There is a desire, a longing, in each of us for a world that works.

There is a desire for the stupid, recurring problems of the planet like: war, hunger, disease, hatred, senseless suffering, poverty and environmental degradation, to once and for all stop.

We feel we want to do something, deep in our hearts, deep in our souls, which will actually and really take our planet to its next evolutionary level.

We know we have it within ourselves to tackle problems like these. After all, we've already stopped smallpox and leprosy.

We know the human spirit is capable of knocking down the Berlin Wall, stopping the fighting in East Timor, and bringing a peaceful transition to full democracy in South Africa.

At the heart of it, I believe what we want is a new context, a new story for the Third Millennium. One that inspires us all, one that enlivens humanity.

The story we've been living so far has to do with being separate and having others be different than us with suffering, with fear and judgement, with thinking that we are not able to make a true, profound, deep and lasting difference.
But, at this point in our evolution, there is a deeper desire, a desire for a new context for our planet. Why now?
Because we have for the first time, in our collective history, a sense of the whole of humanity.
This started with the famous photo of the "earthrise" from space, of the earth rising over the moon. This was the first time we 'saw' our entire home planet, as one. We were both physically out there in space looking back, and at the same time, we had the technological infrastructure which allowed that picture to be beamed back from space to the entire world. The collective global, planetary consciousness had truly arrived.

Several years ago Oscar Motomura, the President of Amana-Key, a management training and development company in Sao Paulo, Brazil said, "With global air travel, the internet and instantaneous global communications, the concept of Humanity is now tangible." At about the same time, Rob Lehman, President of The Fetzer Institute, began asking the question, "What is the Common Work of Humanity?"

I'd like to offer an answer.

Our common work is simply the creation of Heaven on Earth. I believe that as we enter this third millennium, in the Julian calendar, our job is the conscious creation of Humanity's New Story, namely, Heaven on Earth. So on Oct. 28, 1999 we launched Project Heaven on Earth - Humanity's New Story.

I believe it is time for us to create a new model of existence, a new collective purpose for ourselves.
Ultimately, as my friend and partner in this project, Richard Porter says it's because Heaven on Earth is our Destiny.

Imagine for a moment what it would be like, what it would feel like, what it would look like to really, really have Humanity, for the first time in its existence, act as one, expressing a common purpose and a common vision.
I believe that common purpose is creating "Heaven on Earth."

Let me give you an analogy. You've just purchased a new piece of software. You install it and open it up. What you are immediately presented with is a new set of possibilities. And into these new possibilities you put your own unique content.
In the same way, Project Heaven on Earth opens up new possibilities for each of us into which we can put our own unique selves. Only this piece of metaphorical software can and will be used by everyone. Into this software we, you and I, will put our incredible content. Into this Project, all citizens of our home planet will put those actions which collectively contribute to Heaven on Earth.

Imagine if you knew that people all over the world were involved in doing their part to create Heaven on Earth. Imagine if you knew a woman in Brazil, a man in Yemen, a little girl in Canada, an Aboriginal in Australia, a grandfather in Russia, a priest in Namibia….all, were doing something with the express purpose of having Heaven on Earth.

I believe that you, that I, that the majority of people would want to join in and contribute their part to a project such as this.
It's as though each person is an instrument, playing in this Grand Planetary Symphony - Project Heaven on Earth.

Naturally, there will be those who say Heaven on Earth is a ludicrous notion. They'll say that it's: Childish.
A fantasy.

Beyond impossible.
Grandiose.
An easy target for skepticism and ridicule.
Something we've never had before in the entire history of earth (with the possible exception of the Garden of Eden).
What makes you think we can create it now?
It might even be considered blasphemous.
Humans are not supposed to talk about this. Only God can create Heaven on Earth.

These are all valid concerns and considerations, and their presence needs to be honored. In fact, it's almost a golden rule of creation, that the bigger the vision, the bigger the considerations. The context of Heaven on Earth can include doubts, considerations and fears, and it can and does still move forward.

The energy of a planetary commitment to a common goal can and will, in the gentlest of ways, overcome the strongest of obstacles.

Many of us are aware that we have a life's mission, a life's purpose. But what we, as humanity, haven't consciously known and are now beginning to remember, is that all of us can have a collective vision, a collective purpose. We've just never before had the collective consciousness, technology or aware interconnection to begin operating from it.

That's what Project Heaven on Earth is all about.

Thomas Merton said, "We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are."

Let's suppose, for a moment, that we all accepted the notion of Heaven on Earth as something desirable and possible, and something we wanted to engage in. First of all, what is Heaven? We traditionally think of Heaven as a noun - the place where God, where the Angels live. But much less frequently, Heaven was also used as a transitive verb, that is: "To Heaven." The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as:

"To make heavenly in character, to transport or transform in to heaven; also, to bless with heaven, beatify, render supremely happy."

If we view Heaven then as a verb, in addition to a noun, we can go around heavening all day.

Let me tell you a story.

In March of 1994, the members of Temple B'nai Jeshurun of Des Moines, Iowa awoke to find neo-nazi graffiti and swastikas scrawled on their synagogue. The perpetrators were soon found and arrested. They were a 19 year-old male member of the Aryan Nation and his 17-year old girlfriend. They were charged with felonies for their hate crime, and under ordinary circumstances would have been sentenced and jailed, no doubt deepening their hatred and assuring them a life of alienation and conflict.

But someone was already operating in a context of Heaven on Earth. A deputy district attorney, Fred Gay, approached the Temple's Rabbi, Steven Fink, with an idea: Would the Temple membership be interested in meeting with the two perpetrators to explain the damage done by their hate crime and to work out a sentence? The Temple leadership agreed, and a 4-hour facilitated session was planned.

The meeting was attended by the two offenders and the Temple membership, including two Holocaust survivors and a former Israeli military officer. It was soon discovered that the boy was from a broken home, a 98-pound weakling with a hearing disability. When he was 16, he had run away from home and was taken in by the Aryan nation. The girl was extremely unsure of herself and really had no idea what neo-nazi meant.

During the meeting, many raged that the two should have the book thrown at them, while others argued that throwing them in jail would just create two more hardened criminals. After heated debate, the following sentence was agreed upon. The two defendants were to do 100 hours of service to the synagogue under the supervision of the Temple's custodian, 100 hours of study of Judaism and its history with the rabbi, a referral to a hearing specialist for the young man, a requirement that he remove the nazi tattoos on his arms, and attainment of employment skills and psychological assessment of both the offenders, as well as fulfillment of requirements for a GED. After successful completion of all of this, the charges would be dropped.

Instead of simply slamming these two in jail, the young pair learned about Jewish history and culture, their individual needs were met, and while working with the custodian - an older, wizened jack-of-all-trades - they gained confidence in themselves and eventually finished their high school equivalency exams. They got married and had a child. Rabbi Fink and the custodian were invited to the wedding.

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