Heaven on Earth
by Rainbow Madonna
Imagine you came to earth from heaven and looked around and saw a world of hunger, lack, war and poverty; a world where people say they want heaven when they die but right now are willing to participate in a system that breeds inequity. The master calls us to the wedding feast, will anyone come? People say they want to die and go to heaven. Well, perhaps we need to simply lay down, close our eyes and die enough to our concepts and preconceptions to arrive at heaven right here and now. People expect Armaggedon and experience it all around them. Indeed, more energy is put into armaggedon than heaven. Why is that?
What would your life be like if you were in heaven? Would you be going to work every day; chasing the money to buy your food, pay your rent or your mortgage and every other thing that consumes our lives? People spend years pursuing their American dream: a house, a car, and whatever toys they choose and at the end all the toys, the houses, the cars are taken away and returned to the bank; people pay for medical costs at their demise, pay for the burial plot and hope that the place they arrive at when their bodies are gone, heaven, will be a release from the way of life on earth.
Why on a planet which even in western spiritual mythology is believed to have been created as a vegetarian paradise free from death are we paying to be born and die and for every moment in between struggle to feed and shelter ourselves? If everything on this planet belongs to our Father, given to us by our Mother, does it make sense that we are charging each other for our Father/Mother's gifts?
Perhaps it is time for true courage: perhaps it is time for those people whose hearts are longing for heaven to throw off the shackles of a world system that will never produce peace on earth. We must declare our allegiance and alliance with the Creator and with one another: love the Creator with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves. Those words are a practical prescription for a way of life on this planet. It is time to get down to the business of creating heaven right here and now. Many people in this country espouse a belief and faith in the teachings of Yeshua, Jesus. They hope that Jesus is going to save them and that when they leave their bodies his kingdom will be waiting for them. In his kingdom goods are held in common, everyone is fed and there is no war, hunger or disease. Most of the worlds' major faiths have heaven realms in which their devotees hope to dwell...after death. Didn't Yeshua say to die daily? How do we get there from here? We must be willing to choose spiritual living, spiritual community right here and now. Is it the governments of the world that will bring us this freedom, this way of life? Is it the economic structure which makes us run from morning until night to meet our basic needs? Will we ever be able to buy heaven and right relationships? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...are these empty words people are parroting in churches across the country? Heaven on earth is possible. It is a realization amongst the common people and an agreement to love one another as brothers and sisters and a commitment to creative transformation. There is enough on the planet at this moment to feed and shelter each and every person. No one need go hungry. We have evolved sufficiently to respect persons of every faith and tradition. Religious wars can end. We can fulfill the bodhissatvas's vow to alleviate the suffering of every living being, of all our relations. Choosing heaven on earth requires courage and creativity and the ability to bear the ridicule of those who believe it can never come. Greater things than these shall you do. Let us do the greatest thing: contribute to the liberation of the earth and all her people who are groaning in travail awaiting deliverance. Are you part of the deliverance and do you long to be delivered? The transformation to heaven on earth requires practical and careful application. Yes, a world based on love and compassion rather than on fear and economic incentives is possible. We look forward to working with the professed body of Christ to get real now.