For over twenty years I’ve been involved in an exploration of Heaven on Earth as a deep, meaningful intention and as a vehicle through which people can express and act on their yearning to actually create a better world.
This past October I observed a very noticeable shift in both the presence and the awareness of Heaven on Earth in popular culture. As an idea, a framework for acts of creativity, and as a goal, Heaven on Earth was suddenly appearing noticeably more frequently.

I called what I saw happening the fulfilment of Phase One of Heaven on Earth.
What Phase One did was introduce the idea of Heaven on Earth globally, not just as a beautiful concept but Heaven on Earth as a working model for a better world. There were now enough people engaged in making it happen that its presence and normalcy became suddenly very visible.

For years, I’ve been tracking how Heaven on Earth has been showing up by using two specific metrics.
If you enter the phrase ‘Heaven on Earth’ on Google Alerts, you’ll get a daily report of where it’s being used on English websites all around the world. Every day I looked forward to reading the report and seeing how Heaven on Earth was emerging. This October there was a noticeable, sudden and very significant jump in the daily numbers.

I’ve also charted each year, starting in 2001, the occurrences of Heaven on Earth on Google. Go to Google and type in, for example, ‘Heaven on Earth, 2015’ and you’ll get the result for the year. (I’ve added 2016 even though the year is not yet complete so you can see the jump that’s occurred.)

What became clear to me was that Heaven on Earth had become a meme. Wikipedia defines ‘meme’ as:

‘an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.’ A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals….

Looking back, I can see that the purpose of Phase One for all of us who were contributing, was to have this meme, this idea, this yearning, become part of normal, acceptable conversation in order to make real the possibility of creating Heaven here on Earth. It was to have Heaven on Earth, as a vehicle for world change, be useful and present. Now that has been sufficiently achieved. Clearly there’s still more work to do in Phase One.  More and more people need to be introduced to Heaven on Earth and engage with it if they choose.

But at this time I feel that Phase One of Heaven on Earth is in place. It’s sufficiently part of society to ensure an ongoing presence. Therefore, I call Phase One, “The Presence of Heaven on Earth.”

Phase Two of Heaven on Earth

With Phase One in place, we can turn our attention and our intention to Phase Two.
While it’s good to have Heaven on Earth present in awareness, I don’t think that’s sufficient. It needs to grow and expand, fleshed out with action and commitment. The seed has been planted. Now it needs to flourish. That’s why I’m calling Phase Two – “The Flourishing of Heaven on Earth.”

Wikipedia says about Flourishing:

In positive psychology, flourishing is living “within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience.” Flourishing is the opposite of both pathology and languishing, which are described as living a life that feels hollow and empty.

How then can we cause flourishing? I see three components
–Traction, Scale & Global Impact.

Traction…devotion to and sticking to the realization of our yearning
Scale…by our commitment and actions a growing audience is inspired and engaged
Global Impact…Heaven on Earth is recognized as vital to Humanity’s story at this time. It’s clearly part of global culture and is having a marked effect in making the world work.

I’ve interviewed people who are, in their own creative, original ways, contributing to the flourishing of Heaven on Earth.  They’re doing it for:
• Business
• A Dentist’s Office
• Law Enforcement & Prisons
• Their nation (Austria, Denmark)
• Ending violence against women
• Western Civilization
• Now
• Us
• Theatrically
• A Cup of Tea
These are all people who want Heaven on Earth to flourish and are taking small, easy, concrete steps to make it happen.
How would you contribute to The Flourishing? What tiny step could you take today?

We’ve entered Phase Two – The Flourishing of Heaven on Earth – and we’ve started to learn how it works.
Over the next number of years, as more and more individuals, groups, and communities engage, The Flourishing will become clearer.

Phases One and Two are both part of building out the new story of what it means to be a human and what it means to be humanity.

I invite you to join in and let us know what you’re discovering. What is Phase Two for you? What works in Phase Two? What doesn’t work? Where are the leverage points (maximum impact for minimal input)? What else are you discovering?
Thank you so very much for being a co-creator of Heaven on Earth. Your contribution is so very vital and important.

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing Phase Two continue to unfold.

PS: I want to especially acknowledge the Heaven on Earth leaders, from all over the world, who have contributed personally to me and to Phase One. Each of you are an Angel of Heaven on Earth. Thank you.