Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: Are Marriages fixed in Heaven and taking place on Earth, as per the creator's will?

A: Thank you so much for your note to us here at Truthbook.

It is a sweet idea, isn't it - this belief that two people are somehow divinely ordained to be together? And it could be that having this belief can influence two people to work harder than they otherwise might to make a marriage work. But we learn in The Urantia Book that marriage is a strictly evolutionary social institution, and of purely human sanctity - it evolved in response to the need for the stability and progress of humanity. Out of the marriage institution the family was created, which The Urantia Book teaches is the "master civilizer." Marriage allowed for stability of the family unit in primitive times, and it is an institution that still has the highest potential still, if we could somehow figure out how to do it right...so many marriages fail, even those that are performed in a sacred context between spirit-minded people.

I suggest that you read HERE for more information regarding Urantia Book teachings about this vital development in human civilization. And in the meantime, here is a partial section from Paper 83 - "The Marriage Institution" which clearly addresses your question :

(83:8.2) The likening of human associations to divine associations is most unfortunate. The union of husband and wife in the marriage-home relationship is a material function of the mortals of the evolutionary worlds. True, indeed, much spiritual progress may accrue consequent upon the sincere human efforts of husband and wife to progress, but this does not mean that marriage is necessarily sacred. Spiritual progress is attendant upon sincere application to other avenues of human endeavor.

Neither can marriage be truly compared to the relation of the Adjuster to man nor to the fraternity of Christ Michael and his human brethren. At scarcely any point are such relationships comparable to the association of husband and wife. And it is most unfortunate that the human misconception of these relationships has produced so much confusion as to the status of marriage.

It is also unfortunate that certain groups of mortals have conceived of marriage as being consummated by divine action. Such beliefs lead directly to the concept of the indissolubility of the marital state regardless of the circumstances or wishes of the contracting parties. But the very fact of marriage dissolution itself indicates that Deity is not a conjoining party to such unions. If God has once joined any two things or persons together, they will remain thus joined until such a time as the divine will decrees their separation. But, regarding marriage, which is a human institution, who shall presume to sit in judgment, to say which marriages are unions that might be approved by the universe supervisors in contrast with those which are purely human in nature and origin?

Nevertheless, there is an ideal of marriage on the spheres on high. On the capital of each local system the Material Sons and Daughters of God do portray the height of the ideals of the union of man and woman in the bonds of marriage and for the purpose of procreating and rearing offspring. After all, the ideal mortal marriage is humanly sacred.

As you can see from the above quote, marriage is not "fixed in Heaven," nor is it necessarily the "creator's will."

However, I think it is safe to say that marriage is the highest estate to which one can aspire for the purposes of creating the family, and fostering those Godly ideals of love, loyalty, devotion, forgiveness and tolerance that are so vital to a successful marriage and a successful society. When two people are mutually united in this endeavor, and most especially when when they have God at the head of their union and the resulting family, this marriage can be surely an example of a "sacred" union, and this kind of union is well-worth pursuing.

Vast numbers of people desire this kind of ideal close relationship when they enter into marriage, and yet unfortunately, we can see how many marriages are dissolved when the going gets tough or intolerable. A great many marriages do not even rise to the level of the sacred, but are entered into in a quite secular way - for any number of reasons.

One may surmise that if marriage is fixed in Heaven there would be a higher success rate. There can be many reasons for the great number of failed marriages, but it is simply further evidence of the purely human nature of mortal marriage.

Thank you again for writing to us - I hope that this response has been helpful to you.

Labels: evolution, family, God's Will, marriage, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Please can you please help me understand the full meaning of the popular phrase, "To do the will of Father in Heaven ?"

Q: Please can you please help me understand the full meaning of the popular phrase, "To do the will of Father in Heaven ?"

A: How do we actually DO the will of God? These quotes may give you some direction and encouragement:

(111:5.1) The doing of the will of God is nothing more or less than an exhibition of creature willingness to share the inner life with Godâ€”with the very God who has made such a creature life of inner meaning-value possible. Sharing is Godlikeâ€”divine. God shares all with the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, while they, in turn, share all things with the divine Sons and spirit Daughters of the universes.

The imitation of God is the key to perfection; the doing of his will is the secret of survival and of perfection in survival.

(111:5.6) This choosing of the Father's will is the spiritual finding of the spirit Father by mortal man, even though an age must pass before the creature son may actually stand in the factual presence of God on Paradise. This choosing does not so much consist in the negation of creature willâ€”"Not my will but yours be done"â€”as it consists in the creature's positive affirmation: "It is my will that your will be done."

Doing the will of the Father in Heaven is truly an "inside job." The will of God exists in the form of the indwelling Spirit of God in the minds of mortals (known in Urantia Book teachings as the Thought Adjuster, or Mystery Monitor), and the finding and doing of that will consists in sharing that inner life - the life apart from the purely mechanical function of the brain - the life of the mind, and in the arena of free will. In other words, it is our mandate to choose, of our own free will, to do the will of God, allowing the leadings of the indwelling Spirit to inform our choices in life.

Finally, I chose the following quotes to give you an even broader view of the function of the will of God in the mind of man.

(12:7.7) The will of God does not uniformly prevail in the heart of the God-seeking material mortal, but if the time frame is enlarged beyond the moment to embrace the whole of the first life, then does God's will become increasingly discernible in the spirit fruits which are borne in the lives of the spirit-led children of God.

(34:7.6) ... present-day mortals would experience less of this apparent warfare between the flesh and the spirit if they would enter the spirit kingdom, wherein the faith sons of God enjoy comparative deliverance from the slave-bondage of the flesh in the enlightened and liberating service of wholehearted devotion to doing the will of the Father in heaven.

(39:4.14) The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use themâ€”advance in spirit statusâ€”by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and alwaysâ€”in any sphere, in all of themâ€”this is to choose to do the will of God. If man thus chooses, he is great, though he be the humblest citizen of Jerusem or even the least of mortals on Urantia.

(107:0.4) Any mortal who has seen a Creator Son has seen the Universal Father, and he who is indwelt by a divine Adjuster is indwelt by the Paradise Father. Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God. Consciousness of Adjuster presence is consciousness of God's presence.

This is about as full an explanation that I can give in a letter. If you like, you can see our topical study of The Will of God for even more inspiring quotes and links to specific Urantia Book text.

Thanks for writing!

Labels: God's Will, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

What is the first step that I should do that will lead me in forgiving someone?

Q: Forgiving is one of the hardest thing to do to be able to fully submit yourself to God. What is the first step that I should do that will lead me in forgiving someone?

A: You are right that forgiving can be the hardest thing to do. All of us can relate to this...I guess the first thing you must do is to decide whether your un-forgiveness is helping you to achieve the kind of relationship you desire with God - your desire to willingly submit to his will. Is your unwillingness to forgive helping you in your search for peace and happiness in your inner life? Is your anger doing anything to right the situation? Is carrying the burdens of hurt and anger worth the effort?

When we have been sinned against by another - when our sense of right and wrong has been violated by another's words or actions, we recognize it, and we feel anger or indignation against that person - often rightly so. It is a very human response. Sometimes, we dream of revenge or retaliation - our anger burns bright, and we can fan the flames by harboring these feelings - sometimes for long periods of time. But is that helpful? The feelings of anger and hurt are heavy burdens to the heart, and usually do not in any way affect the offender, only the one who harbors them.

The Urantia Book tells us that "anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet's nest." It is a "mental poison" that can "interfere with the spiritual progress of the evolving soul."

So, what is one to do? Jesus was one of the most sinned-against persons we know. He was betrayed, he was deserted by his friends, he was wrongly put to death. And yet, through all of his trials, he remained loving, tolerant and forgiving. He said: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."

We must learn to forgive in this life. The first step is to realize the harm that unforgiveness can do to YOU, and that may lead you to make a decision to forgive. Ask God to show you the way to achieve it in your heart. Accept the fact that you are also in need of forgiveness, and pray to realize it. As you learn to forgive everyone who has ever wronged you, you will in turn start to experience forgiveness of your own misdeeds as well. This can be a very liberating experience.

From The Urantia Book:

The Father in heaven has forgiven you even before you have thought to ask him, but such forgiveness is not available in your personal religious experience until such a time as you forgive your fellow men. God's forgiveness in fact is not conditioned upon your forgiving your fellows, but in experience it is exactly so conditioned. And this fact of the synchrony of divine and human forgiveness was thus recognized and linked together in the prayer which Jesus taught the apostles.p1638:4(146:2.4)

And that prayer is, of course, the "Lord's Prayer," which asks God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

When you can make that mental and spiritual decision to forgive another, you will feel a lifting of your burdens. Leave the offender to God, and remember that "forgiving tolerance" is one of the fruits of the spirit that we are called upon to produce in our lives. Forgiveness can be difficult, but making the effort is well worth it.

Labels: anger, forgiveness, fruits of the spirit, God, God's Will, Jesus, The Lord's Prayer

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Friday, May 04, 2007

What Is The Will Of God?

Q: What is the will of God?

A: This is a wonderful question, and I am happy to help you explore the subject as it is treated in The Urantia Book. It is actually a more elusive subject than one might think at first glance.

In this following quote we find the first mention of the will of God:

p25:6 1:3.6 In the universes God the Father is, in potential, the overcontroller of matter, mind, and spirit. Only by means of his far-flung personality circuit does God deal directly with the personalities of his vast creation of will creatures, but he is contactable (outside of Paradise) only in the presences of his fragmented entities, the will of God abroad in the universes. This Paradise spirit that indwells the minds of the mortals of time and there fosters the evolution of the immortal soul of the surviving creature is of the nature and divinity of the Universal Father. But the minds of such evolutionary creatures originate in the local universes and must gain divine perfection by achieving those experiential transformations of spiritual attainment which are the inevitable result of a creature's choosing to do the will of the Father in heaven.

This quote explains that the will of God is present in our world, but it exists only in the Spirit of God which indwells all normal-minded mortals. The good Spirit actually IS God, and is our only means of contacting God outside of Paradise . This is a wonderful and reassuring truth - that God actually DOES indwell our minds, and through our own efforts, we can use this indwelling presence to progressively discern the will of God.

This following quote further explains just how we, as mortals of earthly origin, grow to adopt the leadings of the indwelling Spirit, the "will of God," thereby achieving ultimate eternal survival. When we choose to be led by the Spirit-within, we then create that indestructible entity known as the soul, which is the very part of us that survives.

p26:1 1:3.7 In the inner experience of man, mind is joined to matter. Such material-linked minds cannot survive mortal death. The technique of survival is embraced in those adjustments of the human will and those transformations in the mortal mind whereby such a God-conscious intellect gradually becomes spirit taught and eventually spirit led. This evolution of the human mind from matter association to spirit union results in the transmutation of the potentially spirit phases of the mortal mind into the morontia realities of the immortal soul. Mortal mind subservient to matter is destined to become increasingly material and consequently to suffer eventual personality extinction; mind yielded to spirit is destined to become increasingly spiritual and ultimately to achieve oneness with the surviving and guiding divine spirit and in this way to attain survival and eternity of personality existence.

Although you did not specifically ask, I thought you might like to have further information regarding the will of God - for example, how the will of God is discerned and performed in a human life. How do we actually DO the will of God?

These quotes may give you some direction and encouragement:

p1221:2 111:5.1 The doing of the will of God is nothing more or less than an exhibition of creature willingness to share the inner life with Godâ€”with the very God who has made such a creature life of inner meaning-value possible. Sharing is Godlikeâ€”divine. God shares all with the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, while they, in turn, share all things with the divine Sons and spirit Daughters of the universes.

p1221:3 111:5.2 The imitation of God is the key to perfection; the doing of his will is the secret of survival and of perfection in survival.

p1221:7 111:5.6 This choosing of the Father's will is the spiritual finding of the spirit Father by mortal man, even though an age must pass before the creature son may actually stand in the factual presence of God on Paradise. This choosing does not so much consist in the negation of creature willâ€”"Not my will but yours be done"â€”as it consists in the creature's positive affirmation: "It is my will that your will be done."

So, we can now see that the "will of God" is truly an "inside job." The will of God exists in the form of the indwelling Spirit of God in the minds of mortals (known in Urantia Book teachings as the Thought Adjuster, or Mystery Monitor), and the finding and doing of that will consists in sharing that inner life - the life apart from the purely mechanical function of the brain - the life of the mind, and in the arena of free will. In other words, it is our mandate to choose, of our own free will, to do the will of God, allowing the leadings of the indwelling Spirit to inform our choices in life.

Finally, I chose the following quotes to give you an even broader view of the function of the will of God in the mind of man.

p138:2 12:7.7 The will of God does not uniformly prevail in the heart of the God-seeking material mortal, but if the time frame is enlarged beyond the moment to embrace the whole of the first life, then does God's will become increasingly discernible in the spirit fruits which are borne in the lives of the spirit-led children of God.

p382:6 34:7.6 ... present-day mortals would experience less of this apparent warfare between the flesh and the spirit if they would enter the spirit kingdom, wherein the faith sons of God enjoy comparative deliverance from the slave-bondage of the flesh in the enlightened and liberating service of wholehearted devotion to doing the will of the Father in heaven.

p435:7 39:4.14 The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use themâ€”advance in spirit statusâ€”by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and alwaysâ€”in any sphere, in all of themâ€”this is to choose to do the will of God. If man thus chooses, he is great, though he be the humblest citizen of Jerusem or even the least of mortals on Urantia.

p1176:4 107:0.4 Any mortal who has seen a Creator Son has seen the Universal Father, and he who is indwelt by a divine Adjuster is indwelt by the Paradise Father. Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God. Consciousness of Adjuster presence is consciousness of God's presence.

Thank you for this most interesting question. I hope the answer has been helpful to you.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: God's Will, inner life, kingdom of heaven, Mary Jo, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Forgive and Forget?

Q: In the Bible it says to forgive and forget. What if a person gives you a lifetime of pain, not only to you, but everyone in your family and countless others as well? I have had substance abuse problems due to this. I cannot find it in my heart to forgive this person. Am I wrong?

A: From the sound of your letter, I would say that you are carrying a big load of anger and hurt, as well as some confusion. You already know that God tells us to forgive and forget, and in your heart, you believe it, but in the present circumstances, you are finding it next to impossible to carry out this act of forgiveness.

It is so difficult when one person can cause so much heartache and distress to others. I have had experiences like this in my own life, and I know it is not easy to forgive. If it was, we would likely never have wars, murders, divorces, or all the other miseries that one person can inflict upon another. Forgiveness is an act practiced by those who want to be Kingdom-dwellers - who want to rise above "the world," where we are told that "revenge is sweet" and discover the true sweetness of taking the high road.

Forgiveness is VITAL to your well-being. I am not going to tell you that you are wrong for not wanting to forgive, but I don't think you would have written such a heartfelt question, with so much anguish, if you did not believe that your heart needed a reason to change. I believe you want to forgive, but your hurts and angry feelings are clouding your mind and judgment right now.

One thing I want to tell you is that the act of forgiveness is NOT for the offender. By forgiving, we don't justify the offenses of the person, we don't excuse their behavior, but we release them from our own judgment, and by doing so, we release ourselves from the terrible burdens of anger, pain and disappointment. And I think you would agree - these terrible heavy feelings ARE burdens of the worst sort.

It might be that this person is beyond help, is blind and deaf to the misery that they place on their friends and family. It might do no good at all even to forgive them to their face. You may want to cut this person out of your life altogther (and that might be a good idea, from the sound of things). Just because we forgive, it does not mean that we have to make ourselves available for further abuse. If you can, find ways to distance yourself from this situation.

Forgiveness is not for THEM. It is for YOU...

Right now, this offending person has a great deal of power over you. You are angry and confused. You are doubting yourself, and using substances to relieve this pain. And you may feel that you are unable to do what God has asked of you - all because you have given over control of your feelings and emotions to be manipulated at the whim of this person. Can you see that?

There will never be a sure way for you to change the behavior of the person who causes such pain, but there is one person that you can control, and it isYOU! Forgiveness is an "inside job," and it will effectively restore your power where it belongs - in your own inner life, doing what YOU know to be best.

It happens inside of you - in your mind - and it causes a change of heart when done by an act of the will, especially when we know that it is God's will that we do so. This is true freedom - to have control over our own emotions and our own responses to the actions of others.

When we wholeheartedly align our will with the Father, we can expect a very good result.

This will take a full surrender on your part - surrender to the goodness and the mercy of God - knowing that he will make all things right, in his way and in his time. Surrender your feelings of anger and pain to God, and ask that he sanctify your heart and wash it clean. Lay your burdens upon him, and lay this offending person at his feet. Then, leave them there.

I don't promise that this is easy, but I do promise trhat it is the right thing to do. It could be that you may have to do this more than once or twice - particularly if this offending person is still in your life. But with every effort, you will gain strength and you will experience victory over this problem.

We have the example of the Master, who gave his very life at the hands of muderers and betrayers, and yet, he was able to say, "forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." He was dogged for all the years of his ministry by people who hated him and wished evil on him - people who plotted against him and sought his ruin. And yet he still forgave - even while in the act of dying at their evil hands. I think it's safe to say that he understands what you're going through. Trust him to help you through it and over it.

Jesus said, What you believe I would do to others, do likewise."

One last thing - and this comes from my own personal experience: Over a period of time, we can establish patterns of behavior with troublesome people, and it may take some time and distance for you to reclaim yourself through forgiveness. Then, when and if you decide to re-connect, you can begin to establish better boundaries and healthier patterns of behavior with this person, so they will know you mean business, and that you no longer are at their mercy. No more will they be able to manipulate you. You will have risen above their misery, and your own - and you may then even be able to provide a good example for others in your life who have been likewise affected.

It will be of great help to you if you can stop seeing yourself as a victim. You can only be victimized if you allow it. Up til now, maybe you didn't know this. Now you do. Take charge of yourself. Ask God to help you, and he will.

Remember - forgiveness is for YOU, not them. Do it for yourself. Pray for the offender, leave them with God, but know that by forgiving them, you are raising YOURSELF up to where you ought to be - where God wants you to be.

Thanks so much for writing, and sharing this difficult problem.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: Bible, forgiveness, God, God's Will, Jesus, Mary Jo

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