Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book: October 2008

This video is a set of inspiring interviews with a group of Urantia Book readers who are expressing their heartfelt sentiments about the impact that The Urantia Book has had on their lives. The Urantia Book is many things to many people, but its effects are almost always profound.

Labels: God, inspirational, meaning, readers, The Urantia Book, video

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How Powerful Is My Mind?

Q: can I move things around me by just imaging it in my mind? Would GOD give me that talent?

A: I don't believe it has ever conclusively been proven that human beings have this power. A lot of very realistic demonstrations make it look as if this is possible, but slight-of-hand "magicians" are very clever in making illusions seem real -- like David Copperfield being able to pass through the Great Wall of China or to make a passenger plane disappear. Does he actually do these things? No, not at all, but they look real to us, our eyes deceive our minds. Does Uri Geller actually bend spoons with his mind -- not that I'm aware. Again I think it's an illusion and a trick that appears real.

An Indian guru was once asked by one of his students if the guru would walk across the lake over to the next town. The guru replied that it didn't seem like a good use of time to practice for 15 years to be able to do this when he could easily take the row boat.

The world isn't supported on a foundation of magic -- reality is logical and rational. We can do spectacular things with our minds, but we're given hands and feet for moving things. Would God give you that talent? If it were possible to move things mentally it would be due to your unique hereditary endowment that made your brain somewhat different from others. God would not bless or curse you over your fellows since God does not play favorites.

May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book -- a book like noneother regarding the nature of reality. To subscribe click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Labels: God, logic, magic, mind, power, proof, quote of the day

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Is God a Fantasy? Is The Urantia Book?

Q: How can I be sure of God's existence and also, as a UB reader and follower, that I'm not living some kind of fantasy or mistake?

A: Probably
the best way to be assured is through sincere prayer. Ask for God's
guidance. Ask for help from the Spirit of Truth in discerning truth
from error. Ask for the peace of the Comforter.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote that "More things are wrought by prayer than
this world dreams of."

If we had visible proof, say in the form of an Adam and Eve who had a personal
presence on this world for over 38,000 years, or a
Planetary Prince's center for world culture that had been in existence
for over 500,000 years, it would be easier to recognize truth from
error. But we don't. What we do have is the gift of a logical mind --
it's there for a purpose and one of those purposes is to help you sift
truth from error, fact from fancy.

As a UB reader you have not only the best source for factual
information relating to the origin, purpose, and destiny of your
existence but you also have access to transforming spiritual truths
that most people are still searching for. Does your logical mind
believe this to be true? If so, what does it matter what those around
you, who have less on which to base their beliefs and decisions, think
is true? It would be they who are living in a mistaken fantasy. Accept
Jesus' exhortation to "fear not!"

Labels: Alfred Lord Tennyson, God, Jesus, proof. logic, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book

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What Happens to a Child Who Dies in the Womb?

Q: What happens to a child who dies in the womb?

A: According
to the teachings of The Urantia Book, life begins at conception. Any
child who dies between conception and about the age of 5 is resurrected
into the probationary nursery where it awaits the arrival of either one
or both of its parents when it then begins life on the mansion worlds.
You may be interested in reading these sections of the book:

Paper
47 -- The Seven Mansion Worlds -- which describes the
probationary nursery

Paper
49 Section 6
-- Terrestrial Escape -- Paragraphs 11-14 also
discuss the probationary nursery.

You can also do a search of The Urantia Book on our site for the
probationary nursery.

Labels: children, death, Mansion Worlds, probationary nursery, resurrection, The Urantia Book

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Why Do Children Die?

Q: Why do children die? Is it for the sins of the parents, or is their mission on earth completed?

A: It is always a sadness when a child dies. It touches our hearts so deeply that we feel there must be an explanation, and we ask "Why?" It is such a difficult thing to understand that we feel there has to be a good reason, known only to God. It is hard to realize that an innocent child is denied the chance to live a long life, when so many not-so-innocent folks live to a ripe old age.

The Urantia Book teaches us that affliction - any kind of affliction - is never a judgment from God. On a planet such as ours, many things happen which seem heartless and cruel, but this does not mean that we are being punished by God, or that our children are bearing divine retribution for our sins.

The phenomenon of death is occurring all over the planet at every moment. People are born and people die all the time. Death is not a curse, but an inevitability. None of us is guaranteed a long life on this earth, but we are all guaranteed to die in one way or another. In our attempts to fathom some reason in a child's death, we may grasp at the explanation that it was due to some sin that the parents committed - a sin against God, and so God claimed the life of this innocent in retribution...but this is just not the case. The sins of the fathers are not visited on subsequent generations in the form of a death curse. Death simply comes due to disease and the accidents of time - sometimes through violence or war - but the fact of death is simply a part of life, and will ever be so. Death is an equal-opportunity event, whether early or late. This is not to say that it is easy to accept the untimely passing of a child. No matter how they meet death, it is an especially sorrowful thing to bear the loss of a young person, and I can understand why it seems to need an explanation. But the fact is that our lives here are transient, and none of us will avoid death.

The Urantia Book reveals and enlarges the concept of a loving, fatherly God. Our Heavenly Father loves all of his children as individual members of the universal family, and his love encompasses even the smallest and the weakest of lives. With God, no life is ever lost. Even if a child should unfortunately lose its life before it is able to choose an eternity with God, it is saved, and kept safe. The child is raised in one of the many stopping-places in the Father's universe and is ultimately given a chance to enjoy an eternal existence just as is the oldest, most experienced survivor of this earth life. So, even if their earth life may be cut short, they still have the potential of an eternal life in the Father's care.

God is not an angry, vengeful tyrant who demands harsh payments for our transgressions. The Heavenly Father is incapable of wrath and anger. He is so great and good that he has no need for such base emotional reactions. In our attempts to make sense of the seemingly insensible, we have to be careful not to place upon God our most disagreeable human traits.

As for a "life-mission," I cannot presume to say that there is a pre-determined purpose for anyone's life. Our lives are shaped by our free-will decisions. I suppose that many of us feel that we do have a life-mission, but this is usually arrived at after some life experience and is predicated on one's interests and desires and goals for the future.

Labels: affliction, children, death, God, purpose of life, The Urantia Book

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I'm Watching You, Dad...

This GodTube video is a charming take on the importance of fatherhood, spoken through the words of a small boy to his dad. The images are sweet, and will be familiar to every parent. Children need fathers as well as mothers, and this video is a strong reminder of that important truth, and an inspiration to fathers everywhere.

Labels: children, dad, example, godTube, parenting, video

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Love in The Urantia Book

A short video featuring some of the best Urantia Book quotes about love.
This video was produced by JoseAlbertoWonsover, and can be found on YouTube.

Labels: JoseAlbertoWonsover, love, The Urantia Book, video

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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man in the Bible?

Q: If Jesus preached so consistently about the universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man why is there so little record of it in the NT. What references are there?

A: Thank you for writing to us at Truthbook.com

I am including a reference which you might find interesting here. In this article, entitled "Theism: The Fatherhood of God," the author, Robert L. Waggoner, cites many instances of the Fatherhood of God contained in the New Testament. I found this article with a Google search, and there may be others.

I also did a search for "brotherhood of man," but I was not able to find specific Biblical references using those particular words; however, the concept of the brotherhood of man is well-illuminated in these important references which definitely carry the essence of the Master's teachings regarding the brotherhood of man:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:36-39)

"He said to him, 'What is written in the law? How do you read?' The lawyer answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."' Then Jesus told him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live" (Luke 10:26-28).

Finally, the story of The Good Samaritan is an excellent reference to this topic and it is found in Luke 10:29-37

Another resource that you might find useful is The Paramony, which is a comparison of specific books of the Bible with corresponding information in The Urantia Book.

As you may know from reading The Urantia Book and the Life and Teachings of Jesus, the religion OF Jesus was quickly transformed into the religion ABOUT Jesus after his death and resurrection. Following the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth at Pentecost, a whole new direction was taken.

Here is a passage from The Urantia Book which details this:

p2066:4 (194:4.4) What has happened to these men whom Jesus had ordained to go forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man? They have a new gospel; they are on fire with a new experience; they are filled with a new spiritual energy. Their message has suddenly shifted to the proclamation of the risen Christ: "Jesus of Nazareth, a man God approved by mighty works and wonders; him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you did crucify and slay. The things which God foreshadowed by the mouth of all the prophets, he thus fulfilled. This Jesus did God raise up. God has made him both Lord and Christ. Being by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received from the Father the promise of the spirit, he has poured forth this which you see and hear. Repent, that your sins may be blotted out; that the Father may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things."

The gospel of the kingdom, the message of Jesus, had been suddenly changed into the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They now proclaimed the facts of his life, death, and resurrection and preached the hope of his speedy return to this world to finish the work he began. Thus the message of the early believers had to do with preaching about the facts of his first coming and with teaching the hope of his second coming, an event which they deemed to be very near at hand.

Christ was about to become the creed of the rapidly forming church. Jesus lives; he died for men; he gave the spirit; he is coming again. Jesus filled all their thoughts and determined all their new concept of God and everything else. They were too much enthused over the new doctrine that "God is the Father of the Lord Jesus" to be concerned with the old message that "God is the loving Father of all men," even of every single individual. True, a marvelous manifestation of brotherly love and unexampled good will did spring up in these early communities of believers. But it was a fellowship of believers in Jesus, not a fellowship of brothers in the family kingdom of the Father in heaven. Their good will arose from the love born of the concept of Jesus' bestowal and not from the recognition of the brotherhood of mortal man. Nevertheless, they were filled with joy, and they lived such new and unique lives that all men were attracted to their teachings about Jesus. They made the great mistake of using the living and illustrative commentary on the gospel of the kingdom for that gospel, but even that represented the greatest religion mankind had ever known.

Earlier in the Jesus Papers, we find this description of the written records of the four evangelists -Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - and this is an interesting commentary on these most quoted sources of Biblical information regarding Jesus and his teachings, and maybe a further explanation why Jesus' orginal teachings are conspicuously absent.

Thank you for this most interesting question.

Labels: Bible, brotherhhod of man, Fatherhood of God, Good Samaritan, Jesus, New testament, Pentecost, The Urantia Book

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Monday, October 06, 2008

How Can I Find God's Voice?

Q: How to find God's voice?

A: What I hear in your short sentence is a question regarding the voice of God, and how to hear that Voice within yourself.

Many of us have been instructed that God is within us, and The Urantia Book expands and enlarges this concept beautifully. We learn in its teachings that this spark of Divinity within is called the Thought Adjuster, and that it is an actual fragment of the Father himself:
__________
(148:6.10) ...the Father...speaks within the human heart as a still, small voice, saying, `This is the way; walk therein.' Do you not comprehend that God dwells within you, that he has become what you are that he may make you what he is!"
__________
Here is another quote regarding the voice of God-within:
__________
(110:7.9) While the voice of the Adjuster is ever within you, most of you will hear it seldom during a lifetime. Human beings below the third and second circles of attainment rarely hear the Adjuster's direct voice except in moments of supreme desire, in a supreme situation, and consequent upon a supreme decision.
__________
And this:
__________
(101:1.2) The Thought Adjuster has no special mechanism through which to gain self-expression; there is no mystic religious faculty for the reception or expression of religious emotions. These experiences are made available through the naturally ordained mechanism of mortal mind. And therein lies one explanation of the Adjuster's difficulty in engaging in direct communication with the material mind of its constant indwelling.

The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward. The divine nature may be perceived only with the eyes of the mind. But the mind that really discerns God, hears the indwelling Adjuster, is the pure mind. "Without holiness no man may see the Lord." All such inner and spiritual communion is termed spiritual insight. Such religious experiences result from the impress made upon the mind of man by the combined operations of the Adjuster and the Spirit of Truth as they function amid and upon the ideas, ideals, insights, and spirit strivings of the evolving sons of God.
_________
We see by these quotes that the best way to find this voice within is through our highest thinking, as that is where the combined Spirit of God (the Thought Adjuster) and the Spirit of Truth (Jesus) work together for our highest good.

Even though it may seem difficult from the above quotes to actually experience the hearing of God's voice, we are not left only with difficulty. A very practical way that The Urantia Book helps us to find and hear the Divine voice, is through the prayerful practice of conversing with our "alter ego." Consider this quote:
__________
(91:3.7) Enlightened prayer must recognize not only an external and personal God but also an internal and impersonal Divinity, the indwelling Adjuster. It is altogether fitting that man, when he prays, should strive to grasp the concept of the Universal Father on Paradise; but the more effective technique for most practical purposes will be to revert to the concept of a near-by alter ego, just as the primitive mind was wont to do, and then to recognize that the idea of this alter ego has evolved from a mere fiction to the truth of God's indwelling mortal man in the factual presence of the Adjuster so that man can talk face to face, as it were, with a real and genuine and divine alter ego that indwells him and is the very presence and essence of the living God, the Universal Father.
____________

Basically, we can "talk to ourselves," a practice that we all naturally learn to do as children, when we have inner conversations with an imaginary companion. As we grow, and as we desire closer communication with God, we may ennoble that concept to become the reality of a conversation with God-within.

Please click here for the entire section on Prayer and the Alter-Ego.

Labels: alter ego, God, God within, God's voice, prayer, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster