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Personal Communion

Click on photo for information about it.

The communion sacrament is important for many Christian religions. It is the only sacrament Jesus implemented during his life on our planet. In this posting we explore a personal communion with God. Our Father is present within each of us, therefore it is possible to have personal communion with our Heavenly Father. He is not only faraway on Paradise, also He literally dwells within every thinking mortal on Earth; He is also within those on all other inhabited planets. Communion with God is possible for every individual everywhere.

Having a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father is vital if we wish to grow spiritually. In this way we grow closer to Him; we can ask His advice in dealing with difficulties. We have a perfect guide, and through such personal communion we can experience guidance flowing into our being.

This posting, like most on this website is based on revelations in The Urantia Book, click on this link for information about this revelation.

What it is

Dictionaries recognize three meanings for the word communion; first is the Christian sacrament, second is an act of sharing, third is an intimate fellowship or rapport. The Christian sacrament, performed in a religious setting, has a profound and personal significance. An act of sharing can be communion if it is done in service, such as when Jesus washed the feet of his apostles before the Last Supper. An intimate relationship can also be spiritual, such as Jesus had many times with chance encounters. When we are spiritually motivated, avenues of rapport and communion open up before us.

The Father desires all his creatures to be in personal communion with him.… To each of you and to all of us, God is approachable, the Father is attainable, the way is open….[1]

The communion sacrament can be moving, a few years ago during a communion service at an Urantia Book mini-conference I had a strong spiritual experience; it nearly overpowered me. Personal communion with God is an example of the third meaning; it is an intimate fellowship with our inner God presence. A personal communion with God can be a lasting and deep experience.

There are three levels in our relationship with Heavenly Father. First we enter mind consciousness where we understand the idea of our Father; we consider what our Father might be like, who He is. Secondly, we enter soul consciousness; we seek His ideals. We want to know what He wants from each one of us and how we can serve Him. After that we enter the dawn of spirit consciousness where we know the spirit reality of our Heavenly Father because we know about His working within us; we have felt His gentle guidance in our lives. We know. Throughout all these interactions with our Father we realize He is dedicated to guiding each of us into a greater awareness of His nature. [2] He is the greatest Father we could possibly imagine.

When Jesus instituted the communion supper his goal was to not initiate a formalized ritual. He wanted to suggest meanings so each individual would have a personal communion experience instead of a shallow ritualized experience. He rather sought to set man’s reborn soul free upon the joyous wings of a new and living spiritual liberty.[3]

We have hidden ourselves

The Father is not in spiritual hiding, but so many of his creatures have hidden themselves away in the mists of their own willful decisions and for the time being have separated themselves from the communion of his spirit and the spirit of his Son by the choosing of their own perverse ways and by the indulgence of the self-assertiveness of their intolerant minds and unspiritual natures.[4]

Our Father has done everything possible to draw His wayward children nearer to Him. He will do nothing to limit our free will choices, but beyond that fixed boundary every effort is directed at bringing each of His children closer to Him; we have to make the choice to follow His guidance. He gives every thinking mortal an actual fragment of His being, our indwelling Thought Adjuster. We also have Guardian Angels, the Spirit of Truth, adjutant mind spirits, and other spirit influences. With all this spiritual assistance, the question comes down to this: “Is it your will that God’s will be done?” If so, then we will be assisted every step along the way.

Citizens in our materialistic society are so immersed in materialism they think they live in a spiritual vacuum. They view our Heavenly Father as being the kind old guy depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The creator of everything in existence could not possibly be such a familiar figure. Physical reality deals with facts, and appearance. Spiritual reality deals with value, relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Before we can progress spiritually we must get rid of our materialistic tendencies which contaminate our spiritual concept of Heavenly Father.[5] We need to realize Heavenly Father who created all things and beings, is not physical. Our Heavenly Father is a spirit being; He is the ultimate spirit being. We must become aware of the spirit nature of our Heavenly Father.

How we do it

While God is in nature, it is difficult to discern Him there; but being in a beautiful natural setting facilitates the search for communion with our Father Fragment because external stimulations are peaceful and soothing. Where we live is like a nature sanctuary; we do not have the constant rumble of city life or the deceptively ordinary existence of gossipy small towns. Even rural places have focuses of life to capture attention: cows, the occasional truck, crops and fields. Here in Poplar Cove we are surrounded by nature, her trees and her critters; it is comforting yet vibrant, not distracting our attention. In places such as this we can better commune with Father.

Wherever we may happen to be when we seek our Heavenly Father, we need to accept His guidance. Our spirit presence within will lovingly lead us, but there will be no compulsion. If we sincerely wish to attain the eternal goal we will surely be guided thereto. And when such a life of spirit guidance is freely and intelligently accepted, there gradually develops within the human mind a positive consciousness of divine contact and assurance of spirit communion….[6]

The communion Jesus instituted with the apostles at the Last Supper can be adapted to our own spiritual striving. He was speaking to those in the Upper Room, but his words were directed to everyone in his creation, including each of us today. First is the cup of remembrance;[7] the vital part of the communion experience is remembrance. We remember the life of Jesus among us; this remembering is now more satisfying because we have The Urantia Book giving a fuller description of the life and teachings of Jesus. His life was one of total service to all, even the little children.[8] Contemplating the life of Jesus, Michael of Nebadon, is the core of this personal communion with Heavenly Father. The main reason for his mortal life on Earth is to portray to his universe children the nature of our Heavenly Father.

The second portion of this personal communion is the bread of remembrance; Jesus is the bread of life. This bread is the symbol of the living word of truth incarnated in the likeness of mortal flesh[9]…. This living word of truth is with us today as the Spirit of Truth. Jesus wants each of us to have a personal experience in our communion with Father.

The meaning of this remembrance supper is a symbolic meeting with our creator father, Michael of Nebadon, Jesus. This communion is a supreme meeting: the mortal personality, the Thought Adjuster, and the spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Truth.[10]

The reason Jesus had such a remarkable religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship — unbroken communion with God….[11]

This communion with Father can be done anytime, anyplace. We review the various periods in the life of Jesus: childhood, the teenage years, raising the family of Joseph, the Mediterranean tour, teaching and guiding the apostles, resurrection, and ascension. The goal of our Earthly existence should be to gain unbroken personal communion with our Heavenly Father by meditating on the life and teachings of our creator, Jesus of Nazareth who is Michael of Nebadon. We gain eternity by seeking oneness with our Heavenly Father; communion with Father Infinite.

Destiny

What is the goal of our spiritual striving? Where are we going? What will we be doing for the rest of eternity? The gospel Jesus gave us illuminates a better way for each of us. This new gospel of the kingdom renders a great service to the art of living in that it supplies a new and richer incentive for higher living. It presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose.[12]

The joy in our eternal future will be to choose to do the will of our Heavenly Father; that is where we find eternal purpose, meaning and value. When presented with the glory of an eternal life of service, why would any of our Father’s creatures choose the narrow confines of physical materialism? Such materialism is based upon physical reality which has no lasting value.

Man’s greatest adventure in the flesh consists in the well-balanced and sane effort to advance the borders of self-consciousness out through the dim realms of embryonic soul-consciousness in a wholehearted effort to reach the borderland of spirit-consciousness—contact with the divine presence.[13]

[1] 63.6

[2] 69.6

[3] 1942.3

[4] 64.1

[5] 1123.4

[6] 381.6

[7] 1941.6

[8] 1839.6

[9] 1942.2

[10] 1942.5

[11] 2088.5

[12] 1778.3

[13] 2097.2

Mota – Bridge to Spiritual

Click on photo for information about it.

Nearly a month ago my hard disk crashed; it has been a struggle to get everything about the website back in order. This entry was ready a couple weeks ago, but only now have I been able to post. I could not wait to share these thoughts about the bridge between physical and spiritual reality: mota.

Mortal beings have great difficulty comprehending spiritual realty. To us it seems incomprehensible that there is more to reality than what we can see, touch or feel. For example many times we have been asked “What do angels look like?” the answer is they are spirit beings, in the purely physical sense they do not exist. They exist in spiritual reality, not in physical reality. A vague analogy is love; like spiritual reality, love cannot be seen or analyzed, yet it is certainly real. The bridge guiding us into spiritual reality is called mota.

I do not pretend to be a philosopher; that being said, I have thoughts on this subject based on revelations in The Urantia Book. Mortal philosophy functions well except when it ventures beyond the physical realm into the swamp of metaphysics, which is generally something beyond the physical. A material philosophy cannot safely go outside the physical without some sort of guidance from beyond the physical. Our revelation calls this guidance mota. Revelation is the only technique which can compensate for the absence of the truth sensitivity of mota in a material world. Revelation authoritatively clarifies the muddle of reason-developed metaphysics on an evolutionary sphere.[1]

Mota presents philosophical statements highlighting superphysical value. It also implicitly rejects many other conflicting ideas; filtering out the unworthy. This clarification helps us begin to comprehend spiritual reality and gives hints as to how we can increase our level of spiritual awareness.

Mota is more than a superior philosophy; it is to philosophy as two eyes are to one; it has a stereoscopic effect on meanings and values. Material man sees the universe, as it were, with but one eye—flat.[2] As we grow in spiritual understanding we attain a wider viewpoint, we superimpose our physical experiences onto the mota guided by revelation; thereby being able to distinguish between the worthy and the unworthy. We begin to achieve a more spiritual outlook; we see with both the physical and the spiritual, gaining a stereoscopic world vision.

The mota statements have been rearranged into various categories to assist our understanding of these vital concepts. Each statement is referred to by its number; they are on 556.3 to 557.14 in The Urantia Book.

Spiritual and Physical Reality

3. Inherent capacities cannot be exceeded; a pint can never hold a quart. The spirit concept cannot be mechanically forced into the material memory mold.

There is only one mota in this topic, but it is a vital one. Understanding that the spiritual is something other than the physical is fundamental to spiritual growth. We cannot grow into the spiritual from the physical unless we know there is something beyond, above, and more desirable; something other than the physical. Our eternal life and growth depends on this.

Falsehoods Revealed

1. A display of specialized skill does not signify possession of spiritual capacity. Cleverness is not a substitute for true character.

15. Affectation is the ridiculous effort of the ignorant to appear wise, the attempt of the barren soul to appear rich.

18. Impatience is a spirit poison; anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet’s nest.

19. Anxiety must be abandoned. The disappointments hardest to bear are those which never come.

28. The argumentative defense of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.

Weeding out falsehoods, pointing out undesirable characteristics, is a vital aspect of mota. The first of these is cleverness; which might be useful in the short term, but it is shallow and does not give true lasting character. Often we try to appear more than we really are; we may pretend to be successful while inwardly we are barren; these are shallow personalities. Being aware of and avoiding spirit poisons is a vital aspect of spiritual growth; among these poisons are impatience and anger. God is guiding and helping us; therefore there is no need for anxiety. We worry endlessly over things which never happen.

The last mota in this section is a classic commentary on our current political, societal, and interpersonal discourse. The louder and stronger we defend our position, the less truth we have to offer. In this respect, the soft word of truth falls like a great stone into the arena of discourse, however the loud shouting of untruth means many who listen only to the shouting without thinking will be misled by the noise. They listen to the form, not the substance. And so it is in our society.

When we know which characteristics to avoid, we are better prepared to begin our spiritual growth.

Action

7. Blind and unforeseen accidents do not occur in the cosmos. Neither do the celestial beings assist the lower being who refuses to act upon his light of truth.

9. Action achieves strength; moderation eventuates in charm.

11. The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day’s work—do it well. The act is ours; the consequences God’s.

22. The evolving soul is not made divine by what it does, but by what it strives to do.

24. The destiny of eternity is determined moment by moment by the achievements of the day by day living. The acts of today are the destiny of tomorrow.

25. Greatness lies not so much in possessing strength as in making a wise and divine use of such strength.

When we seek spiritual growth it is important to act, and Jesus was certainly known for acting decisively. The statement in the middle, #22, might appear to have a different message, but this is not the case; blind unthinking actions would be dangerous. The important thing is what is the goal of our actions, what are trying to accomplish? Action guided by firm spiritual goals should be our objective; when we have a worthy goal we must act.

When we act based on our light of truth we will be assisted by celestial beings. As we seek growth, fortuitous things happen as a result of such assistance. When we act we become strong but when we restrain ourselves from acting unwisely, charm is acquired. When we act based upon our spiritual goals, God decides the consequences. Today’s actions determine our destiny tomorrow. Being strong is not as important as is using our strength wisely. If we know truth we must act upon that truth.

Difficulties

5. Difficulties may challenge mediocrity and defeat the fearful, but they only stimulate the true children of the Most Highs.

8. Effort does not always produce joy, but there is no happiness without intelligent effort.

12. The greatest affliction of the cosmos is never to have been afflicted. Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation.

13. Stars are best discerned from the lonely isolation of experiential depths, not from the illuminated and ecstatic mountain tops.

16. You cannot perceive spiritual truth until you feelingly experience it, and many truths are not really felt except in adversity.

The gulf between the physical and the spiritual is wide indeed; therefore efforts to personally connect the two are difficult. As we seek to personally bridge this formidable gap we must address our personal shortcomings, face them and change them; when we do this we move toward spiritual awareness.

Any goal that is truly worthy will be challenging; such goals only stimulate the true seekers of righteousness. There may not always be joy, but there can be no joy unless we strive to improve. “The greatest affliction,” if everything is given to us without striving, why would we put forth any effort to improve? Such individuals get stuck in the doldrums. In the depths of difficult personal experience we gain experiential insights that are not possible if we are in the illuminated heights of ecstasy. Spiritually worthwhile growth always comes with a struggle.

It is certainly true that spiritual truth has to be experienced, it cannot be obtained from a book; only in the depths of personal adversity, personal experience, can we glimpse it. Spiritual truth is available for anyone who earnestly desires it.

The Arts

20. Only a poet can discern poetry in the commonplace prose of routine existence.

21. The high mission of any art is, by its illusions, to foreshadow a higher universe reality, to crystallize the emotions of time into the thought of eternity.

On the first reading these are difficult to understand, why is it that a poet can pull poetry out of everyday experiences? How can the arts make this happen?

Art proves that man is not mechanistic…. Art is mortal morontia, the intervening field between man, the material, and man, the spiritual. Poetry is an effort to escape from material realities to spiritual values.[3]

The arts are similar to mota; they act as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. The purpose of the photos on this website is to encourage a spiritual emotion. For example, the photo of a rose on the Talking Points page “God Within” is not merely a rose photo; the goal of the photos is to evoke a feeling that is related to the subject of the article. This is a fuzzy area, but that is the aim: to highlight something physical in a way that evokes spiritual emotions.

The photo for this posting of our little cove in Western North Carolina shows peace and tranquility; we appreciate these opportunities to share our life and the ecosystem in these ancient mountains. Nearly 400 million years ago these mountains were as high as the Alps are today.[4]

Faith

2. Few persons live up to the faith which they really have. Unreasoned fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul.

4. Few mortals ever dare to draw anything like the sum of personality credits established by the combined ministries of nature and grace. The majority of impoverished souls are truly rich, but they refuse to believe it.

10. Righteousness strikes the harmony chords of truth, and the melody vibrates throughout the cosmos, even to the recognition of the Infinite.

At first blush it would appear that “unreasoned fear” should be in the first category, “Falsehoods Revealed;” however, it says that we do not live up to the faith we have, if we did we would not experience unreasoned fear. We may feel we have faith, but it does not impact our daily lives strongly enough. If we truly have faith, then we will live it every moment of our existence. The many gifts given us by the ministries of God are rich indeed; we must accept them and use them in faith. When we fully live our faith, our righteousness fills creation. Have faith in God to the end of your days on earth.[5]

Civilization

6. To enjoy privilege without abuse, to have liberty without license, to possess power and steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement—these are the marks of high civilization.

17. Ambition is dangerous until it is fully socialized. You have not truly acquired any virtue until your acts make you worthy of it.

26. Knowledge is possessed only by sharing; it is safeguarded by wisdom and socialized by love.

27. Progress demands development of individuality; mediocrity seeks perpetuation in standardization.

No surprise, our civilization fares poorly when measured by these statements. Characteristics of society are a sum of the traits of its leaders, thinkers, and citizens. We cannot seek to improve values of society as a whole; efforts to encourage these characteristics have to be addressed to the components of society, its individual citizens. Each of us should be careful we do not abuse privilege or use power for selfish gains. We must use ambition for the betterment of society; share our knowledge tempered by wisdom and love. Progress requires individuality, it needs individuals to stand up and declare there are better ways of doing things. Only when a significant number of our fellow citizens embrace these ideas will our society improve, begin the shift toward a greater understanding of spiritual reality for our society.

Thoughts

14. Whet the appetites of your associates for truth; give advice only when it is asked for.

23. Death added nothing to the intellectual possession or to the spiritual endowment, but it did add to the experiential status the consciousness of survival.

After assigning the mota to categories these were left over, last but certainly not least.

Giving advice out randomly is rarely productive. Those of us who are students of The Urantia Book certainly know this. Handing the book out randomly is rarely productive. Give advice only when there is a real interest.

We call death graduation; we graduate from life in the flesh to a better life on high. Friends of ours call it getting a promotion; we are promoted to better life beyond the physical.

Comments

This posting is too long already; we close with a quote.

Revelation is evolutionary man’s only hope of bridging the morontia gulf. Faith and reason, unaided by mota, cannot conceive and construct a logical universe. Without the insight of mota, mortal man cannot discern goodness, love, and truth in the phenomena of the material world.[6]

It is up to each one of us to increase our understanding of these truths, to truly live them every moment of our existence. If we do, we can go forth and share these revelations in our lives. Become a Light of Truth.

[1] 554.1; all references are to The Urantia Book one column version in the format page:paragraph.

[2] 554.2

[3] 2079.10

[4] 673.8

[5] 2049.4

[6] 1137.3