Thank Grog It’s Firday!
I can’t believe I’m saying this…but maybe my post a couple of weeks back, asking for an Alien Invasion is for real, and may be closer to the truth than we want to admit!
In that post, I made the point that humans only really seem to come together in times of great global conflict. And that maybe it would take an alien invasion to bring us all together (hence the relevancy of this TSTO event!).
But, I thought I was mostly joking…until I read some of the headlines this week.
Aliens. They are real…and they are messing with our military!!
In a couple of amazing articles from the NYTimes, and tons of other news outlets including an interview on 60 Minutes, the Pentagon has admitted that it spent upwards of $22 Million a year, researching military reports of encounters with UFOs. This was followed by an interview with a Navy pilot who spoke of such an encounter, as well as VIDEO FOOTAGE of a snippet of this encounter.
So…Oh My Gosh! doesn’t really do justice to this video.
As I said in the first post, or in comments, only we earthlings seem to be full of so much hubris as to believe that we are the only intelligent beings in an almost endless universe. So, the thought of aliens visiting, hanging out, and perhaps even shaping the evolution of mankind, is at least a possibility.
And let’s be honest…some of the world’s greatest “humans,” seem to possess “other-wordly” traits, that would make their lives on earth seem pointed in their effort to educate mankind in a way that would keep us from destroying ourselves, that could even include alien intention.
I’m not going to go so far as to say that Buddha, Christ, and any number of more recent spiritual leaders all preached very similar messages (before mankind convoluted the messages with huge, rambling, self-serving texts), and perhaps were imbued with a bit of “Alien common sense.” But, the fact is, at the root of almost every major religion (Scientology excepted), is a message of unconditional love, and doing the right thing, simply because it is the right thing to do.
So that brings us to another question… If Jesus and Buddha and Shiva all came back to warn us about our danger of self-annihilation, would we believe them…or would it bring more turmoil to the planet, as we all took sides, hoping that “our guy” won the debate over who had the better message for “hope?”
For that matter…would we even recognize them?
As it turns out, there are a TON of Buddhas (29 so far). So, I’m going to say that the programmers and writers probably got it right by going with Gautama. He is more a more modern version (hence the motorbike and tattoos), and will probably end up hanging out with Jesus over pizza, as they lament the current human condition. They would have invited Shiva, but let’s be honest…with six hands, the guy can be kind of a pizza hog.
It is always interesting to me to think that at the time that they roamed the earth, these guys were just “average folks” (if you set aside the miracles and other-worldly stuff). They may have pretty much blended right in. I have certainly seen my fair share of guys that look like Jesus, wandering around at the Oregon Country Fair and Gratful Dead shows.
So…the writers are clearly NOT USC fans! Count me in on that one…
But I love the concept that Frink offers…and that Jesus is here to check us out!
And when it comes to Buddha, as I said there are a ton to choose from, which is why the programmers and animators kinda got Gautama and Hotei or Pu-Tai (AKA laughing Buddha), mixed up. Thankfully, they didn’t get him mixed up with “Smiling Buddha” which was the code name for the first Nuclear Bomb test by India, or we could have all ended up with all of our towns being nuked! But, I digress…
The real reason this update rocks, is that it does personify the deities, while reminding us that we don’t need to limit our view of how we approach spirituality.
The fact is, whether it is Aliens, or the second coming of a bunch of deities that are here to try and get us to shape up, or we are finally going to find out that these guys were in fact aliens of some sort from the get go…we are blessed to have them as a reminder that we humans are basically silly, superstitious, and mindfully ignorant, when it comes to doing the right things for the betterment of ALL mankind.
Is it any wonder that they seem to be throwing up their hands (in the case of Shiva, many hands), when it comes to getting us to care about one another enough to make sure everyone has a place to live, and enough to eat? Or, have we reached the “tipping point” where more and more, at this time of year when we used to be “kinder and gentler” to one another, we have become more divided into tribal warfare both figuratively and literally?
Whether we believe in an afterlife, or retribution for bad actions, it’s simply worth living a good life, because it has its own reward here… OR, you can worry about Jesus messing with our day-to-day from his laptop in heaven.
Look. We know the Aliens are going to lose. All of the movies turn out that way. What we don’t know, is if it is all part of one big plan to get us to stop being so myopically self-centered and narcissistic, and to actually start reaching out to people of every creed, nationality and social construct.
I bought Jesus…and Shiva…and love having Buddha (even if it is the wrong one) tooling around town on his Harley. They are a daily reminder that there are is a higher plateau of common sense, that likely starts with doing something for someone, without benefit to yourself.
But in the end…every act of kindness benefits the giver, as well as the recipient, while working toward global solutions that sustain and grow from a base of equity and parity. That’s the message I want to remember every time I see these guys in my TSTO town.
So, if aliens are real…they are either taking their time to plot our demise, or they are here to do their best to make sure that we don’t pull the trigger on the last event that takes us all out. If they are here (and the US Military seems to be saying “something” is here), then I say the sooner we make contact, and stop thinking that we are the “supreme beings” of our existence, the better!
Bring it on. Like every great religious figure, they come in peace. How do I know? Because if they can get Navy pilots to say, “Oh My Gosh” as they realize that whoever was dancing with them at Mach 2 could have destroyed them in an instant, but chose NOT to…well, that bodes well for how this plays out.
Otherwise…it’s good to remember the phrase I told my grandsons last week when they were asking about political and religious affiliations in the family…“Republican, Democrat, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or Atheist…in the end, we all taste the same!”
May you all enjoy the holidays, no matter how you celebrate! Do something nice for someone else. In the end, kindness is what will save us from ourselves.
OK… Now for a little Christmas Bonus…
It was 30 years ago on Thursday, that the “Claymation Christmas Celebration” debuted on CBS. It went on to win an Emmy award, and there was an album on Atlantic Records the following year. I did all of the music, and a ton of the sound for this…and it was my connection to Matt Groening and the world of animation (three two degrees of separation).
If you want to hear some of the music, and read about the journey,
CLICK HERE…
Every year I get a rash of emails, asking where they can buy the record. Unfortunately, it is mired in the malaise that is Atlantic Records. I am working on getting it on iTunes for next year, as it will be the 30th anniversary of the album.
Meanwhile… Here’s a couple of samples. Fun stuff…still holds up pretty well.
Joy to the World
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Angels We Have Heard on High
A blast from the LONG past! A lifetime ago…
Me, circa 1987…surrounded by a ton of “high tech antiques.”
