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