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

Choosing Beauty

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

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

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

Mind

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

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

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

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

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

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

Choosing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Captain

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

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

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

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

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.

Spiritual Growth

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.

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

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]

Suggested Readings

Following is a list of relevant Talking Points pages.

Death Becomes Graduation

God Within

Heavenly Family

Jesus – Bestowal

Jesus – Teachings

Jesus – the Man

Moral Foundation

Personal Religious Experience

Spirit of Truth

Spiritual and Physical Reality

Spiritual Free Will

Spiritual Guidance

True Religion

Truth Seekers

Tags: Spiritual Focusing, spiritual growth, truth seekers

1. Urantia Book, 1594.4; this is in the format page:paragraph. All references are to The Urantia Book. ↑
2. 1097:7 ↑
3. 1274.5 ↑
4. 1729.6 ↑

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.

1. 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 ↑

2. Bible: Matthew 7:12 ↑

3. “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 ↑

4. Ibid ↑

5. Ibid ↑

6. Bible, I Corinthians 3:16 ↑

7. Bible: Acts 10:34 ↑

8. Bible, John Chapter 4 ↑

9. Bible, John 4:9 ↑

In today’s society all over this planet our sisters and brothers are obsessed with short term goals, especially in these days of Coronavirus, racial bigotry, materialistic greed, global warming, violent storms, and raging wildfires. There seems to be no time for thinking about our eternal future because we are being squeezed here and now in so many ways. Regardless of our circumstances, the problem with exclusively pursuing short term goals is that there will come a time when there is no short term remaining; our time will run out. Ever-changing short term goals ignore all future eternity. It is imperative we find time to recognize and seek our goal of destiny.

This goal of destiny is our ultimate goal. We realize we are mortal; our physical frame has come from dust and to dust it will return. However, as a result of our lives we have a moral consciousness residing within our mortal body; we have awareness, thoughts, experiences, longings, and love. What becomes of these, our superphysical components? Is there any part of us that continues after our physical apparatus ceases to function?

What is our goal of destiny?

Tangled in a Web of Dogma

There is much anger and fear in our society. This anger arises from many sources: fear of changes, alienation, insecurity, being taught from an early age to fear those who are different, reaction to materialistic greed, and following a restricted ideology. Elements promoting fear and division have even taken over governments around the world. When individuals protest being disenfranchised by those preaching fear they are attacked by police or their peaceful demonstrations are hijacked by violent elements. Our society needs to be delivered from these destructive emotions. We need a firm moral foundation based on spiritual reality.

One problem with seeking a goal of destiny is that there is no clear voice saying “this is the way.” Each religious sect has their own presentation of the path to eternal life, each one based upon a different collection of tradition, dogma, and theology. This, coupled with the incessant materialistic drive, means there is little effort to seek eternal goals.

The spiritual life of our society largely consists of a tangled web of dogma with various scattered islands of faith. Lines of similar dogma loosely connect the various faith islands. No wonder society is secular.

Most individuals are not aware they are candidates for eternal life; even those who are nominal Christians frequently do not consider eternity in their daily lives, in their interactions with sisters and brothers. Their existence is moment to moment.

Eternal Goal

What is this goal of destiny?

Thus does the whole social body push on slowly toward the goal of destiny — extinction or survival — depending on whether that goal is self-maintenance or self-gratification. Self-maintenance originates society, while excessive self-gratification destroys civilization. (The Urantia Book, 764.5)

This passage refers to society, but it also applies to the individual. Each person must make a choice between extinction and survival, between a short life in time or an unending existence into future eternity. The choice we make then becomes a motivation for our lives, guiding the personal decisions we must make many times each day.

Human life continues — survives — because it has a universe function, the task of finding God. The faith-activated soul of man cannot stop short of the attainment of this goal of destiny; and when it does once achieve this divine goal, it can never end because it has become like God — eternal. (The Urantia Book, 1459.7)

Our universe function is to find God; this should be the motivation for our lives. When we desire to seek God we have a way to measure each proposed decision: will this action bring us closer to God or move us farther away from Him? Our actions declare our true intentions, how sincere we are in our God quest.

Man has well earned some of his present-day joys and pleasures. But look you well to the goal of destiny! Pleasures are indeed suicidal if they succeed in destroying property, which has become the institution of self-maintenance; and self-gratifications have indeed cost a fatal price if they bring about the collapse of marriage, the decadence of family life, and the destruction of the home — man’s supreme evolutionary acquirement and civilization’s only hope of survival. (The Urantia Book, 943.1)

There needs to be a balance between self-maintenance and self-gratification. The healthy mortal recognizes the latter is necessary in moderation for a happy and satisfying life while the former results in a healthy mortal life that joyously transitions into eternity.

Implications

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. (The Urantia Book, 1778.3)

We now have a reason to live a moral life, a life based on high values, a life of service. A life founded on reaching out to God is one that reaches out to sisters and brothers realizing every human has value and is indwelt by a spark of God.

When a significant number of our citizens become aware of and reach for their goal of destiny, society will be transformed. Fearful, destructive emotions will dissolve in waves of brotherhood, love and joy. People actively seeking to include more of God in their lives will no longer harbor these self-destructive emotions. This will certainly be a slow transformation; it depends on each individual making their own choice between selfishness and eternity.

Every personality must at some point declare their preference. When physical death happens, if we have not made a final declaration to seek our goal of destiny we will resurrect, just as Jesus did, so we can make that decision. Everyone must finally declare to seek God and eternity or selfishness and that final death from which there is no resurrection.

When a significant portion of any society becomes motivated to seek a better life for everyone that society will begin to leave the path of destruction and start on the path of survival.

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 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)