Author: Doug Cable

Goal of Life

Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise

We who have been granted The Urantia Book and seek to comprehend its revelations have some idea what lies ahead of us after physical death. If we so choose, there will be a glorious eternal future of everlasting growth and service for each one of us. How would our global society be transformed if this truth were widely accepted? The goal of studying this revelation should not be to totally understand every concept; rather each of us should constantly strive to live its truths to the best of our ability; allow them to expand our spiritual awareness by everyday living these teachings, making them the core of our being. The goal of this blog is to help realize a greater spiritual awareness among sisters and brothers; to spread these teachings of love and brotherhood.

But what is the life goal for any individual human being? The vast majority of our brothers and sisters have no eternal goal for their existence, they feel alone in creation; cosmically friendless. They do not know every thinking human being has within them a fragment of God, a divine and personal pilot gently guiding them into eternity. The goal of our existence should be to find God, the infinite creator of all things and beings. We begin this eternal journey by choosing to do God’s will, then communicating with and finally fusing with our inner spark of God; that is our certain entrance into eternity. The goal of our earthly life in the flesh must be to actively seek communion with our inner spark of God.

Choosing an Eternal Life

We begin this quest for spiritual growth by making a definite choice to do grow spiritually. For most of humanity this has not been a conscious choice; it should however be a determined choice for us to do God’s will and seek to become more like Him.

Our lives are beset with choices; every moment of our existence we make choices. Most of them seem innocent and unimportant, but in the long term there always will be consequences of any choice; in the moment we never know which of our choices will be significant to our eternal future. Every choice has to be treated as being vital to our eternal future. Every one. The nature of our choices indicates what we wish to become. Do our choices say we are selfish or sharing, materialistic or spiritual, living in the moment or seeking eternal life? By your choices you shall be known. Eternally.

A related aspect is how we choose to respond to difficulties; when something unpleasant happens are we going to shout something emotional or are we going to deal with the situation? These reactions must be natural; anything forced would not be effective. An emotional outburst may feel satisfying in the moment, but it does nothing to improve anything. Such a reaction might seem to be automatic, but these responses are the culmination of countless other choices. Our ordinary everyday choices truly determine the nature of, or even the existence of, our eternal future. By your choices you shall be known.

In our most mundane and earthly choices our desires become apparent. These choices appear as a result of our innermost longings; they arise as a result of our striving toward a specific goal. Without such a goal we are without any purpose in life; a ship in a storm without a rudder. What is your rudder?

Goal of Life

Before starting anything we need a plan leading toward any goal. If we are going to grandmother’s house we must know what we need to take and what route to follow. If we want a vacation there are plans and reservations to make. Certainly if we are building a house there are a multitude of plans with the goal of producing a pleasant, comfortable home. But what about our life? We cannot achieve what we want out of life if there is no plan, no goal. Having our goal of life gives us a purpose in life; this is vital.

The vast majority of brothers and sisters have no such plan. We are fixated on material goals which are of importance in the moment but after this mortal existence ends they are as ashes in the wind.

What should our goal be? Consider this:

Seek the greater thing, and the lesser will be found therein; ask for the heavenly, and the earthly shall be included. The shadow is certain to follow the substance.[1]

There can be no greater goal for any Earthly mortal than to seek our Heavenly Father who is the ultimate in substance. Having chosen to do the will of God, our Goal of Life must be to communicate directly with our internal spark of God, our Thought Adjuster. Seeking and eventually finding our Heavenly Father is the goal of goals.

Even though we continually have our life goal in mind we need to deal with each and every physical difficulty that will confront us. Everyday chores and extraordinary events are a part of life on Earth. Each of them has to be swiftly and lovingly taken care of while above these daily mortal events, our goal of life is always uppermost in our being.

Our Goal of Life is to find God within.

Eternity

It would take a large book indeed to adequately describe our journey into eternity; this is an ultra-condensed version. For a more complete version, see The Urantia Book.

After physical death we awaken in the resurrection hall on high to begin our journey into eternity. When we become conscious we will be exactly the same as we are here on Earth, except we no longer have a physical body; instead we will have one that is part physical and part spirit. Our growth from a mostly physical form to a true spirit being is long and gradual. It may take millions of years before we leave the evolutionary realms of time and enter the perfect, eternal, central portion of creation.

At the center of creation are one billion eternal and perfect worlds circling Paradise and its 21 satellite worlds. These perfect worlds circle in seven circuits and we must spend considerable time on each circuit. Once we fuse with our Thought Adjuster we have become eternal beings, time is no longer an issue; we have all the time we need to pursue worthy goals. We spend the necessary time on each circuit before proceeding inward to the next level. At last we proceed to Paradise and are able to literally stand in the presence of the creator of all things and beings: our Heavenly Father. Once on Paradise there is much more to learn as we interact with many types of spirit beings; our eternal future will always be filled with growth and finding new levels of awareness. We will finally be entered into the Corps of Finality for further service.

As members of the Corps of Finality we will go forth to serve in the currently inhabited region of space. There is a requirement that we serve in other regions of creation before receiving permission to return to the world of our nativity. At all times we will be assisting others to grow spiritually. True service to others is always the key to spiritual growth.

That is the current known destiny for the Corps of Finality. When astronomers use powerful telescopes to peer into the skies, they see billions of galaxies, the vast majority of which are uninhabited. This brings the question: what will be our task in these outer space regions when they become inhabited? Nobody knows, but it is certain there will be many types of interesting ways to serve the future inhabitants of this vast region

This glorious future is available to everyone; all we need do is choose it by affirming this Goal of Life.

  1. 1823.3; The Urantia Book in the formal page.paragraph. ↑

Chicken or the Egg

Checking Things Out

Checking Things Out

This posting is very short, but it addresses a question that has puzzled people for years. This question has finally been solved!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

We begin by defining our terms. Chicken refers to a specific type of bird; it does not refer to an Ostrich or a Hummingbird. On the other hand, the term egg is general. An Ostrich or a Hummingbird may produce an egg but each is vastly different from a chicken-egg. Reptiles such as turtles and snakes also may produce eggs; again very different.

The appearance of the first chicken would be an evolutionary product. Science generally assumes evolution occurs gradually; exceptions, namely mutations, are considered mistakes which may or may not survive. The Urantia Book states evolution produces sudden changes.

From era to era radically new species of animal life arise. They do not evolve as the result of the gradual accumulation of small variations; they appear as full-fledged and new orders of life, and they appear suddenly.

The sudden appearance of new species and diversified orders of living organisms is wholly biologic, strictly natural. There is nothing supernatural connected with these genetic mutations.[1] (Emphasis added)

When this happens for the chicken, we can imagine a chicken ancestor lays an egg, actually a chicken-ancestor-egg, and a true chicken emerges. The chicken, a specific species, came after the egg, a general term. When the question is posed we generally assume the question is: “Which came first, the chicken or the chicken-egg?” Such a proposition is an example of circular logic.

An egg came before the chicken. Case solved.

  1. The Urantia Book 669:4-5; this refers to the one column edition in the format page:paragraph. ↑

Our Soul’s Soil

Choosing Beauty

We use our mind every moment of our conscious existence; yet we are largely unaware of what an impact a stray thought may have on our mind and our potentially eternal future. This is where, without realizing it, we constantly make decisions that could have consequences into all future eternity. As a result of decisions we make in our mind our soul grows, becomes stronger. In a very real sense, our thoughts determine our future.

Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves.[1] (1216.4)

This posting is based on “The Mind Arena of Choice,” which is section 1 of paper 111 in The Urantia Book, starting at page 1216.

Mind

When we contemplate anything we must use our mind; for human beings our mind is the core of our being. This is where we observe, compare, analyze, plan, and grow or slide based upon our mental decisions. It could be said, especially for those having experienced little spiritual growth, mind is nearly all there is to our being.

Every thinking human being has within them a spark of God; every mortal literally has God within; this divine fragment works with our mind, gently guiding us Godward. Mind is the human soil from which the spirit Monitor must evolve the morontia soul with the co-operation of the indwelt personality. (1216.2)

Our soul, which will be eternal if we so choose, grows as a result of the guidance of our God Within working on our mind where we make decisions to cooperate, or not. Our mind is so important to the growth of our soul that it certainly is our soul’s soil. The nature of our soul soil depends on how we use our mind. Where are our thoughts directed? As evolutionary human beings on a planet in rebellion against universe authority, a significant portion of our thoughts are in response to outside events impacting us. But we must have a deep purpose guiding us through our personal trying times. If our mind is filled with materialism, greed, lust, hatred, or fear it will be poor soil indeed for our soul. On the other hand, if we are concentrated on following God’s will and accept love, brotherhood, and divine guidance, our soul’s soil will be rich indeed.

Thought Adjusters are a spark of God and therefore perfect, but if the soul’s soil is spiritually poor as a result of human choices, nothing can save mortals other than more spiritually based decisions; choosing to follow God’s will.

…it is by mind that you live or die. It is within this mind and with this mind that you make those moral decisions which enable you to achieve Adjusterlikeness, and that is Godlikeness. (1216.5)

Mind is our soul’s soil. This is where we grow our soul.

Choosing

Making choices is such an everyday thing we seldom pay any attention to the process. We choose what to eat, what to wear, whom we associate with, and how we react to difficulties. However, any decision may present complications. Suppose we are going home from work or the store and have two possible routes to choose from, one might be scenic while the other is quicker. We have no idea if there is a problem with either choice; there may be an accident or any kind of delay. We don’t always know what the consequences of any decision might be.

One class of decisions is especially important: moral choices. If someone insults us will we hit back or seek a peaceful reply? Frequently we respond to such a situation in the spur of the moment without considering what might happen, but this is precisely when careful thoughts are essential. We have to consider what affect each choice will have on our soul’s soil. That is vital. Choosing what to wear will probably not damage our soul soil but a moral choice will have an impact.

When we are making moral choices we are guided by our indwelling spark of God, our Thought Adjuster, acting gently on our superconsciousness. The mortal has to make the decision to follow the guidance of the Adjuster, or not. (1216.3)

Cooperating with our Adjuster is not a master-slave relationship; it is a true partnership. They are our wise advisor. This advisor cannot run the show for us; we must choose which aspects to follow and which to reject. (1217.3) We might ask how to know exactly what your Adjuster is recommending, but that is exactly the point; if the Adjuster shouted “DO THIS!” that would be compulsion not cooperation. When you honestly listen for guidance, you KNOW how to choose.

And it is not so much what mind comprehends as what mind desires to comprehend that insures survival; it is not so much what mind is like as what mind is striving to be like that constitutes spirit identification…. What you are today is not so important as what you are becoming day by day and in eternity. (1216.6) Our soul’s soil is enriched by our spiritual desires.

What we are becoming is the direct result of our choices. Our mortal free will, more accurately called spiritual free will, makes choices that will have a profound effect on what our mind is like, and what it is becoming day by day.

Our choices determine the nature of our eternal future, or lack thereof. We enhance our mental soil by the choices we make.

The Captain

Mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is captain. (1217.4) The first thing to notice about this quotation is that our body, our physical mechanism, is not even considered; that is because our mind and our moral choices are more important than our physical mechanism which is susceptible to the ravages of time while our soul is not. Elsewhere, The Urantia Book compares our body to a building built by our mind with guidance from our Adjuster. (483.12) Our mind has some control over our body and influences what it becomes. Guided by our human will, our mind is where things happen; the captain gives an order and the ship, our mind, responds.

The captain, our human will, must have control over the ship, our mind; this is where the real action is: the captain gaining control over the ship. The human will has to have control. It is the mind that ultimately fashions and maintains the body. Our pilot is guiding our captain who gives orders so the mind goes safely through the troubled waters of life. The captain has to trust the pilot when making moral choices in difficult times.

With your consent, this faithful pilot will safely carry you across the barriers of time and the handicaps of space to the very source of the divine mind and on beyond, even to the Paradise Father of Adjusters. (1217.4)

  1. All references are to The Urantia Book one column version in the format page.paragraph. ↑

Meaning of the Cross

God’s Wonders

Click on photo for information about it.

The primary reference for these blog postings is The Urantia Book. For those not familiar with this book, it presents a far reaching description of God and His creation, as well as a full accounting of the life and teachings of Jesus; revelations in The Urantia Book greatly expand on those in the Bible. That it is a valid revelation is discussed on this web site. Because of rebellion our planet has been cut off from communicating with other worlds. This revelation is a first and can be a challenging read; these blog postings explain and relate them to current situations in our society.

Five hundred thousand years ago our native planet Earth, known as Urantia in the universe records, actually had a ruler, a Planetary Prince named Caligastia. He was a good leader for over 300,000 years, but what happened? Long story short, Lucifer who was the sovereign leader of our group of inhabited worlds, called a system, went into rebellion against the universe government; our Planetary Prince joined the rebellion; ever since our history has been filled with discord, sin, and wars. We describe the introduction of sin into our world, followed by a discussion of what constitutes sin, and finally how do we attain salvation. This final section is a discussion of the meaning of the Cross of Jesus. Jesus taught the citizens of Earth and destroyed sin by loving service.

Caligastia – Our Original Sinner

A bit over 200,000 years ago Lucifer[1] was our system sovereign;[2] he chose rebel against universe authority and he convinced his assistant, Satan, to become part of the rebellion. It was Satan who went to the various inhabited worlds seeking to convince their Planetary Princes to join the rebellion. When Satan came to our planet, Caligastia agreed to become part of the rebellion.

Caligastia joined the rebellion over 150,000 years before Adam and Eve arrived. They were in the Garden of Eden about 100 years before they were entrapped by a plot instigated by Caligastia. They did not join the rebellion and did the best they could under very difficult circumstances.

Satan, as an ambassador of Lucifer, brought the sin of rebellion against God to Urantia and our Planetary Prince Caligastia willingly accepted it. It could be said that Caligastia is our original sinner. Before the arrival of Caligastia, inhabitants of Earth had no concept of God and were not conscious of sin. Caligastia allowed sin against God to enter our native planet. In the next section we have a more thorough discussion of sin.

The entire subsequent history of Earth was drastically altered by this sin of Caligastia. (752.4)[3] It is incredible what a dramatic consequence can arise from one solitary decision so many years ago. We can only wonder what our life would be like had this not happened.

At the headquarters of the Planetary Prince was a school for mortals from surrounding regions; after being educated they were returned to their homes to spread the advanced learning they had received. These schools worked well for 300,000 years but after the rebellion Caligastia deliberately and systematically poisoned these teachings; the schools were quickly wrecked. (576.2) These many years later we are still struggling to properly educate our sisters and brothers.

When we raise our children we are careful to not give them unfamiliar objects that might be dangerous, for example matches. We allow them to grow at their own pace. Caligastia went beyond this system and introduced teachings which the citizens were not ready for. (1302.4) Introducing new concepts prematurely can be dangerous. Would you give a primitive bushman a machine gun?

In his life, Jesus demonstrated that using our God-given abilities for personal gain or selfishness is a sin. (1519.2) What constitutes sin?

Sin

Sin is going against God’s will, but there are many shades of actions that may be described as going against His will. Error is not understanding reality, not knowing the action is wrong. With evil there is a partial realization that the action is wrong. With sin the individual knows the difference between right and wrong but does the sinful action anyway; this a conscious decision to go against God’s will. Iniquity is when sin is openly and persistently embraced. (754.5)

Error suggests lack of intellectual keenness; evil, deficiency of wisdom; sin, abject spiritual poverty; but iniquity is indicative of vanishing personality control. (755.1)

Those who habitually sin can become iniquitous, rebels against universe reality. Even though all manner of sins may be forgiven, those in iniquity are unlikely to be sorry for their sins and therefore would not accept forgiveness. (755.2)

Sin is an attitude of the individual toward reality. The sinner has a reasonable picture of what constitutes reality; knows what is right and what is wrong. The sinner deliberately chooses to do something known to be wrong by the sinner. Regarding a specific proposed action, those in error are ignorant of its rightness or wrongness; those who are evil are uncertain about right or wrong; while those who sin know for a fact that the act is wrong but they persist in the face of such knowledge. Sin is always a personal decision by the sinner. (761.6) Individuals may live in unbelievable conditions that make righteousness difficult to attain, but the final decision to sin is made alone. We cannot be forced against our will to sin; over time such sinning may become a habit. Iniquity.

This is enough about sin. We have all sinned and gone against the will of God. What are we going to do about it?

Salvation

This discussion on salvation is based on two sections in The Urantia Book covering the meaning of Jesus on the cross; (2016.6 – 2019.6) because of that episode our world has become known as the “World of the Cross” on nearby worlds. Jesus chose to come to our planet and reveal the nature of God to us and the rest of his creation; see “Jesus – Bestowal” for more on this topic.

There are some who see the cross as Jesus redeeming us from original sin, however in the previous section we learned sin is personal; my sin is personal, my problem. The same goes for the sins of my predecessors, their sins were their problems. Sin is connected to the individual who made the sinful decision; the sinner.

The animal nature — the tendency toward evil-doing — may be hereditary, but sin is not transmitted from parent to child. Sin is the act of conscious and deliberate rebellion against the Father’s will and the Sons’ laws by an individual will creature. (2016.10)

Jesus is truly our savior; he showed us the way, his resurrection made clear that salvation is ours for the asking. (2017.2) After resurrection he had ongoing life, as will we after our own resurrection. The resurrection proves that no matter what might have happened in our earthly life, there will be more life after our death. The only exception to this is individuals who have totally rejected God, those who abide in iniquity; for them there can be no resurrection.

The only concept Jesus taught about God is that he is a loving Father. Once we fully accept this we must reject unworthy descriptions of his nature, such that he is offended, stern, or seeking to learn about our wrongdoing; such views of God are not consistent with the teachings of Jesus. The infinite love of God is not secondary to anything in the divine nature. (2017.3)

When considering salvation it is important to include the life of Jesus, the matchless way he met death, and the resurrection. His life was one of service and teaching. While on his tour of the Mediterranean he spent several hours helping a lost child get back home. (1465.5) His conduct during the unfair trail was such that Pilate, who had the final say in his execution, declared “Behold the man!” (1995.2) His resurrection on that first Easter morning declares to everyone that death has no sting.

Knowing the love Jesus has for us, we need not worry about our personal salvation because it has already been given to us. The life of Jesus is a revelation of the nature of our Heavenly Father; the phrase “God is Love” appears 14 times in The Urantia Book. His love surrounds us and uplifts us. God’s love and mercy are boundless; salvation is truly ours for the asking. Once we grasp this truth we should share this knowledge with sisters and brothers.

Human salvation is real; it is based on two realities which may be grasped by the creature’s faith …: the fact of the fatherhood of God and its correlated truth, the brotherhood of man. (2017.8) We all stand equal before God, and He loves each of us equally.

Those persecuting Jesus during his tribulation before and during the time of the cross were certainly going against the will of God but Jesus responded with calm majesty, speaking only when asked a direct question. During the ordeal Jesus asked God to “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”[4] If those who were part of that shameful process can be forgiven, then forgiving our sins is a given.

The cross forever shows that the attitude of Jesus toward sinners was neither condemnation nor condonation, but rather eternal and loving salvation. (2018.1)

The meaning of the cross is that the love of God is greater than our meager sins.

  1. Bible: Isaiah 14,12 – King James version ↑

  2. When complete each system will have about 1,000 inhabited planets; we are number 606 in our system ↑

  3. Unless otherwise noted all references are to The Urantia Book in the format page.paragraph for the one column version. ↑

  4. Bible: Luke 23, 34 ↑

Human Body as Physical Mechanism

Reaching Upward

Click on Photo for information about it.

Our physical body is the most visible component of our being, but there is much more to us than meets the eye. Our physical body is constantly making demands on our consciousness; it is impossible to fully ignore its incessant calls. Because of this we have difficulty believing there is anything non-physical about us. However, the fact that our mind can explore our physical being is a hint that mind is somewhat beyond the physical; a purely physical entity could not comprehend self-examination. We look at our hand and understand its usefulness as a unit, we understand its purpose. And so our body has a purpose: to create and nurture a soul having the potential of existing into all future eternity.

We discuss a new way of considering the human body. The most common understanding of our physical self is that the body is all there is to our being. The Urantia Book presents a widely different description. The human body is a physical mechanism utilized by our indwelling spark of God (our Thought Adjuster) and our God given personality to produce and nurture our potentially eternal self: our soul. The growth of the soul comes about by means of our free will decisions; if they are in harmony with God’s will our soul grows, otherwise it stagnates. We are assisted by our guardian angels, the Spirit of Truth, the Adjutant Mind Spirits, and other spirit entities.

Body

Our total being has several components. The first of these is naturally our body which is the material or physical organism of man. The living electrochemical mechanism of animal nature and origin. (8.7)[1] Next is our mind which is discussed briefly in the next section. Then there is the spirit, the spark of God dwelling within each of us. Finally there is our soul which comes into being and grows by means of our spiritual free will decisions. During life in the flesh our soul is in an embryonic state. (744.8) But this not all; there is also our personality given to us by God. Each personality is unique; it defines us as a specific entity. The personality permeates all of our being and our actions; unifying everything we do. (1225.7)

Mortal man is a machine, a living mechanism; his roots are truly in the physical world of energy. Many human reactions are mechanical in nature; much of life is machinelike. But man, a mechanism, is much more than a machine; he is mind endowed and spirit indwelt…. (1301.7)

Our body is our physical reality but is not our total being. Our society has discounted spiritual reality for centuries at its peril; the time has come for citizens of Earth to realize we must base our existence on our Heavenly Father, His love and guidance.

On a material world you think of a body as having a spirit, but we regard the spirit as having a body. The material eyes are truly the windows of the spirit-born soul. The spirit is the architect, the mind is the builder, the body is the material building. (483.12)

Time to examine the builder.

Mind

It is in the mind where we make decisions, explore our surroundings, make plans, and choose to do God’s will (or otherwise). The nature of our mind defines who we are and who we wish to become. In the mind our free will choices have the greatest effect; it is here that our choice to seek eternal life by following the God-given guidance that each mortal receives has its beginning and is nurtured, resulting in a growing awareness of our Heavenly Father. In a way the mind acts as a bridge between our current physical existence and our future spirit experience.

This discussion is based mainly on “Mind Arena of Choice” starting at 1216.2.

Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves. (1216.4)

Our mind is a precious resource, we would do well to exercise it and guide it into productive channels. Too often we pursue frivolous thoughts, excess gratification, or selfishness. Our mind is the gateway into a wider reality if we are sincerely seeking to find God and become more like Him by choosing to do His will at each opportunity.

Our entire life is lived primarily within our mind. We think, react, yearn, and plan within our mind. Also, when we interact with sisters and brothers we get a glimpse of what their mind is like by observing their speech and actions. Our mind is certainly the core of our consciousness; it is where we make decisions that may have a significant bearing on our possibility of life eternal.

And it is not so much what mind comprehends as what mind desires to comprehend that insures survival; it is not so much what mind is like as what mind is striving to be like that constitutes spirit identification. (1216.6)

In the final analysis, we become what we wish to become. Be careful what you wish for. If we are reaching out for God we have the possibility of actually communicating with the God fragment within, our personal Thought Adjuster; if instead we are reaching for something less, we attain something less. If we have life eternal as our goal there may be no end to our growth.

Mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is captain. The master of the mortal vessel should have the wisdom to trust the divine pilot to guide the ascending soul into the morontia harbors of eternal survival. (1217.4)

Our mind is the ship carrying our total being and is where we live, breathe, and have our awareness. The mortal will is the controlling factor where the mind gives orders to the rest of the ship. The captain of the ship must be aware of dangers and protect the ship from them. In troublous waters it is vital to have someone who knows the dangers and how to avoid them. Our Thought Adjuster is the best pilot available, but the captain (our mind, our free will choices) has to learn how to listen to and follow the guidance of the pilot. This knowing of God’s will grows as we get a feel of the process; the more we honestly follow His will, the easier it becomes the next time.

Unaided mind is impotent to influence anything material save its own physical mechanism, with which it is inescapably linked. (1222.4)

This opens the possibility of our mind having some influence over our physical mechanism; this topic is also discussed elsewhere in The Urantia Book. (1275.5) That is a topic for another day.

Physical Mechanism

A mechanism is a system of parts working together to form a collective unit. Therefore, a physical mechanism is something physical which contains many parts that all work together forming one unit; in this case our mortal body, our physical reality. It is truly remarkable how well our various components (generally) work together; the human body is a well-designed mechanism. The way all these parts work together makes it unthinkable it came into being by happenstance. We generally think of a machine when considering a mechanism but everything in our body does work together exactly like a mechanism.

For example: Adam lived for 530 years; he died of what might be termed old age. His physical mechanism simply wore out…. (852.4) His body, his physical mechanism, stopped working.

And again, when Machiventa Melchizedek was present on Earth with a physical body, he terminated his mission after ninety-four years because had he remained for any long period on earth, his physical mechanism would have gradually deteriorated. (1015.6) That is what happens to our bodies after a certain length of time; they wear out. The same thing happens to our mechanical mechanisms; our cars, trucks, and such wear out.

Considering our body as being a physical mechanism emphasizes that it is only a physical component of our being, it does not take into consideration our nonphysical mind, nor our indwelling spark of God, our Thought Adjuster; it also does not include our personality.

While we cannot say our body is insignificant, we certainly can say our physical mechanism is not all there is to anybody.

  1. All references are to The Urantia Book in the format page.paragraph for the one column edition. ↑