Author: Doug Cable

God Within

Beauty is From God

Click on photo for information about it.

The “Talking Points” page “God Within” has been updated. This posting is a slight condensation of the new page. Additions include a discussion of the plan our Thought Adjuster has for our life, and ways we can cooperate with our indwelling spark of God. This page is important because the truth our Heavenly Father is literally a part of every thinking mortal on Earth is a vital part of the revelations in The Urantia Book; it should be the moral foundation of our life.

Every mortal with a normal mind living on this planet has as a part of their being an actual fragment of God, our Thought Adjuster, or Adjuster. God is therefore infinite, can be everywhere, and at the same instant actually dwells within each of us; He is both within us and outside, guiding us toward His presence. We need not go any farther than our inner experience to find God and commune with Him.[1]

Since Pentecost, when the Spirit of Truth was universally bestowed, everyone on Earth has received a Thought Adjuster.[2] Again, everyone has this fragment of God within as a part of their being; therefore everyone has value, everyone must be included in society, every child of God has something unique to offer.

While our Adjuster is a part of each one of us, its goal is very long term; it is preparing us for the long journey to Paradise and being in the presence of God.[3] Our God within is not concerned with our momentary fancies, rather our Adjuster is gradually preparing us for the challenges of eternity.

Before our Adjuster arrives to dwell within us it received an estimation of our intellectual endowment and our capacity for spiritual progress; based upon this information it volunteers to work with a specific mortal.[4] This is comforting; your Adjuster knows your potential and volunteers to assist you in your ascent toward Paradise. This spark of God in our lives knows our capability exactly and desires to be within us, guiding us toward realizing our full potential.

When our Adjuster arrives to dwell within our minds they have a carefully thought out plan for us that was approved by their supervisors.[5] God indeed has a plan for our life, each and every one of us. He wants to guide us step by gradual step through many existences on many levels until we literally stand in the presence of the creator of all things on Paradise. The only catch, the only fly in the ointment, is we must, of our own free will, accept this plan. Our loving Heavenly Father absolutely will not force us into anything against our will. We need to accept the plan God has for our life. Since we have this capability of rejecting the plan of God at any time, it is not predestination; we certainly can reject it anytime and choose, whatever. As if we could improve upon the plan of God!

Our Thought Adjuster arrives when we make our first moral decision, our first free will decision; currently this is just before the child’s sixth birthday.[6] At this point the divine fragment begins to guide the child toward making spiritual decisions, initiating a desire to know more about God. While this spark of God is working in our minds it refuses to compel us to do anything against our will;[7] our spiritual free will is inviolate.

They want to change our feelings of fear to those of love;[8] they cannot do this arbitrarily, we must make the decision. Our decision to accept love into our life is the fulcrum on which our Adjuster can apply a spiritual lever to advance our emotional life. Our everyday decisions supply the fulcrum our Adjuster can use to uplift our emotional base and reach toward spiritual advancement. When our emotions are negative the Adjuster has nothing to base the desired uplifting spiritual lever upon; they are thwarted by our baser thoughts.[9]

Our Thought Adjuster is a literal spark of God and is therefore perfect. Our Adjuster will not fail; apparent failures are caused by our unwillingness to follow the internal guidance we receive. If we are honest we will definitely know what our Heavenly Father wishes for our lives, the choice is ours. We have perfect guides; therefore is the goal of perfection certainly attainable.[10]

There is no conscious way we can assist our Adjuster as it seeks to spiritualize us, this interaction cannot be guided by specific thoughts and actions, rather our faith and supreme desires are utilized in this upward struggle.[11] There are however, ways we can cooperate with our spark of God within.

First, we must choose to respond to the guidance we receive. For those without knowledge of revelations in The Urantia Book this may be a challenge as they are not aware of this internal guidance. Regardless of our spiritual awareness, our highest desires are acted upon. If we desire truth, beauty, and goodness we will be guided in that direction. Our highest, most spiritual aspirations are respected.

Second, we must love God and want to become more like Him. There is a spontaneous desire to worship our heavenly Father, and love Him.

Third, we need to love our sisters and brothers, sincerely recognize universal brotherhood. We must serve them and see to their needs. An intelligent, inherent, and wise love for those around us is an important aspect of spiritual growth.

Finally, we have to recognize cosmic citizenship, our responsibility to God that we fulfill obligations to grow, serve, and minister to sisters and brothers. Cosmic morality entails recognizing our duty to universal reality, realizing each one of us has something special only we can contribute to the growth of universal deity. Everyone has value, meaning, and purpose in our Father’s creation.

Every decision we make has an effect on work of our Adjuster.[12] It is important to always be conscious of the potential spiritual value of each decision. In our heart we usually know which way our Heavenly Father might want us to go, which decision He might approve. Certainly some decisions will be of more importance than others, but each one can become vitally important.

The Adjusters have long term plans for our lives; they gradually and persistently work to carry out these plans, lovingly guiding us every small step along the way. What is important for each step is our decision to follow the guidance of our spark of God within. No human being will ever be spiritualized by a divine Monitor against his will; survival is a gift of the Gods which must be desired by the creatures of time.[13] We need to give consent for this glorious transformation, from a lowly creature on this evolutionary planet into an eternal being with growing spiritual awareness and progress.

Frequently we are so tied up in the trifles of life, everyday conflicts, we totally overlook spiritual values, spiritual reality.[14] We are generally unaware of the need to cooperate with the divine guidance each and every one of us receives throughout our lives. Each human being is constantly guided by a divine inner spark of God; we are oblivious. We can live a life of joy, love and brotherhood while totally living a God consecrated life, just as Jesus did. He certainly knew pain and loss, but his overriding emotion was joy and love. The life of Jesus was one of loving service. By our moment to moment choices we can also choose such a life.

The dominant emotion of these God fragments is love, the most truly divine love in all creation.[15] The love of our Creator Son, Jesus, is truly sublime, but our Adjuster is part of our being, within our mind always poring forth love and an urge to grow spiritually. The loving guidance of our Thought Adjuster will be with us forever, always showing the way toward spiritual growth and loving service.

We are not alone in the cosmos because our Heavenly Father is always with us; it is we who have chosen to ignore Him. Our choices define us and the most eternally significant choice we can make is to follow the guidance of our personal spark of God. His love is part of us; we must embrace and choose to follow His leadership. The consequence of so choosing is an eternal life of service and adventure.

  1. All references are to The Urantia Book. They are to the one column edition in the format page:paragraph, 62.1 ↑

  2. 1187.2 ↑

  3. 1192.1 ↑

  4. 1185.4 ↑

  5. 1204.5 ↑

  6. 1186.8 ↑

  7. 753.2 ↑

  8. 1192.3 ↑

  9. 1193.1 ↑

  10. 1192.5 ↑

  11. The following discussion is based on 1206.4-8 ↑

  12. 1209.6 ↑

  13. 1204.6 ↑

  14. 1206.2 ↑

  15. 1203.2 ↑

We Need a Story

This posting is a slightly condensed version of the Preface to my book, “Light of Truth: Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness.” A similar version is on the Talking Points Page, Motivating Story. It was probably written a year or so ago but is even more relevant now than it was then. We truly need a story.

The presence of severe difficulties in global society begs the question: how did we get this way? And another: what we can do about it? There are sources pointing the way, showing what we can do to improve life on Earth; we must use these sources in efforts toward promoting brotherhood and love. Our planet has been living in spiritual darkness for decades; it is time to move forward into light of truth.

Society has no overall guiding principle, no well-defined goals, no story to motivate it, everything is piecemeal. “When we have no stories that describe the present and guide the future, hope evaporates. Political failure is, in essence, a failure of imagination.”[1] We seek a story to give us goals and hope; give lives purpose; it will become the motivator of our existence.

This inspiring story is a captivating narrative giving our lives meaning and direction. Stories in the media, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter, are entertaining but they do not motivate lives. The story we seek is a unifying ethic empowering our struggle for a better life. One such story brought about the westward expansion of America. Based on exaggerated glowing reports of opportunities in the west, shopkeepers and ordinary people in the east fled westward with family and few belongings to carve out a better life in the west; that story gave their hardships and their lives meaning; it gave them hope for the future.

Today we have no such encouraging story and as a result of this loss of direction there is an “epidemic of loneliness sweeping the world.”[2] People are not connected with their community, their surroundings; they are isolated as never before. This impacts their actions in society, their effectiveness. This isolation brings negative, even self-destructive emotions into their lives.

What is the story to motivate this change? This story to ignite our desire for a better society needs to be concise yet captivating, the goal needs to be enticing, and it should have a broad appeal to society. The story must be powerful enough people will be willing to undergo hardships to bring the story to life. Just as the story of a better life in western United States gave citizens in the east strength to endure the many dangers of the journey west, our story must give everyone strength to persevere through the struggle to bring about a better life for us all.

We propose a story based on teachings in The Urantia Book. [3] This revelation has power, depth, and complexity; it has the potential to transform society on our Planet. We use this revelation to build a story capable of bringing about a better life for everyone.

There are only three components to this story. First is the truth every thinking human being has a spark of God within. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you?”[4] This spirit of God is the Thought Adjuster. The second component of the story is the truth everyone can have eternal life if they so choose.[5] The third part of the story is the truth everyone is equally indwelt by our Heavenly Father; we are all sisters and brothers, when society realizes this there will be universal brotherhood.[6]

Here is the story.

Every thinking human being on Earth has the spirit of God within them; truly everyone, no exceptions. God is within every person. How strongly can it be stated? This truth is the cornerstone of our story. Our Father did not just send His son here a couple thousand years ago and then forget about us. Our Heavenly Father is literally present within each thinking mortal on this planet. God is no respecter of persons,[7] He respects everyone equally.

Life eternal is freely given to everyone who asks for it. All we need do is follow His guidance, choose to do His will in all things. Again, it is truly that simple. Physical death is simply like walking out of one room and into another; like walking out of this physical space and into a more spiritual realm. Eternal life is ours for the asking; we should live with the certainty of this truth.

As we recognize the presence of our Father equally within everyone we realize every person is sister or brother; we are all equally children of God. This feeling of universal brotherhood colors interactions with neighbors and everyone we may chance to meet or learn about. The watchword for every day becomes brotherhood.

One way to enlarge this story is to study the full life and teachings of Jesus as revealed in The Urantia Book. As we incorporate these teachings into our lives we are seeking to become more like our Heavenly Father, living our faith, allowing this faith to transform our existence, changing the world for the better, one interaction at a time.

Even though this fact of universal brotherhood is the final component of our story, this is where each one of us can have the greatest impact. The other two components, presence of God within and eternal life, primarily are personal and internal manifestations; something we experience within ourself. This issue of universal brotherhood is external; we express this in our daily life. This influences our reaction to situations as we encounter and interact with those around us. This feeling of brotherhood must be genuine; a natural consequence of internalizing the other components of the story.

This issue of brotherhood is where we declare how we stand; exclusion or inclusion, hate or love, rejection or acceptance, a narrow existence or an eternal life of service doing God’s will.

Simply stated our story is every mortal of sound mind has within a fragment of our Heavenly Father, this God within is the promise of eternal life and when we fully realize this we will know we are all sisters and brothers. This story with the potential to transform life on Earth is simple and profound, giving it power to energize society.

This story has the power to ignite a resurgence in spiritual awareness and willingness to bring about a better life for everyone on Earth; no exceptions.

  1. “Out of the Wreckage: a New Politics for an Age of Crisis” by George Monbiot, Verso, New York, 2017, p6 ↑

  2. Monbiot p 17 ↑

  3. The Urantia Book, Urantia Foundation, Chicago IL, 2015 printing. See appendix 1 and 2 for a discussion of this revelation ↑

  4. Bible, 1 Corinthians 3:16 ↑

  5. The Urantia Book, 71.7, this refers to the page.paragraph of the one column edition. All references are to The Urantia Book unless otherwise noted. ↑

  6. 2053.4 ↑

  7. Bible Acts 10,34 and Romans 2, 11; ↑

How Should We Approach The Urantia Book?

We have been granted this Fifth Epochal Revelation, the most important revelation of truth since the life and teachings of Jesus over two thousand years ago; what are we going to do with it? How can we get into its teachings in a way that will transform our lives, even the life of every citizen of this beautiful blue marble in space? How can we wrap our minds around it?

The Urantia Book is a challenging read, how do we begin to understand it? The authors of this revelation would want us to start reading (studying) from the beginning. The human mind would ordinarily crave to approach the cosmic philosophy portrayed in these revelations by proceeding from the simple and the finite to the complex and the infinite, from human origins to divine destinies. But that path does not lead to spiritual wisdom. Such a procedure is the easiest path to a certain form of genetic knowledge, but at best it can only reveal man’s origin; it reveals little or nothing about his divine destiny. (Urantia Book 215.2)

The next paragraph expands on this thought. Even in the study of man’s biologic evolution on Urantia, there are grave objections to the exclusive historic approach to his present-day status and his current problems. The true perspective of any reality problem — human or divine, terrestrial or cosmic — can be had only by the full and unprejudiced study and correlation of three phases of universe reality: origin, history, and destiny. The proper understanding of these three experiential realities affords the basis for a wise estimate of the current status. (Urantia Book 215.3)

Not only do these quotes give reasons to start from the beginning, they also give an idea of the concentrated concepts in this Epochal Revelation. This is dense material, not intended for light bedtime reading. Every sentence is thought provoking.

There is another way for us to approach the study of this revelation, more relevant for us who are not used to thinking in these deep and precise ways. We should ask what interests us, what do we want to know. After we know the goal, we can proceed accordingly. There are several possibilities.

The most obvious is to learn about Jesus; there is much about him in the Bible, but much is also missing. What was he like as a child? For this read Paper 120, The Bestowal of Michael on Urantia, through Paper 126, The Two Crucial Years (page 1323 – 1394). What was he doing during the so-called missing years? This is discussed in Paper 127, The Adolescent Years, through Paper 134, The Transition Years (page 1395 – 1495). What exactly did he teach the apostles? We learn these things by reading Paper 136, Baptism and the Forty Days, through Paper 196, The Faith of Jesus (page 1509 – 2097).

Perhaps we might want to learn how our planet evolved, then read Paper 57, The Origin of Urantia (page 651 – 663); how life arose and changed Paper 58, Life Establishment on Urantia, through Paper 62, The Dawn Races of Early Man (page 664 – 710). We learn whether life was brought here or did it originate on this planet. To meet the first true human beings read Paper 63, The First Human Family (page 711 – 717)

To find out why our planet is in such a sad state today read Paper 53, The Lucifer Rebellion, and Paper 54, Problems of the Lucifer Rebellion (page 601 – 620). In addition also read Paper 66, The Planetary Prince of Urantia, and Paper 67, The Planetary Rebellion (page 741 – 762).

Another question is what is God like? For this read Paper 1, The Universal Father, through Paper 5, God’s Relation to the Individual (page 21 – 72). To learn what the Eternal Son is like read Paper 6, The Eternal Son, and Paper 7, Relation of the Eternal Son to the Universe (page 73 – 89). What is the Infinite Spirit like? Then read Paper 8, The Infinite Spirit, and Paper 9, Relation of the Infinite Spirit to the Universe (page 90 – 107). To learn about the Trinity read Paper 10, The Paradise Trinity (page 108 – 117). Where do they reside? This is revealed in Paper 11, The Eternal Isle of Paradise (page 118 – 127). For a description of the structure of the cosmos study Paper 12, The Universe of Universes (page 128 – 142).

To learn more about Adam and Eve see Paper 73, The Garden of Eden, through Paper 76, The Second Garden (page 821 – 854).

To learn about how civilization grew read Paper 81, Development of Modern Civilization (page 900 – 912).

If we want to learn about the evolution of marriage study Paper 82, The Evolution of Marriage, through Paper 84, Marriage and Family Life (Page 913 – 943)

To learn about religion, study Paper 99, The Social Problems of Religion, through Paper 103, The Reality of Religious Experience (page 1086 – 1142).

Those with a scientific background might tackle Paper 42, Energy—Mind and Matter (page 467 – 484).

If we are interested in government start at Paper 69, Primitive Human Institutions, through Paper 72, Government on a Neighboring Planet (page 772 – 820). Another excellent discussion of government is in Paper 134, The Transition Years; especially sections 3 – 6 (page 1485 – 1491) which are based on a series of lectures Jesus gave on the subject of government.

A link to each paper in the revelation is found on the Urantia Book page on this web site.

When one topic has been completed, move on to another and expand understanding of this revelation.

However, one final group of prospective students deserves more consideration. These individuals are driven to learn more about this revelation but do not know where to start, nothing seems to satisfy them. Something within drives them to learn more, to understand more. They feel something vital is missing from their lives. These are the truth seekers and they must make the extra effort to start from the beginning, with the Foreword.

In the Forward various concepts are presented along with the specific meaning attached to each. Among these are Deity and Divinity, God, the Seven Absolutes, Universe Reality, Energy and Pattern, the Supreme Being, God the Sevenfold and many more. The Forward is a challenging read but it lays the foundation for the rest of the book by presenting the meaning of words that are subsequently used. It should be referred to when the meaning of a specific term is uncertain; this is the definitive “dictionary” for the rest of the book.

When studying The Urantia Book we must keep in mind this precise word usage. We should make a sincere effort to comprehend its teachings but not get overly tangled up in details. We also should not become discouraged if there are things we do not understand at first because human beings are not used to thinking in these deep terms. It is a challenging read but the reward is immense: a greater and ever expanding understanding of creation!

There is one vital truth to keep in mind while studying this revelation; our Heavenly Father literally dwells within each thinking mortal on Earth. God is with us seeking to guide us into a greater realization of spiritual reality; this inner presence is assisting us to understand these concepts. Let Him!

After someone studies a few of these areas and is sincere about wanting to know more, the time comes when they will be a truth seeker and then they should study the revelation from the beginning, at the Foreword in order to gain the proper perspective.

Once The Urantia Book finds an individual, no longer will that person be bored, having nothing to do, because always there is much more to learn. The search for spiritual growth is truly endless, even eternal.

Interconnections

In this posting we examine the connectivity of articles on UBLightofTruth.com. Each article has links to other articles—called Talking Points—as well as links to sections in my book “Light of Truth – Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness.” Most articles also have links to relevant papers in The Urantia Book, the primary reference for my book. All these interconnected links can be read on your web connected device.

A comment before we begin, perhaps two. Clicking on any photo brings up a short comment on the photo (all except two on the About page were taken by me) as well as information about where it was taken and technical details. Also, right-clicking on any link brings up a box, clicking “Open in a new tab” opens the link in a new tab. This way you can continue reading the article, but interesting links will be in new tabs; that way you can concentrate on the present article first. When finished, the other tabs are ready for your investigation.

Suppose you are interested in Adam and Eve. On the Talking Points page select Adam and Eve – Garden. As you read the article, some words will be underlined; these have a link to something else.

In paragraph 3 is a link to Planetary Prince which brings up information about our Planetary Prince who rebelled against God and was deposed by Jesus.

The next paragraph has links to the Lucifer Rebellion, the default of Adam and Eve, Epochal Revelations, and a discussion on the purpose of The Urantia Book.

There is also a link to a discussion of the consequences of the rebellion, a discussion why The Urantia Book is worthy of being a primary reference, and a discussion of current hopeful signs.

At the end is a link to the section in “Light of Truth – Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness” about Adam and Eve. Finally there are links to three papers in The Urantia Book about Adam and Eve (Paper 74, Paper 75 and Paper 76) which are located on the Urantia Foundation website. The search engine to find papers in The Urantia Book is located here.

The entire text of “Light of Truth – Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness” is on the website; it can be accessed by the Table of Contents menu item at the top of the web page. At the bottom of each book section is a link to the Table of Contents and the next section.

Since the Talking Points are based on my book, sometimes the section in the book will be similar to the Talking Points articles, but often more information will be in the book.

Suppose you are interested in what the present day consequences of the rebellion might be; select the tab you opened above about Consequences of Rebellion and study the impact of this rebellion, which happened about 200,000 years ago, on our current situation. In this article there are links to 21 other Talking Point articles. Each article is linked to others in a way to make this site a true learning experience.

This site is aimed at truth seekers looking for deeper meaning in their lives, who want to know more about the imminence of God, learn out about the spiritual guidance each of us receives, what the impact of our free will choices might be, and how we can attain eternal life; among other things.

Dive in!

Accepting God’s Assistance

Our Heavenly Father wants only the best for each one of us; He wants us to succeed and is willing to help us if only we would let Him. Our Father is literally within each one of us, wanting to guide us and show us the way.

We will explore these thoughts based on one paragraph in The Urantia Book. Each sentence will be considered separately. The reference is The Urantia Book.

Why do you not aid the Adjuster in the task of showing you the spiritual counterpart of all these strenuous material efforts?

The presence of God within every thinking human being is called the Thought Adjuster, or simply Adjuster; it is also known by other names such as Mystery Monitor. Our Monitor wants to show us the way, why then do we not aid this fragment of God? He wants to assist us but cannot go against our free will choices; we must want to follow Him, we must want to accept His assistance. As we struggle in the material realm, He wants to show us the spiritual counterpart so we will be aware of goals and purposes for our life, our existence. Our material efforts also have a spiritual purpose but we are not aware of it unless we let our Monitor show us these values.

Why do you not allow the Adjuster to strengthen you with the spiritual truths of cosmic power while you wrestle with the temporal difficulties of creature existence?

There is power in cosmic realities which can strengthen us as we struggle with our material difficulties. The spiritual is primal over the physical; these spiritual truths can certainly help us here and now. This spiritual power is available to us in our earthly struggles if we only permit our Adjuster to guide us.

Why do you not encourage the heavenly helper to cheer you with the clear vision of the eternal outlook of universal life as you gaze in perplexity at the problems of the passing hour?

We can encourage our Monitor to grant us a certainty of our eternal life and allow this certainty to give us wisdom in dealing with our perplexing problems. We will then KNOW we are eternal beings and this would give us strength and comfort as confront our difficulties. Even while we are working out our material issues we can have that certain assurance of our eternal future; we need only to sincerely ask for it.

Why do you refuse to be enlightened and inspired by the universe viewpoint while you toil amidst the handicaps of time and flounder in the maze of uncertainties which beset your mortal life journey?

We are all cosmic citizens, having a more universal viewpoint will enlarge our horizons and enable us to have the broader picture in our mind as we struggle in our daily lives. Having this broader viewpoint will inspire us to incorporate this wider view into our daily existence.

Why not allow the Adjuster to spiritualize your thinking, even though your feet must tread the material paths of earthly endeavor?

In this material life there are many conflicting things we must be aware of and deal with; through it all, our feet must tread material paths. While we are dealing with physical necessities, our thinking is a certain guide in our lives. If this thinking is spiritualized, if we are seeking spiritual values, then we can better deal with whatever we might encounter in our daily lives. Again, we need to allow our Adjuster to guide us, to spiritualize our thinking.

We appear to be working out our lives solely in this earthly sphere, but in reality we are also working in a spiritual arena and it is in this spiritual workplace that we build our potentially eternal soul, our spirit being. Our indwelling spark of God, our Adjuster wants to assist us in this spiritual space and if we accept its workings there will also be an effect in our material lives.

Once we have fully accepted the guidance of our Adjuster we should consider accepting the covenant our Heavenly Father offers us.

And as you are the human parent, so is the Adjuster the divine parent of the real you, your higher and advancing self, your … future spiritual self. (Urantia Book 1193.5)