I need you to put on your thinking cap for this op-ed piece. Have you ever looked up into a clear, star-filled nighttime sky and wondered if mankind is alone in the universe? Allow me to play angel’s assistant for a few minutes. What if the answer to that particular question is no. What if we’re not alone? What if other intelligent species are not only out there, but also aware of Earth’s location and its inhabitants? How huge would that be for us on this planet? Let’s consider the view from out there. Yes… out there as in space – the final frontier.
Some of you may be laughing right now. Others may be rolling your eyes. That’s ok. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Be they positive or negative, words stimulate emotions. Emotions generate ideas. Ideas administrate actions. And actions can change the world.
A light year is the distance light travels in the span of one Earth year. In one light year, light travels roughly 6 trillion miles. That’s a distance which is practically beyond our comprehension. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second – which translates to 670,616,629 miles per hour. If a craft traveling at the speed of light could circumnavigate our planet 7.5 times in a single second. That’s incalculably fast. In one light year, light travels roughly 6 trillion miles. If human beings are industrious enough to build telescopes and software-powered devices sophisticated enough to identify planets as far away as 100-200 light years away, then wouldn’t logic and common sense suggest that civilizations potentially more advanced would be able to pinpoint Earth’s location, too?
Assuming that other civilizations out there were more advanced than humans, what if they had access to our radio waves and our satellite signals? If that’s true, then they have full access to our news telecasts. And if they have full access to our news telecasts, they see human beings engaging in war, crime, and greed. They would see many accounts of our disease, poverty, and discrimination. Hold that thought.
Let’s dive deeper. What if the folks out there worship the same Lord and Savior we do here? What if Jesus Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross to wash away the sins of mankind was universally acknowledged and revered? What if the earth was considered a singularly sacred place solely because of His sacrifice for us? What if our planet is the mecca of the known – and unknown – universe? What if our extraterrestrial counterparts used their high technology and/or their vibrational energies to remain completely invisible to us? That would enable them to visit terra firma without fear of detection or detention whenever they wish.
What if our first cousins out there are watching us closely because they’re waiting for us to evolve? What if they long ago ended their own participation in warfare and aggression and other adverse societal behaviors – and are hoping that we do the same so they can make first contact with us? What if they have technologies to share with us strategies that would end world hunger and climate change here? What if they wanted to give us the keys to wormhole space navigation? What if they wanted a delegation of our people to travel to their home planets for diplomatic purposes?
Still with me? I know I’m throwing out some very high concept ideas. I cannot claim that any one of them is true, but then again, you cannot claim that any one of them is not true. Cool, right?
Logic bomb time. Do you feel with any degree of certainty that human beings are the most highly evolved people in all of creation? If the answer is no, then my proposals just became that much more plausible at least in theory. If the answer is yes, I would humbly refer you to the Old Testament of the Bible. If you read just the book of Ezekiel, you will quickly discover one of two conclusions to be the case: [1] there were lots of angels present, or [2] there were lots of people from places other than Earth present. I’ll leave it up to your interpretation.
In my not-so-humble opinion, human beings are not ready to encounter other beings. We simply don’t have our act together mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, or relationally. If we don’t treat our own people with love and respect and patience and forgiveness, then why would we extend those same things to people from other galaxies? If we all don’t celebrate God amongst ourselves the way we should, how can we share His gospel with those from elsewhere?
What if the first “aliens” we actually meet face-to-face aren’t red or blue or purple or green? What if their goal isn’t the domination of this “blue marble,” but rather the preservation of earth and all life therein? What if they have two eyes, two ears, two arms, two legs, and one head, too? What if they actually look just like us? What if they’re us fully actualized?
The external view of our planet is very beautiful. The internal view of our planet – especially as it relates to mankind – needs a lot of work.
I really don’t think we’re alone in the universe. I sometimes wonder what they see in their view from out there.
