We are not alone. Besides being all these humans and other Earthly animals, you are all non-Earthly animals. There are more civilizations than there are stars visible in the night sky. This is part of physical law. The Universe is complete, and evolution is in the cards. Biological development is an innate quality of the mass-energy system... it is a structural aspect of dimensionality.

If we ever develop communications with advanced beings, we will probably find that we have a great deal in common. The demands of our environment have molded us into our basic form; and these demands probably exist in a very similar mix on most worlds capable of supporting development of life. The laws of physics force a drop of water into the shape it takes as it falls from the sky. The laws of reality have shaped us too.

Even the complex technological systems we’ve developed are probably not unique in the Universe. Given the same needs, the same set of available materials and the same laws of interaction for those materials, chances are that everything has been done before, an infinite number of times, as it will be again.

Most of these civilizations are advanced well beyond our understanding. For the most part, they simply leave us alone; for they know that the best thing for us at this stage of development is to be left to form our own identity. The richness of the Universe is in its variety of individuality. The "others" know that they are us, and they want our development to be guided from within, as much as possible. During these earliest phases of development, external impressions would tend to have us turn out to be more of what there is already, externally, in our neighborhood. They already have themselves as they are. They want to see what we can be. If we are unique to the area, and we survive ourselves, we may develop as a necessary contribution to the successful function of the super-system. A little prodding might come to order now and then; but if we fail, we naturally abort ourselves. We want the best for ourselves, but there are a number of trade-offs involved. There is a limit to how pre-mature a successful forced birth could be.

Obviously, I’m not an expert. Recent history has brought me to these suspicions. Perhaps the unhampered development of individuality outweighs even our survival. We aren’t "handled" until we’ve developed to the point of being "born" into higher civilization. The general vector of conscious development is in the direction of goodness — we improve ourselves in the ways that are better for our unique condition.

Less recent history may be sprinkled with outside influence — like seeds set every so often, to aid with an eventual interface, when it is appropriate. The bible may be largely a result of such influence; but I suspect that the messages were subverted by the pressures of the times; and were simplified in the first place, then modified, to be more understandable and palatable.

In a more complex view of this, advanced civilizations may have modified our evolution — or even initiated it. In a sense, this would be creation as a hybrid of evolution.

The bible may involve alien encounters. These accounts are probably colored with projections of our behavior and fears.

I suspect that we still color the encounters — they blow our mind, rendering our accounts distorted. This would be particularly true where fear was generated. The "Fire In The Sky" subject might have been inadvertently hurt, or even killed. Perhaps the UFO had to fix him. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t have been bothered with the risks involved in returning him.

For the UFOs to openly communicate with us would be very difficult. We must open our minds to the idea before it can work. We have to be ready. We have to want it. We can’t want it until we’ve developed an understanding of what to expect. This means that the process has to be a slow one; chipped away at a bit at a time.

There may be numerous reasons why the advanced races isolate the fledglings of our historical type. If such communication is not handled at an appropriate time, its results could be anti-productive, or less than optimal with respect to a given potential. The sudden introduction of advanced technology could wreck an economy, unless the culture is prepared for it. To be prepared for it, the culture has to first become aware of the reality of its options, without jumping to various conflicting conclusions. The wealthy segment of society must feel secure that they will remain rich, even though the poor will also become rich in every way that really matters. The various cultures around the planet have to feel comfortable with each other — if not loving — to such an extent that an abundance of potentially devastating power will not pose a threat of self-annihilation.

More important though, than any of that, might be our state of development. Our survival or tribulation probably takes a back seat to the issue of unique development. We must be left to blossom into our characteristics as driven from within, via evolution. This could be an ultimate form of communication with the Universe. We are some word in a sentence. It remains to be seen how big and unique a word we are.

Finally, the defining issue might really be something so seemingly non-technological as love. For the "technology" that is the state of our biology, this could be the most important factor. When we realize that we can love ourselves, that we want to, that we do; we will have reached that point of full development, and will realize that there is no point to life greater than to open our hearts to the Universe. Perhaps when we sincerely do this, collectively, we will initiate open communication with our more advanced selves. They will know we are loving, because they will feel it. They will know we reject our jealousies and anti-productive conflicts, and yearn to rise above that, to higher awareness.

Perhaps heaven then comes to these worlds. The most important ingredient is already there — love. There is no end to work; though it may be lessened and improved at every turn. The people cherish one another, and they love the work too; for they are appreciated for it. It is a real expression of their love for themselves to support each other and fill all needs and desires.

Depending on your current frame of mind, this may seem impossible for any evolving planet to accomplish, let alone ours. On the other hand, if you think about it, we are very close to such a heavenly state in many ways, in many places, at many times. Simply recall some of the joy in your life. Realize that none of it would have been possible without the efforts you applied to sustain yourself and bring it about, directly or indirectly. There have probably been some times, if not most times, when you enjoyed your job. You may even enjoy some of the unavoidable conflicts of life, weather you came out ahead or not. It’s always a privilege to be involved in the process of life. The future of development may never achieve perfection, unless you realize that its potential, and its realization of variety, is the attainment of true perfection.

Different planets are going to develop different ways in which their beings cherish one another. On ours, it is largely through vehicles like the David Letterman Show. There are a wide variety of arts and entertainment, sports, travel, education, etc., that fill this bill for a variety of people and times. Beings develop these abilities with relative meaning.

Things might go better, or last longer, if we had a general acceptance of ourselves as all being our other selves — as having the Universe as a common soul. In a complex world, there will always be problems and attendant conflicts; but their number and severity will continually diminish if we all go about our day with the realization in the back of our minds that we are all You. We are all each other on a different "track" in time; with its own relative memory and prioritizer. Knowing this could do wonders for aligning our priorities.

As conflict is reduced, it breeds less conflict too; and anti-snowball effects could be set in motion, where tensions were getting passed around. The biggest test for this is probably the fundamental source of tensions generated, for example, in poor employer-employee relations. People don’t like to feel subservient, wasted, or under-appreciated. Unfortunately, some of us have developed a driving need to find pleasure in a state of power that deals this out. We openly take pleasure in feeling superior to the people we struggled to dominate.

Such attitudes must be expected as a product of competitive evolution. Our power of reason may recognize the advantages of community sense and constructive competition over the more primitive forms of ego gratification. If this power is great enough to reach all the political and military circles of the world, there will be no pleasurable difference between heaven and life on Earth.