Spiritual Growth

Seeking Spiritual Reality

Seeking Beauty

I have been thinking about this blog posting for some time but various issues around the house claimed priority. Interestingly, the thought for today (September 4) on one of our Urantia Book calendars was an important addition.

We who have studied The Urantia Book for many years probably will never come to a complete comprehension of all its teachings; in spite of this, we should experience a compulsion to apply what we do understand in daily interactions with sisters and brothers. However, more is expected from those who believe in the full teachings of Jesus; we are expected to seek something more, something wider, something spiritual. Exactly how can we do this?

This posting presents an outline of our quest for Heavenly Father.

These inner spiritual strivings can be undertaken while going about everyday activities; there is no need to be isolated on some remote mountaintop.

Mind is the Gateway

Jesus taught the appeal to the emotions as the technique of arresting and focusing the intellectual attention. He designated the mind thus aroused and quickened as the gateway to the soul.[1] Our thoughts are driven by our emotions; if we can consciously channel our emotions, thoughts will be gradually guided. Strong emotions can be difficult to control; we discuss powerful urges below. This emotional guidance can be used in our personal efforts at spiritual growth as well as our council with others. In his personal teachings, Jesus was able to appeal to the individual’s soul by appealing to their emotions.

Negative emotions block efforts at spiritual growth; they must first be subdued. One approach is to remember each of us is indwelt by a spark of God, our Thought Adjuster. We have a fragment of perfection as a part of our being. We must have faith that countless spirit beings and forces are conspiring to guide us toward spiritual goals. Are we assisting them? Are our goals founded upon materialism or are we seeking God’s will in all things?

Jesus also said we must seek the spiritual simplicity of a small child.[2] Finding God does not have to be a complicated process, but the desire has to be strong. The spirit fragment of God within each of us wants to guide us; all we need do is follow this inner guidance.

While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.[3] Our decisions are made in our mind, this is where we choose to do God’s will or reject His love and guidance. Our thoughts to a large degree determine what we become.

Hunger for Righteousness

Spiritual progress is predicated on intellectual recognition of spiritual poverty coupled with the self-consciousness of perfection-hunger, the desire to know God and be like him, the wholehearted purpose to do the will of the Father in heaven.[4]

Spiritual growth cannot occur unless the individual sees a need for it, recognizes spiritual poverty within. Physical poverty is debilitating, it can only be overcome by physical means. Spiritual poverty, once recognized, can be easier to attack because we have all the spiritual forces of creation assisting us. This hunger for righteousness is the very foundation of all our efforts at spiritual growth. The first step for each of us is to develop within this hunger for righteousness.

Your deepest nature — the divine Adjuster — creates within you a hunger and thirst for righteousness, a certain craving for divine perfection.[5] We have within a perfect guide wanting to assist us in our efforts to find Heavenly Father; this guidance becomes stronger as we develop our hunger for righteousness. And when such disheartened souls sincerely seek for God — hunger for truth and thirst for righteousness — there is nothing that can hold them in further captivity.[6]

As we struggle for spiritual growth our eternal salvation is assured by our hunger and thirst for righteousness.[7] There will always be difficulties in our quest for spiritual growth. When our innermost loyalty is to Heavenly Father, necessary adjustments in other relationships can be made; therefore, we can “render onto Caesar.”

Perfection Hunger

“And I have not come to call the would-be righteous but sinners and all who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of divine perfection.”[8] We certainly are millions of years away from perfection, but our hunger for such perfection gives impetus to all efforts at spiritual growth. The best way to achieve any goal is to have a strong desire to reach it.

There must be perfection hunger in man’s heart to insure capacity for comprehending the faith paths to supreme attainment…. “Human things must be known in order to be loved, but divine things must be loved in order to be known….” Childlike trust secures man’s entrance into the kingdom of heavenly ascent, but progress is wholly dependent on the vigorous exercise of the robust and confident faith of the full-grown man.[9]

Spiritual growth has different requirements from physical growth. Each depends on the characteristics of the corresponding reality level. Physical growth follows certain laws; a tree, or a human being, cannot become full grown in an instant. Spiritual growth depends on perfection hunger.

Seeking Spiritual Reality

Spirit substance (quality) is just as responsive to spirit gravity as the organized energy of physical matter (quantity) is responsive to physical gravity. Spiritual values and spirit forces are real. From the viewpoint of personality, spirit is the soul of creation; matter is the shadowy physical body.[10]

The reality of the spiritual realm is the foundation of our efforts at spiritual growth. If our faith in spiritual values and in Heavenly Father is not strong, spiritual growth will be impossible.

Human beings are frequently driven by strong desires, urges. The Urantia Book has a lot to say about them; the word urge is mentioned over 90 times. We certainly have the urge to eat and breathe, and the sex urge can be problematic. Other urges are greed and lust for power. The best way to deal with negative or excessive urges is to push them aside by concentrating on spiritual growth.

The most powerful urge is sadly lacking on planet Earth. The spiritual forward urge is the most powerful driving force present in this world; the truth-learning believer is the one progressive and aggressive soul on earth.[11]

The urge for spiritual growth, once embraced, can transform the individual. This urge is strengthened by seeking spiritual growth, cooperating with our Thought Adjuster, and seeking God’s will at all times. This spiritual urge can be approached by focusing on God’s will while interacting normally with those around us. These social interactions are necessary to minimize the possibility of fanaticism.

What happens to those driven by the spiritual urge?

Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment.[12]

They will participate in bringing about an epoch of spiritual enlightenment, for starters.

In Paper 110, a Solitary Messenger offers these observations. I cannot but observe that so many of you spend so much time and thought on mere trifles of living, while you almost wholly overlook the more essential realities of everlasting import…. The great goal of human existence is to attune to the divinity of the indwelling Adjuster…. But a devoted and determined effort to realize eternal destiny is wholly compatible with a lighthearted and joyous life and with a successful and honorable career on earth.[13]

What should be the primary goal of our life: the trifles of living, or realities of everlasting importance – seeking communion with our Thought Adjuster?

Quivering on the Edge

Since we received The Urantia Book about a century ago our efforts at living the teachings have grown over the years. It is now time to take these efforts to the next level, activate our spiritual forward urge, and assist bringing about an epoch of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment to planet Earth.

[1] The Urantia Book 1705.4; this is page.paragraph of the one column edition. All references are to The Urantia Book.

[2] 1732.5

[3] 1733.1

[4] 1095.5

[5] 1107.4

[6] 1428.2

[7] 1459.4

[8] 1537.3

[9] 1118.4

[10] 82.2

[11] 2063.2

[12] 2082.7

[13] 1206.2

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)

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

Light from the Lantern

Our sisters and brothers are torn apart by many conflicting areas of angry disagreement; we need illuminating spiritual guidance for these troublous times. Spiritual assistance is vital as we attempt to find our way through today’s conflicting crosscurrents. Revelations in The Urantia Book, if sincerely accepted, will improve our spiritual awareness so that we naturally manifest fruits of the spirit in our daily lives as we interact with those around us. These teachings must direct our lives as we apply them to every moment of our existence; each of us thus becomes a living Light of Truth; a spiritual lantern.

We explore the significance of light and lantern, what constitutes spiritual growth, what are fruits of the spirit, and briefly discuss personal religious experience.

Light of the Lantern

“It is the light in the lantern which shows you the path not the lantern.” (Note on the tag of a bag of Yogi Chai Rooibos tea)

The lantern is a physical device whose purpose is to produce light that can illuminate our surroundings; whether it is a fancy work of art or plain and ordinary, its purpose is illumination. Its purpose is physical illumination.

In a similar manner, The Urantia Book is a physical item with a purpose. Those sincerely reading it receive a message of spiritual truth, hope, joy, love, mercy, and the eternal value of each and every human being. Its purpose is to uplift our spiritual awareness; if we sincerely apply its teachings to our daily lives we receive illumination. We receive spiritual illumination.

Many students of our revelation, The Urantia Book, are mainly concerned with purely physical aspects of this spiritual revelation. It is indeed filled with countless fascinating physical facts: when did our Creator Son arrive here to begin the creation of his local universe (over 400 billion years ago, the Big Bangers will have trouble with that), (653.8)^[1] how many inhabited worlds are there (7 trillion when this region of space is completed), how did the geological process operate to form our native sphere, and how did the evolutionary process of life on Earth originate and proceed; to list only a tiny fraction. Many also want to know how we got this hefty book. They are mainly interested in its physical aspects. This is OK for sisters and brothers becoming acquainted with our revelation, but serious students need to look toward the purpose of this Epochal Revelation: growing spiritual awareness for citizens of planet Earth. We must turn on our inner illumination and contribute to the betterment of life on Earth by exhibiting fruits of the spirit in our daily lives.

Everyone of normal mind on our native sphere contains within them an actual fragment of God. This spark of God within is always seeking to guide us into a stronger relationship with our Heavenly Father. here are present in all normal mortals certain innate drives toward growth and self-realization which function if they are not specifically inhibited. (1095.1) In this quotation “innate drives” is plural. We have several spirit influences guiding us into greater spiritual awareness, all we need do is to “not specifically inhibit” their guidance. We frequently do not fully cooperate with our spirit guides; our material mind set has difficulty accepting spirit guidance. Our Heavenly Father is continually guiding us into greater spiritual awareness but it is up to each individual to fully cooperate, to follow the guidance each of us is given. All too often it is we who tell Father what we want.

We assist spirit growth by many means: recognizing spirit led lives in others, meditating on spirit reality such as God, looking at events from a spirit prospective, and accepting the spirit guidance we receive. The factors of religious growth may be intentional, but the growth itself is unvaryingly unconscious. (1095.3) Our greatest desire should be to draw closer to God, but our progress Godward is unconscious; we may be totally unaware of any spiritual progress.

Spiritual growth is first an awakening to needs, next a discernment of meanings, and then a discovery of values. (1095.6) We cannot make spiritual progress unless we know we absolutely need it. It is important to recognize we are alone in a seemingly cruel universe if we do not accept God’s guidance; we need His guidance. There comes a point where we begin to understand meanings, these will come in many ways. One thing is we begin to comprehend the magnitude of what our Creator Son Michael, Jesus, did to create everything in his local universe; amazing. At last we become conscious of values; while the physical arena is concerned with quantity, in the spiritual region it is quality. Since God is spirit, He is the ultimate value. Our goal should be to grow closer to Him.

Fruits of the spirit

As we grow spiritually we begin to manifest fruits of the spirit. These are a natural result of living the spirit led life. Indeed, all political, social, or economic value that may result from the teachings of Jesus arise from natural consequences of a personal soul experience; the fruits of the spirit are a spontaneous manifestation of soul growth. (1585.4)

Salvation is the free gift of God, but those who are born of the spirit will immediately begin to show forth the fruits of the spirit in loving service to their fellow creatures. And the fruits of the divine spirit which are yielded in the lives of spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace. (2054.3)

God is truly merciful; love is His primary reaction to our pleas. Salvation is freely given each one of us as long as we do not totally reject His gifts. These fruits of the spirit are a consequence of being born of the spirit; accepting the guidance of our Heavenly Father. Fruits of the spirit are expressed in being honest, fair, and having total concern for the welfare of all of our sisters and brothers.

When we exhibit these fruits of the spirit in our lives we are simply showing traits Jesus manifested in his life on Earth. (2062.10) We begin to live our lives in these times as Jesus would were he with us now; through the Spirit of Truth Jesus is truly with us here and now.

Personal Religious Experience

When we think about a personal religious experience our first thought might be Saul of Tarsus. At first blush it seemed that all he did was to walk down the road to Damascus when suddenly he had a powerful spiritual experience and became the apostle Paul. It was so strong it took several days before he fully recovered from the abrupt transformation; it certainly was not that simple. Another example is Gautama Siddhartha, Buddha. These experiences may be a natural and gradual growth or may sometimes be experienced at certain junctures, as in a crisis. (1099.1) The individual must be devoted to doing God’s will, following His guidance at each decision point. These decisions will be difficult; they may involve hardships and emotional conflicts. If the way into a greater spiritual awareness were easy, our planet would be teeming with Buddhas and Pauls.

The spiritual growth of Jesus was gradual; when he was not quite thirteen he experienced illumination. (1376.1) He was also visited by a celestial visitor telling him it was time to be about his Father’s business.

Our revelatory lantern, The Urantia Book, presents to us an enlarged description of creation and describes the exalted eternal future awaiting each of us if we so choose. Our choices define our future; if we choose to follow the spiritual guidance we receive, there will literally be no end to our existence. This gradually happens as we accept the illumination from this big blue lantern.

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

Spiritual Focusing – A Beginning

Manners?

This is Sneakers who had a harrowing adventure in Middle Tennessee a couple of months ago. She sleeps pretty much wherever she wishes; this time a local restaurant menu was nearby.

In the last posting I discussed “Born Again” which did not generate much interest; possibly because this topic has been hijacked by Bible thumping evangelicals. Even though the phrase is used in The Urantia Book, as well as the Bible, I do not recall it being discussed in the Urantia community. Jesus discussed it and he certainly was not a fiery preacher; Peter was a more effective preacher, while Jesus was a teacher speaking to our souls.^[1] Jesus said: I declare to you, except a man be born of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. (The Urantia Book, 1602.4) The previous posting was actually a sort of introduction to what will probably be a series of postings about something I am currently developing. This posting gives more background for the process.

I call the process Spiritual Focusing. Originally I wanted to call them Spiritual Exercises but that term was taken by St. Ignatius of Loyola nearly 600 years ago. The process I will describe is certainly not any type of exercise; rather it is a practice leading to a more spiritual focus in our lives. It is difficult to describe it in a few words, but Spiritual Focusing can be done “in the spirit” while we are doing other things in the flesh. There may even an improvement in our health as we grow spiritually using this technique.

Physical Birth and Spiritual Birth

After physical birth we have been born of the flesh, but it takes some years before we become self-aware and are able to begin contemplation of things and beings beyond ourselves. Our focus at this time is essentially materialistic. Even when we become mature and think about more spiritual matters it is usually from a material perspective. Spiritual reality is something totally beyond our physical comprehension. I propose a practice that can assist us in becoming more spiritual.

Being born of the spirit gives us a more spiritual way of looking at things. We are becoming more aware of eternity, true values, and the purpose of our existence. We KNOW there is more to our existence than what might come into our physical awareness.

Our motivation for undergoing this process comes when we realize our 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. (Urantia Book, 2097.2) The process I will describe in subsequent postings begins our journey into “embryonic soul-consciousness” and possibly beyond.

There are certainly no guarantees for what happens when Spiritual Focusing is practiced, but there is a distinct possibility we will experience spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding.^[2]

Who Can Benefit from Spiritual Focusing

One does not need even a partial comprehension of teachings in The Urantia Book to attempt this process; Spiritual Focusing is not mentioned in its pages, but it is compatible with the message of the revelation. It is vital to have a strong desire to experience spiritual growth; we must sincerely want to grow closer to our Heavenly Father who is present within each one of us.

There are individuals who would not gain anything from this process: those who are unspiritual, dogmatic, self-centered, and unwilling to grow spiritually. Those who are firmly grounded in materialism will have difficulty finding spiritual focus. In this and any other endeavor we cannot make progress unless we sincerely desire it.

Those who will benefit most from this process already have some spiritual background; they may have attended Church or followed some other spiritual teaching. They have moved past pure materialism toward an increasing awareness of the value of each one of our sisters and brothers. These individuals are seeking a greater awareness of value and purpose. They want to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.

Our Faith Struggle

Being born again implies some sort of struggle; our physical birth usually comes with pain both for the mother and the emerging baby. Being born again, our faith struggle, is necessitated by the vast gulf separating physical reality from spiritual reality. The spirit struggles of time and space have to do with the evolution of spirit dominance over matter by the mediation of (personal) mind….^[3] Our physical body, our physical apparatus, is somewhat controlled by our mind. If we can somehow attain spirit guidance by spiritual focusing, we can then use spirit to influence our mind and therefore gain some influence over our physical body.

God who is spirit created all things and all beings, thus demonstrating the power of spirit. Spirit reality is primary overall. Those who are fixated in materialism, physical reality, are missing out on where the real action is: God. Our sincere faith struggle can guide each one of us toward a deeper comprehension of the creation around us.

The religion of the spirit means effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty, and progress. The religion of the mind — the theology of authority — requires little or none of these exertions from its formal believers…. Materialists shun those faith voyages of daring adventure out upon the high seas of unexplored truth in search for the farther shores of spiritual realities as they may be discovered by the progressive human mind and experienced by the evolving human soul.^[4]

Ideological Swamp

Society has many conflicting currents; division and acrimony seem to be everywhere. How can we make sense of the ideological swamp surrounding us? The driving force of many individuals and institutions is materialism and greed. For a large number of our sisters and brothers the primary goal is basically selfishness, seeking to enhance personal wellbeing at the expense of others. There are certainly bright places in this swamp, but they are too few. The goal of this posting is to develop a dialog involving those with whom we may not agree and who are mired in an unhealthy ideology; this dialog is aimed at increasing an overall awareness of brotherhood, sisterhood, and inclusion. Let us proceed.

Current Events

The term ideological swamp refers to the several conflicting ideologies interacting in our daily lives; among these are liberalism, conservatism, materialism, greed, white supremacy, loving service, lust for power, the true teachings of Jesus, conservative people of faith, deliberate evil, selfishness, and a desire to do the will of our Heavenly Father. There are undoubtedly many more contradicting value systems we could include.

This ideological swamp persists because most of us have no firm moral foundation upon which to build our lives and our potentially eternal future. We feel we are alone in the cosmos but this is not the case; God is within each of us. Knowing about His presence and having a strong desire to do His will we cannot fail to enter eternity and actually stand in the presence of our Heavenly Father at the center of all creation on Paradise. We cannot fail.

This ideological swamp persists because most of us are adrift in this swamp without any way to measure the value of anything. Rather than measure value based on the presence of God within each individual mortal, we measure value against our temporary perceptions, we measure it against our preconceived notions, against shifting sands. The only way to counteract this system, the only way to drain this ideological swamp is to fundamentally recognize our Heavenly Father as primal, as being the fundamental reality of all creation. God is the fundamental reality for each individual creature in all creation.

Christian Nationalism is one of the elements in this swamp; I have previously written about this portion of Christianity. Believers in Christian Nationalism are afraid of change; they want to keep anybody who is different in any way out of our country and out of our government. Like many other threads in our ideological swamp, Christian Nationalists are so fixated in their ideology they cannot accept any information that does not coincide with their belief system. Each component of our ideological swamp is convinced they have the ultimate answer to all our problems.

One of the most profound elements of our ideological swamp is the deep divide between opposing political beliefs. Each party in this political contest has their own set of core beliefs and goals; each has a unique vision for the future. The problem is not these differing political views, rather it is the acrimony of interacting discourse. Each side has an absolute viewpoint that will not allow anything else to enter in; therefore we have an ideological swamp and we are mired in a conflicting discourse.

It becomes particularly difficult when someone we love becomes trapped in one of these extreme ideologies. One person in such a situation position wrote: “With no overlap between our filters of reality, I was at a loss for any facts that would actually stick.”^[1] Individuals in such ideologies view reality through a particular filter, what they see as “reality” may be radically different from our viewpoint.

If we cannot agree on what is reality, perhaps we can use probing questions to appraise ways of reaching some common ground; ways of finding a way to move toward a harmonious resolution. The objective is to find a common value system that can be agreed upon, then find ways to work toward these values. Properly formulated questions can make us think about what our goals are, what values we embrace in our efforts to work toward a better life for everyone. If the viewpoints of ideologues are not helpful to humanity, proper questions might disclose the problems and guide the discussion in a productive direction.

Golden Rule

We propose a series of questions as a way to communicate with an ideologue; this gives us a way to exchange ideas while minimizing conflicts based on varying opinions of reality. In these days of instantaneous social media misinformation, “truth” wears many different costumes. What is truth for one person might be insane to another; these firmly held beliefs cannot be easily reconciled without much rancor.

Instead of a heated debate on what the facts are, we propose probing questions. In this question based dialog we try to move away from objective discussions and toward a value based discourse. Our first question should be: Do you believe in the Golden Rule?

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”^[2] This is the Biblical statement of the Golden Rule; it is a starting place where we determine what their value system might be. If their basic value system is violence against individuals holding a different world view, there may be no way to connect with them; perhaps it would be best to wish them peace, love and joy; then leave it at that.

This Golden Rule does not condone violence, aggression, or hatred; if an individual claims extreme hate filled views they cannot also claim to believe in this rule of brotherhood and sisterhood.

This rule of decency is recognized by many religions. A chart has been developed depicting statements similar to the Golden Rule in 13 different religions from Baha’i Faith through Zoroastrianism.^{^[3]} One example is the statement from Jainism: “One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.”^{^[4]}

“Today we are living in a global village. Accordingly, we are all global citizens in addition to belonging to particular groups, races, cultures, religions, and nations. Being a global citizen brings both privileges and responsibilities. The Golden Rule may be the best guide we have for bringing all people to live together in peace.”^{^[5]}

Believing in and practicing the Golden Rule would be a good way to increase harmony on our native sphere while lessening hatred against individuals deemed to be different.

Further Questions

Once the Golden Rule has been accepted and affirmed, other questions might be useful, such as:

Do you know each of us has the spirit of God within?^[6] Our Heavenly Father is literally within each mortal, because of this we all have value and we each have a chance of attaining a close relationship with Him.

Do you know God respects everyone, that He is no respecter of persons?^[7] We all stand equal before our Heavenly Father; no exceptions. When any person has been discriminated against or disenfranchised, a child of God has been mistreated; a member of the Heavenly Family has been excluded.

How did Jesus treat outsiders? He had a long conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob.^[8] In those days Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.^[9] This would be the same as having a long conversation with a member of any minority group today. Jesus was all about inclusion.

A careful consideration of these questions brings out an increased awareness of the value of each mortal. The teachings of Jesus are an excellent model to follow in our lives, they do not allow ill feelings toward anyone, the teachings of Jesus proclaim love, brotherhood, and joy; they do not embrace fear.

Who would Jesus hate?

A large segment of our society does not attend church but many still ascribe to these values. If our lives have no values, no moral foundation, there is no meaning to our existence. Our lives gain value when we recognize a worthy goal, such as affirming our Heavenly Father, seeking to become more like Him, and trying to do His will at all times.

Current religion is sometimes nothing more than a meeting on Sunday morning having little relationship with daily events. Religion has become compartmentalized, isolated from daily activities and awareness; it should be the key motivator of our existence. Our faith must be our primary driving force, our reason for being, and the foundation of each decision we make in our daily lives.

Our Goal

The goal of these questions is to emphasize spiritual values so much so that falsehoods are crowded out; with some ideologues this might be difficult. As we permit spiritual values to grow within us, there is less awareness of unspiritual components. As we increasingly permit spiritual teachings to fill our awareness we let unspiritual emotions slip away.

Above all, it will help us in our interactions with difficult people to consider how Jesus would handle the situation.

Albert Samaha, “My Mom Believes In QAnon. I’ve Been Trying To Get Her Out.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/albertsamaha/qanon-parents-millennial-children Retrieved 3/14/21 ↑
Bible: Matthew 7:12 ↑
“The Golden Rule,” © 2000, by Paul McKenna, available from Canadian Multifaith Federation, 3570 Victoria Park Ave., Suite 207, North York, On, M2H 3S2, Canada, www.cmfsrc.ca ↑
Ibid ↑
Ibid ↑
Bible, I Corinthians 3:16 ↑
Bible: Acts 10:34 ↑
Bible, John Chapter 4 ↑
Bible, John 4:9 ↑