Energy ... matter ... gas clouds. Galaxies ... stars ... planets. Wind ... rain ... sunshine. Molecules dance in seltzer seas. Rocks float on rocks. Sparks fly blue and green. Meteorites and comets splash down. Volcanoes boil the land.
Act One: Cosmic desire for truth begets energy ... one spirit makes two.
Act Two: Desire and energy together beget matter ... two spirits make three.
Act Three: Desire, energy and matter together beget life. Fate makes destiny. A stone forms a cosmocell. The cosmocell calls itself Earth.
On and in Earth, a species evolves to ponder its origins and higher powers. The individuals invent a name for their kind: "Homo Sapiens." Female and male they commingle where land meets sea at the bottom of a gaseous shroud of transparent elements and compounds. Now a pair come together on moonlit sand ... they breathe the salt air ... they feel each other's aliveness ... they reach into one another's spirits. Life begets life.
How well adapted is "Homo Sapiens"? Can they cope with the ever-changing moods of their planet? Are they in tune with their environs? Do they have staying power as a species?
Until recently, humans never doubted their suitability for living on Earth. Humankind imagined itself as the ruling species, destined to conquer and dominate wild Earth, crude Earth, hostile Earth. Humans rarely asked, "Are we fit?" If anyone were audacious enough to bring the matter up, they'd get a sneer in response. Now more people ask, "Are we fit?" and the silence deepens ... but the reason for the silence has changed. Faith has morphed into fear. None are so blind as those who ... you've heard it. We need a vision.
How would a space alien see humankind? Let's glance at the captain's log for the Tau Ceti B expedition Number Six to Sol C (Earth), 1990 our time, and put the data through the general translator ...
Some species on Sol C are wretched in the individual, but brilliant in the generality, such as "Cucaracha Disgustica." These hardy, humble crawlers have ruled the land for millions upon millions of years. As for the ones who call themselves "Homo Sapiens," in the individual they are among the most advanced, and are gifted with great manual dexterity in addition to respectable-sized brains ... In the generality, however, they remain more primitive than microbes. They harbor immense potential for destruction, and many of them purvey mass misery in a most baffling manner. These creatures kill each other for sport, cutting against the fundamental axiom of life.
A sizable portion of "Homo Sapiens" holds matter at a level of importance exceeding their lives. They befoul their atmosphere, land, and water in the name of ... "something." I, your humble captain, have no clue as to the nature of that "something" ... I long to speak with humans and learn by what mechanism they have built this value system, so foreign to me, but my superiors forbid it ... "Homo Sapiens" appear unable to ask "What do we ultimately want from the life that the universe has given us?" Busy busy cellular mobile radio telephone beeper voice mailboxes ring ring ring ... Please leave your name and number after the tone ... Click. These creatures rush around with no well-defined final goal apparent to me, unless that goal be the death of their host planet ... they rush around like ants or bees except that the ants and bees have a clear purpose whilst "Homo Sapiens" does not ...
Many of this species suppose that they constitute the highest power in the place they call Earth. As incredible as this conclusion sounds, I do not jump to it carelessly. I have visited Sol C six times ... I believe that "Homo Sapiens" will stimulate Gaia to defend herself against their behavior, which has every aspect of a cosmic disease. How fortunate that "Homo Sapiens" does not constitute the highest power on their cosmocell! Otherwise the destruction of Sol C would surely follow, for nothing could forestall the odyssey to oblivion ... Will "Homo Sapiens" learn their place and heed the lesson, or will they not? How long can we, the externals, helplessly maintain our silence? How can we, in good conscience, not intervene?
