Creating Heaven on Earth

Like most people, I want to see a world based on love where every person is fed, valued and nurtured. I want to see an earth that is cared for and flourishing. Instead of economic policies based on consumerism, I’d like to see countries adopt an economic policy of “loverism.” Loverism is investing our manufacturing and technological capabilities in products and services that are life affirming. We know we have the technology to feed everyone on this planet. We know we can make renewable sources of energy affordable for everyone. We know that preventative medicine works and we can stay healthier.

There’s a story about a man who dies and is given a choice of whether to go to heaven or hell. He says that he wants to see them both. He’s taken to hell and there he sees thousands of skinny, emaciated people although there are tables heaped with food as far as the eye can see. He notices that each soul has a spoon tied to his or her hand that is so long that it can’t be brought up to their mouths to eat no matter how hard they try.

The man then says that he wants to see heaven. In heaven, he sees the same endless array of tables heaped with food and the same sort of spoons tied to people’s hands. But in heaven, each person looks robust and fit. He asks the guide why the difference and the guide says look again. Then the man notices that in heaven, the people are feeding each other.

We live in an age where the interconnectedness of all life can no longer be denied. Tests showed that shortly after bombing of Iraq began, radiation levels in England spiked. On an every day basis, our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors impact others in ways we don’t even realize.

I heard that Bill Clinton has started a foundation to solve all the world’s pressing problems. To me, solving the world’s pressing problems is easy. It starts with the recognition that we are one human family and that what we all really, really, really, want is to love and be loved. Love has no limits. Love takes the form of kindness, compassion, mercy, tolerance, forgiveness, joy, and feeding each other, if not literally, than metaphorically. We feed each other by our attitudes and our intentions. Gandhi said be the change you want to see. To have heaven on earth we must hold heaven in our hearts and let the love that we are shine fearlessly.