“Dare to go beyond the usual, the ordinary, and do something glorious, something extraordinary for mankind, otherwise you will be dead and buried even before they put you in the ground.”
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
Throughout history there have been attempts to build the kingdom of heaven on earth. Some have been religious: in the mid-17th century Britain, radical groups like the Diggersand True Levellerssought to create an egalitarian paradise of “community in spirit and community in earthly treasury”. One of their leaders, Gerrard Winstanley, wrote “that everyone would share in the fruits of their labour and their love of Christ”. Some have been secular: famously, in the 20th century, the Russian Revolution sought to create a socialist society that would eliminate centuries of oppression. The Diggers were suppressed and the Soviet Union ended in failure, but it has not stopped people seeking this shining hope for humankind. Despite all the setbacks, the yearning never dies because it comes from within our souls. We can see it as a memory of “Paradise Lost” or as spoken of in Jesus’ prayer:
“May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.”
So to stay faithful to our innermost calling, what lessons can we learn from these apparent defeats? What can we do to make the kingdom of heaven on earth a reality?
Embracing our Vision
We need to have a vision of heaven on earth that we can work towards each day. We can carry it in our hearts, visualise it, pray for it, meditate on it, take small steps to make it happen inside ourselves and in the world around us. This is our guiding star that will shape our destiny. Remember we are visionaries, not dreamers. We are not simply sitting round a campfire, singing songs, wistfully thinking, “if only...”, or wishing without really believing. We are builders. We are here on earth to make it happen. This is our mission.
In a society that so often defines itself by what it is against, rather than what is for, we can focus on working towards a positive vision of heaven on earth. We can use our creative energy on building our future. If we meet an obstacle in building the kingdom, then we deal with it in a way that is in tune with our ideals. This brings us to the issue of ends and means.
Understanding Ends and Means
How we build that vision is all important. Some in every generation seem to need to relearn the message “the ends do not justify the means”. The kingdom of heaven on earth is not built by throwing paint over an artwork or disrupting the lives of ordinary citizens as they seek to go about their daily business. But the issue runs even deeper than that. Ends and means are inseparable. Imagine our world that we seek to build as a tapestry, whose threads are composed by the means used to create it. If our methods are violent, egotistical, lacking in awareness and understanding, then inevitably these defects will be woven into the end result. Equally, if the means we use are full of love, wisdom, honesty and integrity, then this will become part of the fabric of what we seek to create.
And the single most vital and potent element in this great work is ourselves. We alone can give all our abilities and qualities their meaning and purpose, we alone can infuse our work with our own unique gifts. That means we can work on ourselves, work to heal all we can in our lives, work to free ourselves from the grip of addictions, from the need to be ‘better than’ or ‘worse than’ others, and simply understand we are one element in a vast project, bringing our own special flavour to it, united with millions of other souls in a glorious work for all humankind. This is the great lesson from the past: people have sought to change the world without changing themselves: so as they gained power, all their unresolved issues have come to the surface: perhaps they abuse their position to enrich themselves or seek revenge or force their will on people. And so a once noble ideal is betrayed and turned into a tyranny.
The importance of working on ourselves goes beyond even this. Because we are all connected spiritually, so is the work we do. A single act of kindness in one part of the planet can affect someone thousands of miles away who at that moment needed that loving energy. People have no idea how powerful we are and how much good we can do in our daily lives if they deal with whatever confronts them in a spirit of humanity.
We need to understand that working on ourselves goes hand in hand with working in the world. What we bring to the table as people will shape what we will contribute. And for this we do not need to be perfect, or saints or geniuses: we simply need to be willing to make whatever progress we can with ourselves and give to the world according to our consciousness which will grow and evolve with time.
Being in the Evolutionary Flow
So too, will the kingdom of heaven on earth. Jesus said that heaven is within us: like a seed it grows as we nurture it, and we can share its gifts with the world as others have done and will do in the future. We are on an evolutionary journey that will take us to our heaven on earth and we can choose to go with the flow of this irresistible spiritual current. Remember that inside us, and in millions of small acts of compassion and enlightenment that take place each day, heaven is already present in the world. We are in a never-ending process, as each divine wave draws us further towards a constantly evolving heaven.
By Simenon Honoré
Any views expressed are not necessarily those of Spirit of the Rainbow as a whole.
To discover more, read We Are One – A Manifesto for Humanity by Simenon Honoré.
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