Key Concepts of the Zooid Mission
 

"Zooid" is a sociological concept. The dictionary defines a zooid as "a biologic organism which, through non-sexual means and independent choice, conjoins with other zooids to form a colony capable of locomotion." In some sociological circles this same theme is elaborated to say that we can do more by working together than we can by our solo efforts. To forge that sociological necessity as an ideal, the concept of the lowly microbe was elevated to represent altruistic mortals coming together independently and (through non-sexual means) become a living organism, a joint venture, a budding society, going places and doing things together which each individual could not have done alone.

This is essentially "teamwork".

The reader is invited to consider zooidal philosophies as a viable method of establishing the political foundation for a new world order, where the "Golden Rule" prevails, where altruism is a way of life, and where people delight to bear each others burdens. Some of those zooidal philosophies are:

It is human liberation we seek, not merely women’s liberation, or men’s. To give up role-playing and become Real is to discover true human liberation. True liberation is not to live "self will run riot" but to live responsibly, with regard for others as well as the self. We will discover how unique we truly are when we turn aside from what others would have us be. It takes courage and individuality to stop buying into the matrix of other people’s reality and game plan and believe in our own life plan. We can be at peace when we can compliment each other rather than feeling we have to compete with each other. We are indeed wealthy when we are happy and useful as a human being. To be a real success, one must be wise and childlike at the same time. Then we can be truly "superhuman".

Life, and therefore love, is eternal. This romantic concept is actually a spiritual law. If we come to believe in the infinity of divinity, as well as the potential immortality of the soul, and if we have even a faint glimmer of the wonders of the mind and the gifts of the spirit, we will naturally know that we are loved, and that love is more contagious than hate. Love may go through changes, and love may need to be redefined, but love never dies. And I don’t know any child, big or little, who isn’t interested in living happily ever after.

Personal politics is the key to compatible union. "Happily ever after" means a lot more than an extended honeymoon. To live "happily ever after" also involves learning to live with and appreciate differences, learning to compromise, accepting one another’s quirks and idiosyncrasies, working through impasses and transcending divisiveness. Even the best of friends come up against irreconcilable differences at times. Men and women will never completely understand each other. Nobody shares exactly the same tastes and philosophies. But the more people have in common, the better chance there is of maintaining a compatible relationship through all that life has to over. It is said that opposites attract, but what do you enjoy? How do you spend your leisure time? What topics of conversation interest you? You don’t have to be exactly alike, but if you can find someone who enjoys much of the same things you do, your "personal politics" are working in your favor. On the global scale, this is the key to peace on earth.

Will is the arbiter of health. The mind is the arena wherein we develop or retard our relationship with our Self. It is our mind where we make the choices that reveal how we feel about any situation, and how we feel is manifested not only in our emotional reactions but also in our physical responses. If we are ill, if we have dis-ease, we need to look to our way of thinking and consider changing our minds in order to change our health. Hatred, refusing to forgive, holding grudges, harboring suspicion or feelings of revenge, using people and abusing ourselves will keep the mind in unrest, hold the instincts hostage to the vulnerability of addictions, and this leads to emotional illness, even mental illness. Whereas, attitudes of love, prayer, and having concern for the wellbeing of others leads to service, peace of mind, and joy – all of these are contributory to wellness. It sounds flippant when we are told that we are the masters of our own fate, and we can be happy if we decide to be, but it is true.

Our world is alive; our planet is a living organism. To developing a relationship with the globe on which we all live, is to open our hearts to loving this orb that is our home. We all sleep under the same sky, drink the same water, breathe the same air. How many of us have recognized the personal aspects of being in a symbiotic relationship with this young planet on which we live? We are material beings; we eat material food. We ebb and flow like the tide, like the seasons. We witness the tender mercies of earth’s nurturing qualities, her beauty, and her abundance. When we ravage Mother Nature’s natural resources and pollute her rivers and foul her air, we are only soiling our own bed. As we learn to care for ourselves as citizens of this magnificent universe, we come to respect the world of our origin, as if it were the cradle we were laid in as babes, to rest and be nurtured for the eternal career ahead.

The universe is populated! Of course, we all have heard of angels, but do you know any? It is now a recorded fact that people have learned how to do "remote viewing" and in doing so have encountered beings outside our ordinary realm of vision. There is nothing more liberating than discovering the fact of the cosmic family, the celestial neighborhood. For children, relationship with "spirits" is easy. While they are invisible, they are NOT products of the imagination; they are quite Real; they are as normal and natural as robins in springtime. I cannot help but wonder how different our lives would be if we kept our invisible childhood friends with us, instead of trading them in for the more apparent personalities of the material world. It is never too late to become as a little child and to open the consciousness to the realm of the invisible.

The universe is a friendly place. When I was eight or ten years old, my friend and I sprawled atop the hood of my dad’s car one night and got lost in the stars. We looked at the stars and talked until it seemed as if we were just our there, walking along, walking into the vastness of the universe. For a few vivid seconds I entered another dimension, which seemed a HUGE period of time. It came from losing the sense of being grounded that comes with being a creature of time and space. Although that sense only lasted a few seconds, it left a permanent impression on me. It left me filled wonder, awe, and a million questions about the universe, about dimension and reality, and about God. As I grew up, I was discouraged to learn that not many people share my fascination with the night sky; instead, the magnificence of the universe was belittled: I was told that we were the only world in the entire universe with intelligent life, and this theory was underscored by contemporary movies, which depicted the galaxy as being filled with hostile aliens and monsters. No matter what they said to try to make me think otherwise, no one could ever take away from me that magical moment many decades ago when my Spirit took me for a walk out into the universe and showed me that it was good. The universe is friendly!

Death is a door to life. Losing a loved one is no fun no matter how you look at it unless you can consider that Death is a merciful friend when it embraces someone terminally ill and in chronic pain. But if dying were to be accepted as a natural part of living and seen to be as much of a miracle as it is to be born, it would be an awesome thing to take part in it. I have held the hand of two people as they made the transition from this life to the next and it is a trilling moment, even though it is mortally tragic. Knowing as I do that the process of dying is simply going through a door that leads into another and bigger room, gives the comfort of knowing we will be together again. We have not really parted. If we believe - even a little bit - in the Concepts listed above, we will recognize that there is order in the universe and there is a divine plan, personal for each individual, and if each individual were to enthusiastically follow that path through the door of this realm of reality to the door of the next, we would approach death not with fear and foreboding, but with awe and wonder at the process. And we would rejoice and celebrate the glory that is ahead.

There are other "Key Concepts" woven into the fiber of the Zooid saga, but they are not the sole purpose for the book; they are the adornments, the baubles, the bells and whistles. An author has a responsibility to educate his reader, but he also has a duty to entertain. Let not the substance of the saga detract from the dimension and pizzazz of the love story.