2150 AD

by Thea Alexander

  I wasn’t sure how to answer these two questions, so I took my time before saying, “I hypnotized you into coming here, and the reason I didn’t turn you over to the police is sort of complicated. You see, I know that you raped and murdered those two co‑eds, and if I just wanted you punished I’d let the police have you. But I’m going to gamble on being able to show you a different type of life which will prove so attractive that you won’t want to hurt anybody ever again.”

  “Hey, man,” Judd exclaimed, “are you some sort of religious nut? You gonna save us from our sins?”

  “No,” I assured him, shaking my head, “I’m just going to tell you some things and if what I say doesn’t make sense to you, then I’ll turn you loose and you can do whatever you wish.”

  They looked at me suspiciously, then Griff said, “What’s stopping us from walking out right now?”

  I told him. “That door to the hall is red hot. If you try to open it you’ll get burned. You’ll find the same is true of the windows.”

  I could see they didn’t consciously believe me. As they both got up, Griff said, “You’re plumb crazy, man. There’s nothing wrong with that door. I think maybe we should be doctoring you.”

  Judd reached the door first and started to open it, but as soon as his hand touched the doorknob he let out a scream and jerked backwards.

  “Yeowww!” Judd wailed as he frantically waved his hand in the air trying to cool it. “God damn it. That crazy bastard’s right. Look at my hand!”

  He held his reddened hand out for Griff to examine. Griff apparently accepted the reality of Judd’s pain, for he turned to me and said sarcastically, “Okay, man, how the hell did ya manage that little trick?”

  “I hypnotized you into believing the door was red hot,” I explained. “There was nothing you could do about it because I was working with your subconscious mind, not your conscious one. As long as your subconscious mind holds my suggestion, you won’t be able to get out that door.”

  Judd, still holding his hand, glared at me and said, “Well, if it’s all in my mind, then how come I’ve got these God damned‑blisters on my hand?”

  “Because your body can only do what your mind directs it to do,” I answered. “Your mind believes your hand is burned so it directs your nerves to signal pain and your gland system to produce blisters.”

  “Okay, man,” Griff nodded, “we’ll buy the science lecture, but how about you knocking off this messin’ around with our minds. You were lucky this morning. You don’t think you can take us both at the same time, do you? We’d bust you right in half.”

  “I made a mistake this morning,” I admitted, “and I’m paying for it. But I’m not going to fight you again.”

  “You mean you’re just going to stand there and let us tear you up?” Judd sneered. “I can just see that. Sure you are. Noooo, sir. You fight like a madman. You did this morning, and you’ll do it again right now first time we lift a fist.”

  “No, I won’t,” I responded, “I don’t have to. From now on if either one of you tries to harm anyone you’ll only succeed in doing it to yourself.”

  They looked at me skeptically, so I said, “If you haven’t learned to believe me, you can try and see for yourself. I’m warning you, though, that you’ll only hurt yourself.”

  “Bash him one, Griff,” Judd urged. “Call his bluff.”

  “So he can get hurt like you did?” I asked.

  Griff approached me warily and with obvious uncertainty. Finally he sidled up to within striking distance and began giving me what he clearly hoped was a frightening stare. I remained standing and smiled at him.

  “Remember,” I said, “you’ve been warned that any harm you try to do to anyone else will only happen to you.”

  “Okay,” Griff said, “I believe you, man. I wouldn’t think of hurting you.”

  With these words he pretended to turn away but when he was half turned he suddenly let go with a twisting uppercut to my jaw. It had tremendous force as Griff soon discovered, for his fist missed my chin and like a boomerang, came crashing back into his own jaw, knocking him off balance so that he fell heavily to the floor.

  “What ‘the hell?” Judd exclaimed, “you didn’t even move and Griff knocked himself down. What the hell’s happening?”

  “I told you, but you refused to believe me. How badly do you have to hurt yourselves before you‑start believing me?”

  Griff had climbed to his feet and gingerly touched his sore jaw. He came at me fiercely and stopped just short of my body. A combination of rage and puzzled amazement filled his eyes. Drawing up his fist, he hesitated, then sticking out his index finger poked at my chest. The pokes of course landed on his own befuddled self.

  He eyed me thoughtfully. I had a feeling that he was getting ready to give some genuine consideration to what I had to say.

  “You’ve seen that if you think something is true it has real consequences,” I said. “Well, I’m trying to show you that the way we think causes everything that happens to us. If we think negatively it has negative results for us, and if we think positively it has positive results for us.”

  “Crap!” Judd exclaimed.” Now we get a sermon on the power of positive thinking. Right?”

  “No,” I said, “I’m going to give you a demonstration. From now on, every angry thought that you have, about anything and for any reason, will cause a violent headache. It will last only as long as your angry thoughts.”

  “OOOWWEE! Jesus Christ, man!” Judd cried as he clutched his forehead.

  “What’s wrong? Griff asked.

  “That son of a bitch is sticking daggers into my head,” Judd shouted: “Ooooh‑it’s killing me! Stop it! Stop it!”

  “You are the only one who can stop it, Judd,” I explained. “When you stop thinking angry thoughts at me the pain will stop.”

  “Do as he says, Judd,” Griff advised. “That bastard’s got a hex on us. I guess you better do as he says.”

  The pain seemed to have reached the point where Judd could think only of it, and the angry thoughts were crowded out of his mind by thoughts of how to get rid of the pain. His face which had been distorted by the pain now gradually relaxed and he gave a sigh of relief as he wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve.

  “There,” I said, “all you had to do was stop your angry thoughts and the headache stopped, too. Now I’m going to leave you so you can think about what I’ve said, and if you still have doubts about the truth of my statements you can test them out. Any questions before I leave?”

  “Yeah, man,” Griff said. “How long you plannin’ on keepin’ us here?”

  “You’ve got enough cereal and milk to last you till tomorrow morning. I’ll be back then,” I answered.

  “You’re keepin’ us here just like the pigs keep people in jail!” Griff protested then spit at me.

  A split second later he was wiping his face with one hand while the other held his throbbing forehead. He howled, “I didn’t mean it . . . I’m sorry‑damn it, I said I’m sorry!”

  “You don’t have to convince me,” I responded. “Just convince yourself that you aren’t angry and your headache will go away. Well, see you tomorrow. Here’s wishing you loving, happy thoughts.”

  With those words I left them and walked down to Karl and Neda’s apartment. By this time it was midafternoon and I was just in time to be invited to a late luncheon which Neda had just prepared. Since I hadn’t eaten anything yet, I let Karl and Neda do most of the talking while I concentrated on reducing my hunger pangs. Then I told them about my experiences so far that day.

  As I had expected, Karl favored turning my captives over to the police. He wasn’t at all happy about having two rapists in the same building with his new wife. Scooting his chair closer to hers, Karl put his arm around her protectively. Neda, however, supported my arguments for trying to rehabilitate them.

  “After all, Karl,” she kept repeating, “look what Jon did for me. If he can make a silk purse out of an ugl
y sow’s ear like I was, why couldn’t he work a miracle with those hoodlums?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Karl replied. “Well, I’ve learned something about Jon’s Macro philosophy and I know, and Jon will agree, that you can’t help anyone who doesn’t want to be helped. The person has to actively cooperate. He couldn’t have helped you if you hadn’t had sufficient desire and belief.”

  “That’s true,” I agreed. “Neda had to desire and believe in the possibility of the changes that took place in her in order for them to become permanent.”

  “See there,” Karl said, waving his spoon in the air, “you’re licked before you get started with those hoodlums, because they sure don’t desire to suddenly become model citizens . . . much less believe it’s possible.”

  “You’re right about that, Karl,” I conceded. “As of now they certainly lack the necessary desire and belief, but by tomorrow they’re going to think twice before they doubt the truth of anything I say. And tomorrow I’m going to start teaching them Macro philosophy.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Karl argued. “Why they’re the lowest type of micro scum on the face of this earth, and you’ve said over and over that the Macro perspective doesn’t make sense to micro man. In fact, from a micro view, a concept such as ‘all is one’, is simply not true. Why waste your time, Jon? Why not just turn them over to the police? You don’t want to mess around with people like that. They’re sicker than hell and they’re damned dangerous, too. They don’t deserve . . . “

  “Are you about to say that those young men don’t deserve help?” I interrupted. “If so, I warn you to be careful how you judge them. Remember the warning words that Rana quoted and consider your judgment carefully before you condemn yourself, too, as being unworthy of rehabilitation.”

  Karl opened his mouth to reply, but Neda quickly put her finger gently to his lips. “Please, Karl,” she asked, “think about what Jon said. After all, he has been cut off from 2150 for thinking just such condemning thoughts. That’s about as much tragedy as we need for one day.”

  Neda had certain natural persuasive advantages that I had never had with Karl, so I wasn’t surprised to see him nod his head and yield the point to her.

  “By the way, Karl,” I said, “would you mind if Neda typed up my journal? By the end of this week I’m hoping our new house guests will be ready to consider what I’ve written there. If they can believe it, then maybe they’ll want to start learning how to live a Macro life.”

  Neda wanted to start on it right away, but by the time our discussion ended, the day was gone and evening had arrived. When I left them I was convinced that Neda, far more than I, had gotten Karl to accept comfortably the major tenets of the Macro society and Macro philosophy. I retired early that evening knowing that I wouldn’t be awakening in 2150, but planning an early start with Griff and Judd.

  The next three days were some of the most frustrating I’ve ever experienced. It seems that my two captives had headaches most of the time, which made them angry, which gave them headaches, which made them angry, which gave them more headaches, and so on. In their frustrated rage they tried to attack me a number of times and, of course, ended up just hurting themselves. They even burned their hands on the door a couple more times.

  At first I was astonished, at the amount of pain they were willing to put up with rather than learn the simple lessons I had given them. Finally, I realized that a lifetime habit of running away from responsibility for one’s own life situation was not quickly overcome. Both Griff and Judd were experts at repressing or forgetting unpleasant details, so they kept forgetting that their own anger produced headaches, that the door was burning hot, and that if they tried to hit me they would only hit themselves instead.

  Of course, if they hadn’t been so angry at their inability to escape they would have learned much faster. But, as Rana had once explained, all anger is self‑anger caused by calling something bad and then feeling inadequate to change the “bad” or “undesirable” situation. She had continued saying that since micro man usually refuses to accept responsibility for his unpleasant experiences, he unconsciously projects the blame onto others. Then he feels justified in projecting his self‑anger and self‑hate upon others, too. Since these denial‑of‑reality techniques work temporarily, and micro man forgets they are only temporary, this type of behavior continues to become an even stronger habit until it is extremely difficult to change.

  This pernicious “it’s not my fault” cycle was what I was seeing in Griff and Judd.

  Looking at my own life, I could see this pattern repeated over and over again. I not only had my present life to examine but a number of past lives, too, which all bore out the same lesson: All my problems were self-caused due to my refusal to accept this Macro truth: All learning is based on remembering (accepting) the learning value of one’s own mistakes.

  Once more the ancient truth: He who forgets his past is doomed to repeat it.

  Karl had warned me at the end of the first day that I had better be able to live by the same conditions I forced on my captives. I had assured him that I was perfectly willing to experience a headache any time I gave in to the micro habit of anger. I had‑felt confident that from my larger perspective it would be impossible for me to get angry. What I didn’t realize was that all dissatisfaction produces some anger. In other words, to the extent that I saw anything as being more bad than good I felt anger, and by the second day I was experiencing headaches of my own.

  I had realized that from the Macro perspective everything is both bad and good, ugly and beautiful, failure and success. But I hadn’t realized how inadequate I was to actually practice seeing both sides of the coin, or the balanced Macro view. I, who had devised what I thought was a brilliant scheme for motivating my captives to learn how to think more positively, was now caught in my own device. By the end of the third day we were running neck and neck for who had the biggest headache‑‑Griff, Judd, or me. I was willing to bet that I won by a head (ache!).

  Fortunately, things got better on the fourth day. This was caused by a number of things, but an important factor was Neda. When Neda saw how miserable I was on the third evening she begged Karl and me to let her visit Griff and Judd, taking with her the typed pages of this journal. Both Karl and I opposed this but Neda insisted that anything they did to harm her would reflect right back to themselves instead, so she couldn’t get hurt.

  I argued that it was a chance I was just not willing to take. Unfortunately, arguing with Neda only made my headache worse, which made me think that maybe she was right. So I gave in‑with the stipulation that I act as her guard.

  While Karl held out longer, I could see that Neda’s lovely persuasiveness was too much for him. She visited my captives with me as her guardian.

  I had to ask Neda to open the door to their apartment for I was living my own sentence so completely that the door knob now burned my hands, too.

  Neda proved so thoroughly charming that Griff and Judd were soon over their headaches. She managed to prolong her stay by beginning to read my journal to us. I was sure that neither of them was ready to accept this journal as anything more than a ridiculous fantasy. But with Neda reading it and interrupting herself to make comments and to clarify or answer their questions, both Griff and Judd were soon so deeply involved in my journal experiences that they didn’t want Neda to stop reading.

  I suggested it was getting late, but it was only after Neda promised to come back the following day and finish reading the journal that they were willing to accept her departure.

  The next day Neda spent almost six hours with Griff and Judd and still didn’t finish reading this journal because they asked her so many questions about herself and about the changes that had taken place in her. I was surprised at how little skepticism they showed, although Neda got me to demonstrate some of the Macro powers for them. They were most impressed by my PK levitations in which I floated some sofa pillows around the room, and they remembered that I had healed the injuri
es I had inflicted on them. I had also healed their burned hands, at Neda’s suggestion, and from then on we had no more problems with the door. They didn’t approach it, and it didn’t burn me any more.

  By the end of the fourth day I was convinced that Neda was a tremendous help to me in getting through to Griff and Judd. I was still amazed at the great personality change in Neda. She was confident, outgoing, patient, kind, and most surprising of all, full of humor, joy, and laughter. When I asked about these psychological changes, she responded, “I’m the living, breathing proof to myself that your Macro philosophy of the future can overcome any problem.”

  “But knowing about Griff and Judd, aren’t you afraid of them?” I asked.

  Neda laughed. “As long as I can remember my past I can’t imagine being too upset by anything in the future.”