If I knew there was something I could do to get all the people to destroy their weapons, I would certainly make the effort. If I could force the world into it, I would do it at the risk of being hated and despised. For all the nations of the world to disband their military forces is a dream which seems impossible. But if the vision of John is truly inspired by some God with a plan for Humanity, it would seem to be a necessary event. So that the millenium of Peace on Earth may commence, and direct our fates onto the path which leads to our resurrection. I expect that there would have to be some clear and present threat to the survival of our species on Planet Earth, in order turn the people onto that path. A Great Tyrant may be needed to do that job, and a person with access to a greater than worldly power. Prepare for peace, not with superior fire-power but with trust in the power of faith and the aide of a higher-power. So many of the world's problems seem to be solvable through violent means, even when the application of violence is more civilly applied. The threat of violence is often enough to curb some human behaviours; but the threat of punishment from a God after we die, has never been very effective. And of course the more worldly threat of incarceration seems ineffective for some people; who might be perceived as victims of a genetic pre-disposition. If we believe that we serve some great and noble cause, even our own life is a sacrifice that we may be willing to make.
I'm inclined to believe in the durability of the human spirit beyond our mortal ends, and believe in an enduring accountability. Yet I have considered the possibility that God's unconditional love is so great, that it has the power to eliminate all accountability. I think we do not need to be forgiven by God so much as we need to be forgiven by other individual person's who exercise an independent judgement. And of course we need to be able to live with ourselves; thousands of years into the future can we look back upon the things that we've done in mortal life without regrets, or at least with the ability to say that "We did not know better." Who among us would be willing to live forever with an accountability to torment us indefinitely; knowing that it would somehow serve a great and noble cause? It's easy for us to give up our lives, hard to give up our happiness or the desire for happiness. According to the founding fathers of the U.S. Constitution, everyone enjoys a God given right to pursue happiness, but should we obtain that at the expense and suffering of others? I don't think that anyone deserves to be punished, instead I think that some people should be favored more or less. God certainly hasn't guaranteed us equal opportunities in life, or equal favor in terms of endowed intelligence or the circumstances of our nativity. Perhaps God does guarantee our happiness in the long-run of forever, so long as he's willing to grant us the strength to endure that long. I think it's within the realm of possibility that God does love some people more or less than others. But in the long run of forever we may take turns at being most loved, there is a time and a place where each of us would take a turn at being in authority. The world is very good to those people who get to make the rules, and define their own terms and conditions, of course we will chose the conditions which are most favorable to ourselves. If we can command a fee for our life's work and then demand compensation from everyone, we could take our turn at being wealthy too.
A Treasure of great and true value lies buried within this land; and within all the land, but who among us can possess all the land in order to claim that treasure? The man that can overcome his own mortality will claim it, is he a person of faith or material wealth? How can faith empower one man to produce a believable threat to the survival of his species on Planet Earth? What Righteousness is equal to the Strength to destroy the Earth, and thereby deprive the people of all their precious works? Only such arguments as these may persuade and justify that there is any value in "meekness" over the idea that strength and numbers will overcome all obstacles. Individually and collectively, human-beings exercise a power to influence reality. But is there yet one or more person's of even greater power within the Universe, with a will to aide one or all of us? In order to make the Earth and Sun last forever there would have to be an application of technologies beyond our ken. And if the Earth can't be made to last forever, where would our resurrected live? The nature of that wonderful treasure must be the human-experience itself, to have it all without exception. Because the true nature of wealth is all about personal experience, to have more and varied experiences makes us truly wealthy. Can we choose that for ourselves, or must we be chosen by someone else, a person of supreme authority perhaps? And if we can choose for ourselves; does it sound desirable, to experience all of Human suffering? It would seem that the Human brain doesn't even have the capacity to hold such a wealth of memories. If it were even possible for one of us to claim such a prize, our Ancient of Days would be produced as the result, our great patriarch, father of us all.
But is it something we need, a patriarch and a resurrection? Or can we exist without flesh and bone? Perhaps the Universe holds greater opportunities in store for us than everlasting life as a human-being. Perhaps the vision of a resurrection is false and not God's plan, our friend John was merely a hopeful dreamer inspired by a story of a resurrected saviour. A story which itself may be untrue; hard to imagine a person ascending bodily into the Heavens, where would they be living if not here on Earth? Every male child must have a biological father, but where is the father of our saviour Jesus? Is he somewhere else or yet to come in due course of time? Is he also to be a born person among us, like the son? Or are all of those religious ideas nonsense? They inspire good feelings in us so we desire it to be truth so choose to trust the authority of our Gospel Storytellers and our modern day religious teachers. But can we trust our faith to all those things that inspire good feelings in us? Should we believe that our inspiration comes from sources external as an offer of guidance? Simply experiencing strong and good feelings about an idea may not be good enough to help us discern true and noble principles. As most Americans experience strong feelings about their right to defend themselves with firearms, taking a life may be justified if our own life is at risk they argue. Is that a true principle, is there truly a case where murder becomes justifiable? Peace on Earth is bound to make some people unhappy as they lose some authority that physical strength grants them. When men become unable to subdue one another by forceful means, how can the world be governed by such meekness as this? Is "Swords into Plowshares" a story that we can truly live with, or do genetic pre-dispositions guarantee continued conflict and division among us? Perhaps it's beyond anyone's ability to change human behavior to such an extent that meekness defines us more so than violence, neither God or Man can accomplish such a thing as this. Historical events have pretty much proven the matter, human rationality or divine authority has not the power to unite us. Extinction surly becomes inevitable and there can be no hope for more life in a resurrection. I would prefer to be able to write a more hopeful story, but my observations in life have made me cynical.
