitors put on the physical and social infrastructure? The phrase “strain and difficulty” mentioned above, is a very polite way of putting it.

“The situation will become so severe that even families in the wealthy nations will have to consider taking a family from a poorer nation into their home. How many people will be willing to do this? How bad does it have to get before people’s preferences, prejudices and personal requirements are superceded by a critical need?”

How will we feed a million hungry guests? You may not consider yourself to be wealthy. But if you have options as to what to eat, what to wear, and so forth, you are relatively wealthy. You might even be rich without thinking you’re rich. I wonder whether anyone gets it when I write about how far out of your current self you’re going to have to get to be a strong contributor during times like these. I wonder whether I get it.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

A Reckless, Adolescent, Destructive Race

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Q-Confronts-Picard A reckless, adolescent, destructive raceI have read of science fiction being described as an inoculation against the shock of the future. There is something in the American television series Star Trek: The Next Generation which resonates with a teaching of the New Message from God.

In the first episode of the series, “Encounter at Farpoint,” the officers of the starship Enterprise are confronted by a much more powerful being known as Q. The officers are transported to a courtroom of mid-21st-century Earth, considered to be a time of Earth’s barbaric past. Q, playing the judge, says to Captain Picard, “You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage race!”

A reckless, adolescent, destructive race

It is as if the New Message from God has a three-count indictment against humanity. This indictment is given in many places and in many ways, but a succinct version is given in the revelation “God’s Ancient Covenant with Humanity.”

“This is part of growing up—ceasing to be a reckless race, an adolescent race, a destructive race. You would end war when you realized that you have to preserve the world and protect yourself against intervention from the Greater Community. It would change entirely your understanding of your situation and what would motivate you to do what is really correct and productive.”

I consider this teaching to use the words “reckless,” “adolescent” and “destructive” in their common, everyday contexts. I consider the word “adolescent” to mean “considering one’s self as impervious to the consequences of one’s choices.” Or “desiring both freedom of action, and protection from the results of those actions.” Or “believing one’s experience encompasses the whole of life.” Perhaps it could be more succinctly said as “Adolescents think they are bulletproof, they think they know everything, and they want it all now.”

I take a certain comfort in the use of the word “adolescent” in the indictment, as there is a implication that humanity is developing and maturing. But will we mature fast enough? Or will the word “Stupid” be our epitaph? I recall this quote from Robert Heinlein in the science fiction classic “Time Enough for Love”

Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime: the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.

You will now answer to the charge of being a reckless, adolescent, destructive race! How do you plead?

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

How Shall We Prepare? 2014 Encampment Day 2

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Great-change-sandstorm-approaching-riyadh How shall we prepare

I have mentioned on earlier occasions that the New Message from God teaches people to prepare for difficult times ahead. These difficult times will not just be in one place, but worldwide. These difficult times will not be caused by one particular event, but by a series of big ongoing disruptions. The New Message from God calls this series of big ongoing disruptions The Great Waves of Change.

How shall we prepare?

I have read The Great Waves of Change. I have a review of The Great Waves of Change at Amazon. I have an expanded review of The Great Waves of Change at this blog. On the second day of the recent Encampment, a good bit of time was spent contemplating the difficult times ahead in specific detail. We considered disrupted climate, environmental degradation, declining resources, involuntary human migrations, the wars of desperation that might result from the above events.

How shall we prepare? Many participants shared their experience of thinking about these difficult times ahead. One might think that contemplating such difficulties might put a damper on the enthusiasm that was in the room on the previous evening. But it’s not like the people in the room haven’t considered the Great Waves of Change on previous occasions. I didn’t share my experience with the room. I recalled the song lyric “‘Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here.” I recalled the lengthy Robert Heinlein quote ending in “Specialization is for insects.” I felt a need to cultivate adaptability.

One participant shared a feeling of “a quiet resolve,” and offered gratitude for the warning being provided. Another young man spoke of the need for resourcefulness and creativity. One participant said “All my life has been preparation for this.”

This took us to about halfway during the morning session on Day 2. How shall we prepare? I’m still thinking about it, but I know I need to prepare. I need to encourage others to prepare. How shall I do that? I don’t know, but I know I need to encourage others to prepare.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.