“The only thing we have to fear is Fear itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

There is nothing to Fear – that is what I’ve learned in my journey of life.  And it’s a wonderful thing to discover.  But in order to throw away Fear, we must discover ourselves, our Self, we must open our eyes to what We are.  This is what the world and America in particular must do in our day, for the Us seems to have closed its eyes as to what We the People are.  Freedom of Religion is essential, but did we really forget who we are in the process?

“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” — George Washington

Before we can talk constructively about politics, before we can realize that we have nothing to fear, before we can even really begin to live, we must rediscover ourselves — we must remember the message.  So I take a break from the political posts in an effort to put us on the same sheet of music so to speak — or at least, to die trying.  After all, it is the Easter Season.  And we can’t talk about how best to govern in the US until we remember what We are — what you and I are, who the Us was, is, and will be for as long as We the People decide to exist.  Fear not, the message is good news!  For once you again understand what We are, Life becomes so much more enjoyable for Us.  I promise you.

“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.” – Edmund Burke

What I am about to write is by no means a new message.  No, it’s been with us since the beginning.  Philosophers, Priests, and Artists have been telling us it since our birth, and we invented Language, Song, and Writing because of it.  Educators, Scientists, and Mathematicians have been trying to reveal it ever since — Astronomy, Computers, Genetics are all a result of it.  And Politicians, Generals, and Great Leaders have been trying to ensure it through all of our generations, so vital it is that the Message is received by our children.  Our very life depends on it.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

There is a message so important that it defines us, our past and our future, our very existence.  A message that we, throughout all history, have ensured above all else that we passed on to our children.  For to ignore it is to die.  Are you ready?  Seriously, smoke something if you have to because it is imperative that We understand this.  Are you really ready?  Because my friends, my fellow cells, if you already “know” everything than you’re going to miss out on this discovery and We‘re never going to realize our destiny.

“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” – Thomas Jefferson

I am going to, here today, repeat the message to you, the message of the ages, the meaning of Life in the communication medium of our day, the internet.  What we’ve been saying to our self forever, what our species, our civilizations, our Body of mankind has been fighting tooth and nail to say for so long, what the Enlightened know, what the Trinity means… are you now ready for the message?

Because here’s the deal World, little boy blue is awakening and is preparing to blow his trumpet:  What the Sumerians knew by the stars, what was written into our DNA, what our Prophets realized, what the Mayans, Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Mongolians, Americans, what all of us understood at one time in our past, what all of our Religions have instilled in us and what our conscience instinctively knows…  is this:

We are a LIFE.

We are ONE BODY.

And you are a CELL.

He who hath an ear, let him hear.

As I write down this “crazy” notion that we are all cells in one organism, that we truly, actually, and literally compose and make up another life form… that the circle of life, the way Life works, the meaning of Stonehenge, is that we are alive as cells in another Body… that atoms come together to comprise molecules, molecules come together to form cells, cells unite to create tissues, tissues working together form organs, organs come together to make up man, and mankind makes up… our Creator’s creation.  Us.

“The ancient Oracle said that I was the wisest of all the Greeks.  It is because I alone, of all the Greeks, know that I know nothing.” – Socrates

As I humble what I “know” to the sum of “nothing” and eliminate my arrogance, my pride, my desire to be right… as I look to each religion as another road, another story, another attempt at telling us what We are… as I let go of myself in this world, as I begin to understand what existentialism and transcendentalism mean, as I see what the message was and is… as I search my soul, as I discover not only my purpose in life, but ours, I just have to sit back and think:

“Did it really take me this long to figure this out?  I went through 40 years and no one told me about this already!?  I know I can’t be the first one to think this, so how is it possible that I’ve never heard this before?”  Honestly, I asked my wife about it, talked with my brother, and scheduled an appointment with my preacher about it  — so sure I was that everyone around me knew this.  But no one seems to be jumping at the news.  My Dad said, “I don’t know about any of that,” and he is a devout Catholic, a great man, and a Knight of Columbus.  But my friends, my brothers, my sisters, We are One body.  Our very soul knows this to be true.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:29

That’s why we, as a society, have religions in the first place — to promote the Word.  At some point in the evolution of Life, an embryo becomes self-aware – at least, some of its cells do.  Although it has no mirror in the womb in which to gaze upon itself, it somehow still knows that is One Body.  It opens its eyes to what it is – a Life.  In some wonderful way throughout its growth, its cells respond to the Truth, and they do what they must do in order for the embryo to live… to grow… to form.  They respond to their DNA, their conscience, their soul, even if it makes no logical sense to them individually to do so…  and the embryo develops, the body grows, the cells unite and come together.  They do what their Creator intended them to do.  This is the message I bring to you, my fellow cells in this fetus called mankind.  We are One Body, the stars have told us this since the beginning of our time.  And this is why politics must become our passion again.

“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” – George Washington

I thought my revelation would be more like the day I discovered that Santa Claus was really my Mom and Dad.  I remember my older brothers smiling in the Truth and saying, “Yeah, we wondered how long you would go before figuring it out.”  Just like when I discovered what I thought was the “true” meaning of Christmas last time, I expected that this time, after I displayed my new found belief that we are an organism, I would find a whole group of people, a whole group of cells, who already knew this and were just waiting for me to pop out of my shell.  Watching eagerly as I figured out the Truth… the Way of things… how Life works.  I actually googled Mankind is a Fetus and was surprised to see 0 hits.  Hurry someone, www.mankindisafetus.com is still available.

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” – John 3:3

In any case though, I tell you my friend, my brother, my sister, as I discover that we are One Body, I am astounded that I’m just now believing this.  Really?  No one told me that this is how Life works all these years?!  A college graduate, a math major, a self-prescribed God follower who has never heard that I am a cell, pure and simple.  How can that be?  And that’s when I realized it:  “Oh wait, they did tell me this. .. I have heard this — countless times.  I just wasn’t listening.”  In fact, since the beginning of time We have been telling Us that.  Well I hear the message loud and clear now world, and I for one am all-in for us.

“All for one, one for all.” – Alexandre Dumas

The enlightenment, faith, belief, opinion, or philosophy is life changing for a cell — it changes everything you believe, but changes little in what you do.  It just better explains why you are doing it – at least that’s been my experience.  It has also caused me to become a universalist as far as religion goes.  When I say that I am a Christian, I mean that I discovered our Creator, I discovered who I am and what we are, I got in touch with my soul, through the writings and teachings of Jesus Christ.  But our past demonstrates both the value and the cost of religion, the passing down of goodness and the introduction of war, the ability for Us to survive and the ability for us to kill each other in the name of survival.  Life means the Word is passed along among generations and peoples, but Death accompanies it as one man kills another to please his god.  The horror of war is the message our ancestors passed on through campfire stories about Cain and Abel, this is what they meant for Us to realize, this is why they wrote it into the story of our creation.  Our enlightened knew that a body divided against itself will not survive.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” – Matthew 12:25

And this was the paradox our founders faced.

“My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.” – George Washington

And so we, the Us, the ones who had figured out what We the People were, those who realized that the “Our” in the “Our Father” really did mean all of us had one Creator… well, We decided to just be peaceful with everyone until they figured it out also.

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” – George Washington

But that didn’t work out so well.  For Our Body warred with itself, tried to destroy itself, then tried to destroy the peaceful nation of Us we created.

“All that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

And, as they say, here We are.  Some may say its still too early to open our eyes, but my brothers and sisters, I think we’re ready.  I ask you world, are you ready to see that we are all one?  Are you ready to acknowledge our Self and find peace?  I ask you country, are you ready to, as Jesus of Nazareth did in the New Testament, sacrifice our power?  Are we ready to release our grip and see if the world is ready this time?  Because I believe We are.  I am not afraid of World War 3, for my soul tells me not to Fear.

I think that’s the message I’m meant to bring, that’s the good news, that’s what the Mayans somehow understood – 2012 is the beginning of a new realization, the year we become self-aware, the start of a new covenant with our Creator.  We are One Body, the age of Aquarius has arrived, the Great Commission is fulfilled, and it is now time for the fetus of Us to open our eyes.  It is now time for Us to see what We the People are, to embrace the notion that heart cells are not created to be skin cells, to stop trying to push ourselves onto others, to accept our Body for what it is, and to start enjoying Life.

“Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.” – Mahatma Gandhi

I wonder if I was somehow picked to reveal this truth again in our day…  How does a Prophet realize he is one — like this?  He is just looking into Man, asking himself why our system is currently messed up, he just reads what Great people before him wrote, prays that God may lead him, and then the message is revealed to him?

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” – Dr. Seuss

I suppose I thought it would be more lights, bells, and whistles – like the Mary, Joseph, and Joe Smith’s encounters of our teachings.  Then I wonder, how will our Body respond when the prophet re-reveals our vision?  Will we open our eyes?  Are we an embryo, or are we a fetus ready to see itself for the one Body that it is?  If History is any indicator, the prophet won’t be treated too well by the Body, it hasn’t reacted well to the knowledge thus far.  But I have no Fear, for I have faith in us.  I think that maybe we just haven’t been ready yet, but we’re ready now.

My wife asked me not to “scare” the neighbors with my craziness, not to embarrass her, not to make a fool out of myself.  But I cannot keep my “craziness” inside.  For my hope this day is that We are finally ready to hear the good news — that We, as the body of mankind, are ready to accept what being a part of the body of Christ meant, the notion that we are a cell in something larger and We, the collective Us, are all one Being.  Somehow, in some way we haven’t figured out just yet, we are alive. How could I possibly keep this notion to myself?  That would be suicide.  So there you go world, that’s me.  That’s what I believe.  We are good, we are free, we are alive.  Amen.

“The right of nature… is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life.” – Thomas Hobbes

I look forward to our future together, my brothers and my sisters, my friends, my fellow cells.  Now it all makes sense.   One day we will be born into a New World, our Creator’s world, and life will continue.  Fear would tell us that we are an aging Man, and that this is how a Body dies… it’s cells forget who and what they are.  But I reject fear, I believe we are a fetus.  And Fear will cause us to be stillborn — for our cells to never take to the Message.  Instead, they refuse to understand that they are a Life, and they never come together as One Body.  I ask you my friend, which one are We?  Which one do you wish to be?

My brothers and sisters, that’s the Message, what We have been trying to tell Us all this time, what I believe the US is all about.  And I’m putting it on a blog that so far, the only subscriber I have, is my friend who helped me to set it up.  I don’t even suspect she’s been reading my musings so I have no idea who, if any of you, which one of Us, will read this first.  Nor do I know how you will react.  Will you even respond?  And if so, will you embrace the notion?  If you are like my wife, this will most likely be the last post of mine you’ll read.  But I have Faith that we are a good people, I believe that we were created in the image of our Creator, and I believe that, whatever that Entity is, We are good.

“Poetry may make us from time to time a little more aware of the deeper, unnamed feelings which form the substratum of our being, to which we rarely penetrate; for our lives are mostly a constant evasion of ourselves.” – T. S. Eliot

I think this is why the hippie movement dominated a whole generation of us.  The drugs helped them to think outside the box, imagine other possibilities, look at Life from a new perspective.  Peace and Love, what a mantra.  They figured it out before me anyway.  But then I think, wait, We figured it out a long time ago.  Heck, we made every song about it before we learned writing.  Then we wrote about it.  We have been enlightened in plays, stories, and books — all great works describe the nature of man.  Crazy nursery rhymes that would make no sense without it.  I read “Are you my Mother?” to my child the other night as a tribute to the great Dr. Seuss.  Yep, he had an idea of who we were and what was going on around us.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.” – Dr. Seuss

In any case, the idea has certainly opened up a whole new perspective for me and I wanted to share it with you.  I feel like it is something that everyone knew and I’ve pretended to know for the first 40 years of my life.  I can’t tell you how many times I heard, in my upbringing as a Catholic, that this is actually the Body of Christ as a priest gave me a wafer and I said “Amen.”  But today, even though I left the Catholic church many years ago, I get it.  We are actually a Body.

But this post is not only meant to express what I believe the US is, what We the People are, what the World must do, it is also meant to tell you the accompanying corollary — that we are not meant to Fear.  This is a great day… for it is free of fear.

“The whole secret of existence is to have no Fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.” – Buddha

I understand that all I have to do in this life, however long it is, is to follow my God-given soul, be a good person to those around me, and my Body will grow.  We just need to follow the good heart, mind, and soul we were provided with and our Body will thrive.  The yoke truly is pleasant and light.  It’s that’s easy — I can strive for goodness..  I want to be a good cell, for I want Us to live.  I was programmed to be a good cell, it’s what I naturally want to do.

“For my yoke is pleasant and my burden is light.” — Matthew 11:30

Being good is fun.  Being yourself is good.  Being free is fundamental.  It makes a person feel good when he does good, and we are all meant to do good in our own way.

“I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” — Thomas Jefferson

We are simply programmed that way – thank you… whoever you are.  I am so looking forward to our birth.  Philosophers, Astronomers, Priestly Sages, Biologists, Physicists, what say ye to this theory?

In the end, mankind will be all right if we want to live, if we are good, and if we don’t forget what We are.

Jesus Replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  Love your neighbor as your Self.” — Matthew 22:29, 37-40

Once we understand this, we also understand that we don’t need to worry about anything in this lifetime.  We don’t know how long we’ll be a cell, how useful we’ll be, and when or how we’ll end, but we don’t need to know — for we are free and we are good, and that’s all it takes.  The only thing We need is for us to be good while we’re a cell so that our fetus can grow and be born – that We can be born again.  That’s always been the message our Creator wanted us to comprehend since the beginning, that we are a Living Body – and the Way we were designed to live is without fear.

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:  Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.” – Genesis 15:1

It’s still His message today — We are a Living Body, we are cells of Him — a small but all important part in the circle of Life.  And us cells don’t need to worry about whether there will be enough money for us to retire, whether our kids will go to college, whether we’ll get that job we just tried so hard to get… we don’t need to worry about anything but being good-hearted, supporting the body, and having a great time while doing it.  He has always been telling us that.  I am living in this world, living in this Spirit, living a life free of fear — and I’d sure love it if you’d join me… if We’d join Us.

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” – Jim Morrison

I can’t speak for anybody else, but as for yours truly, I am still striving to ensure that I prepare for my retirement, give my kids a chance at higher education, find and maintain a good job that supports my family… but my motivation is no longer Fear.  I am doing them now solely because I want to — simply because I want to promote our Body.  God is Good — may We live forever.  Yes, it’s great to believe – for so long as I fear nothing, We have nothing to fear.

“But Jesus came and touched them.  “Get up,” he said.  “Don’t be afraid.”  Matthew 17: 7

Some days living in the Spirit is easier than others, but here’s the deal World.  We are One Body.  Or, if that is simply too much to soak in, meet me at this — we are supposed to live this way.  I wholeheartedly believe that this is what our World, We the People, need to recognize again.  It’s time for us to get up, stop being afraid, and get onto the business of living.  Mankind was created to exist in a fear-free environment — I assure you, depressed and scared is no way to exist, and our Creator wants us to live better.  To be Free cells, happy cells, good cells — that is what He calls us to be.  We can live better.  At a minimum, we should be trying to.

“The enemy is Fear.  We think it is hate; but, it is Fear.” – Mahatma Gandhi

This is my passion.  This has been the passion of every Great Leader of every generation.  The idea that above all else — we promote the body of Mankind, we do what we are supposed to do, we serve Us.  I think this has to be what drove me to serve our country in the armed forces.  I can’t say for certain because the real reason I remember is that Top Gun looked cool – flying jet airplanes off an aircraft carrier sounded fun.  And it made me think, “Boy, it would be neat to fly… I bet girls would like it too.  For sure it would be an adventure and besides, what the heck else is a guy like me going to do?”  That’s how I remember it.  But whatever motivated me, the result is that I overcame the Fear of commitment that was associated with an obligated service of 9 years, I overcame the Fear of War, I believed in both myself and my country, the US, and I pursued my passion.  And that’s why I started this blog, I have a new Passion today.

My friends, I believe that we need to re-discover this Passion.  For Christ’s sake.  For Our sake.  We, the people, US…. We need to realize who We are, what We are, and start caring about the important stuff again.  Such is my new found interest in Politics.  And Religion.  And History.  And Literature.  And Art.  And Family.  And Life.  But for today, Politics.

“There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.” – John Adams

This is the concept that Great Republicans and Democrats, Great Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Good People — what any person who ever influenced us positively, white, black, gay, straight, rich, poor, east, west, male, female,…what all Great leaders have always known:  We are One Body, and We are not meant to Fear.

“If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about?  What is there to fear?” – Confucius

It was with this epiphany revealed that a group of men started a movement in a New World, began to promote the Body through goodness, and started to work on Us.

“The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” – Thomas Paine

I believe our founders understood this principle when they created this great country of ours – their eyes were open.  And I believe that this is what America must understand again if we are to be Great in our day.  For it is Fear that causes us to create ineffective and counter-productive Government welfare programs to “ensure” we don’t fail.  It is Fear that causes us to bankrupt ourselves, borrowing money on the heads of our great grandchildren to “ensure” we have enough money in retirement.  Fear that causes us to store more money than we can possibly need in this lifetime to “ensure” we will have enough for whatever scary future awaits.  And it is Fear that causes us to lash out against our brothers for fear of what they might do some day.  Fear is surely of the Devil, if there is such a beast.  We knew this to be true when we formed this land.  The only “Fear” our founders had was that of Tyranny, the inability for the Body’s cells to act freely.  Tyranny results in a Democracy when we forget who We are, forget that we are supposed to live free of fear, and then appoint some man-made Entity to take away our fears.  We knew that such an Entity would enslave us, it always has.

“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” — Thomas Jefferson

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” – Thomas Jefferson

So with faith in you not to crucify me, there it is, that’s what I believe.

My goal is for the following to be said about my existence in this Life:

“Here lies Christopher Hagen, his cells either forgot they were cells or they no longer wanted the Him to live.  While with us, Chris followed his soul, asked for forgiveness when he stumbled, and then tried to correct his path.  He was good.”

“Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat’s in the Fiddle, the Cow jumped over the moon.  The little dog laughed to see such sport and the dish ran away with spoon.” – Mother Goose