Over the past 60 years or so, many resources have been dedicated to the search for extra-terrestrial life. Not all scientists, however, are eager to meet whichever life forms may exist outside the boundaries of our planet. Renowned physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking, for example, says we need only look at ourselves to see how an intelligent life form can develop that we are better off not meeting. He points out that over the course of history, whenever one civilization met with another, the result was that the more powerful one enslaved, destroyed or otherwise consumed the weaker one. Columbus’s discovery of America, for example, marked the death knell for the Native American culture and population.

His observations may be true when referring to past history, but over the past few decades a new reality has emerged. Since the last World War, we have seen a generation grow up that is weary of war and has no interest in annihilating others. Furthermore, advances in communication means that the lives of people in the distant reaches of the globe are as real and immediate to us as our own neighbors. No longer can we dismiss people who are different from us as being unworthy of life or liberty. We live in an era where people are more educated than ever before, and more willing to consider our common bonds and humanity. A single global culture, a mosaic of our unique languages, history, art and music, is rapidly developing.

The key point is that the scientific establishment has taken note of the moral developments that have occurred in the past half-century. But it’s only the beginning. We are well on our way to make contact with a civilization far more advanced than any we’ll find on the most distant planet. We are about to meet… ourselves. The people we truly are and could be, when we fulfill our true potential. And this will happen very soon, here on our planet, not in any other place.

What will soon be revealed is the inner power we have within us, which has been hidden ever since Adam and Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden. We are soon to enter into a relationship with G-d such that we have never experienced before. The unity among all of creation which we are just beginning to realize will become readily apparent. Moshiach will usher in an era when we will work together for the benefit of all of mankind. The loneliness and alienation that many of us feel, from each other and even from ourselves, will come to an end, in the era of the true and complete Redemption.