Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: What difference does it make to anyone what choices I make for myself, whether I go to school, live productively in society, have a career, or a family, or whatever, so long as I donâ€™t hurt anyone else and do my best to live with the choices I make?

A: There is no need to apologize for the life you have chosen for the sake of those who have expectations about your choices in life. Itâ€™s your life and you have every right to choose not to go to school, not to have children, not to get a job, and not to participate in society. If these life choices did not and do not appeal to your sensibilities, you are right to reject them, and you owe no one an apology or even an explanation. However, if you have regrets about the choices you have made then you are really apologizing to yourself. And you will need to forgive yourself if some of your life choices didnâ€™t have the outcome you had hoped for and then make better choices in the future. Try not to feel so bad, this is a part of life.

Each day we make choices that will affect our future. No matter what choice we make, the path we take will be fraught with difficulty and joy. No one chooses the perfect path, for the path of perfection does not exist in this world. All we can possibly choose here is a path toward perfection, and that path is long and arduous, and full of trial and error. So often we think â€œIf only I had done it this wayâ€� or â€œI would have been better off if only I had done that.â€� We would do better to make the most of the path we have chosen, to bring meaning and value into our life as it is, and let go of regrets and guilt about what might have been. God is the master at making lemonade out of lemons, and we could all stand to emulate this divine quality in our own lives. If we feel that we have made a serious error in choice, we must do all that we can to correct that mistake. I have a Native American friend who says, â€œIf you make a wrong turn, you must make two right turns, one to correct the wrong turn, and one just for growth.â€�

You say that you are not great in the kingdom but you are a child of God, regardless of your current frail human status. What father of a large family would ever slight the youngest member just because he was young and inexperienced? The youngest in a family is often greatly blessed by the experience of his older and wiser siblings who willingly help him find his way, if he will only be willing to ask for their help and listen to their instructions. You would do well not to slight yourself. God is no respecter of persons, and he loves you as much as the mightiest spirits of creation.

Rest assured that God is always here to help you in every creative endeavor. He will help you to share these good gifts with humanity only first you must desire his help. Pray for it, and it will be forthcoming.

Every blessingâ€¦.Paula

Labels: free will, God, Paula, regret

Permalink

Is sex before marriage bad or immoral?

Q: Is sex before marriage bad or immoral?

A: Let me begin this response to your thoughtful question by saying that The Urantia Book does not make moral edicts concerning sexual relationships. There are no, â€œThou shalt notsâ€� in the book. However, it does give us many reasons why our moral choices are vitally important to our spiritual growth and to human progress in general. It also gives us some great and practical advice concerning these matters. For instance: Paper 72, Government On A Neighboring Planet, and Paper 84, Marriage And Family Life, both give us guideposts the ideals human marriage and family relationships. Jesus also had some amazing things to say to John Mark about ideal family life in Paper 177, Wednesday, The Day Of Rest.

In the thirty years that I have studied these teachings one thing becomes absolutely apparent to me about matters like premarital sex. Each human must grapple with these decisions using their own highest understanding of personal morality, truth and righteousness. Each person must weigh all such moral decisions, like having sex out of wedlock, with utmost consideration for the meaning, value, and consequence of the decision. The Heavenly Father requires us to grow through prayerful and reflective decision making. That is, decisions based on our highest moral understanding and inner guidance. Consider the following quote: "The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use them--advance in spirit status--by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and always--in any sphere, in all of them--this is to choose to do the will of God."

Each person has to determine what God's will is for himself or herself. I tried to help my own children to make intelligent decisions, not by demanding that they not do something, but by giving them the tools they need (in reality the education) to make wise decisions when confronted with difficult situations. We frankly discussed human sexuality, and I gave them the benefit of my experience. I told them what I wished someone had told me. Did they engage in premarital sex? Perhaps, I canâ€™t really say for sure. But if they did, I know that they completely understood that first and foremost, sex is how humans procreate. In other words, sex brings little humans into the world, and with little humans comes huge, even cosmic responsibilities. The first question any person should ask themselves before having sex is; â€œWould I want this man/woman to be the father/mother of my children?â€� Being a father or mother is, at the very least, a lifelong commitment.

Is sex before marriage bad or immoral? It certainly can be depending upon the intent of the people engaged in it. Mankind all too often engages in pleasure mania, doing something for no other reason than that it feels good, and becomes unwilling to make any effort to take responsibility for consequences that come with his or her actions, nor for spiritual growth or commitment.

As a woman, I feel that sex is the ultimate act of submission. We women open up and let another person enter into our most intimate and personal self. This, in my thinking, is never something to be taken lightly. Through this act of submission, we women risk not only our emotional well-being (as it is easy for a woman to fall under these circumstances) but we are also the ones who will take on the lion's share of responsibility in the case of pregnancy. If the man is not willing to take equal responsibility for the possible consequences of "sex" (childbearing) the results can be devastating for the woman. I think any wise woman will take time for careful consideration before having sex with anyone.

Ultimately, the real challenge for any of us humans is self-control. Anything that gives man pleasure can be abused. Any good thing can become a bad thing if it is done recklessly, excessively, or thoughtlessly. Well, that's my best thinking on this subject, and I hope it's helpful.

Thank you for a thought-provoking question.

Every blessing...Paula

Labels: children, marriage, morality, Paula, self-control, sex, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Friday, November 18, 2005

When I die and go to Heaven, how can I be happy when I realize that someone I love is not in Heaven with me?

Q: When I die and go to Heaven, how can I be happy when I realize that someone I love is not in Heaven with me, but suffering in hell?

A: Your question reminds me of a similar question I asked myself some 34 years ago when I was just 16 and studying the Bible with a group of religionists. While these folks did not believe in Hell, they did believe in Armageddon. Their doctrine was that at Armageddon, God would destroy everyone on earth who was not a part of their church.

At the time, I met a woman (whom I'd never seen before nor since) and I was talking to her about the teachings of this group. She told me something I never forgot. She said, "Paula, you have the ability to know the truth in your own heart. If something grinds against your own natural and logical beliefs don't except it as being true." I felt then that this made a great deal of sense, in fact it actually rang as truth to me, so I took it to heart.

Shortly after that, I went to study with the woman who was helping me learn the church's doctrines, which adherents of this church simply called "The Truth." I had been studying with her for about 6 months at the time. She told me, "Paula, if you don't convert your parents to 'The Truth' God will have to kill them at Armageddon and it will be your fault."

Well, here was a perfect example of something posed as "truth" that most certainly did "grind against my own natural and logical beliefs." I unequivocally balked at her audacious statement, and replied, "Are you saying that God is going to kill my parents?!"

To which she replied, "Well, yes, he will have to dispose of anyone who is not in The Truth."

I thought for a moment and then said, "My parents are the most loving people I know. They are kind and loyal and trusting and sincere. They are truly good, even wonderful people and you say that God is going to kill people like them just because they don't belong to your religious group?"

Again, she vainly tried to explain to me how God would have no choice but to do such a thing.

I then told her, "You may think it would be Heaven to live forever on earth in peace, where the lion lays down with the lamb, etc., knowing that God had killed your loving parents. But that wouldn't be Heaven for me, that would be Hell."

At this point she was aghast, and she exclaimed, "Oh you can't feel that way!"

I simply said, "I'm sorry but I do feel that way and I can't study with you anymore."

I left her standing there with her mouth open. As I walked alone the twelve blocks to my house, I talked to God. I said, "God, you may just as harsh and unforgiving as they say you are. Perhaps you are willing to kill good people because they don't follow one religion or another and if you are that way, I'm sorry but I can't worship you." Then, after a moment's reflection I thought, "Somehow God, I just can't believe that you are that way.

But if you want me to know who you really are, you are going to have to reveal yourself to me because I'm not getting involved with anymore religions." I felt good in my heart about that declaration and I left it at that.

Four years later, during the worst crisis of my life, The Urantia Book came into my life. It claims to be a revelation of God to humankind. Well, I asked God to reveal himself so my mind was open to such a thing. Imagine my joy when I found the God that was so loving, so merciful, so just, so perfect that I joyfully worship him with every fiber of my being.

Here are three great quotes from that wonderful book that I hope will reassure you that God, our truly loving Heavenly Father, takes no delight in causing any harm to any of his children.

P.39 - Â§1 It is wrong to think of God as being coaxed into loving his children because of the sacrifices of his Sons or the intercession of his subordinate creatures, "for the Father himself loves you." It is in response to this paternal affection that God sends the marvelous Adjusters to indwell the minds of men. God's love is universal; "whosoever will may come." He would "have all men be saved by coming into the knowledge of the truth." He is "not willing that any should perish."

P.2017 - Â§3 When once you grasp the idea of God as a true and loving Father, the only concept which Jesus ever taught, you must forthwith, in all consistency, utterly abandon all those primitive notions about God as an offended monarch, a stern and all-powerful ruler whose chief delight is to detect his subjects in wrongdoing and to see that they are adequately punished, unless some being almost equal to himself should volunteer to suffer for them, to die as a substitute and in their stead. The whole idea of ransom and atonement is incompatible with the concept of God as it was taught and exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth. The infinite love of God is not secondary to anything in the divine nature.

P.60 - Â§3 The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.

I hope this helps.

Blessings.....Paula

Another view from Larry:

A: There would probably be no way in heaven that you could be happy if that were the case. I suspect that you are a Christian -- you may be interested to know that not all Christian sects promote a belief in hell. And, as you put it, if there were a hell wouldn't it seem contradictory for you to be happy in heaven?

The Urantia Book provides an exalted vision of God, that God is as Jesus saw him and described him, a loving heavenly Father even so much better than an earthly parent. And Jesus asked, if a loving earthly father would not exhibit wrath and retribution toward his own children why do we choose to believe that the heavenly Father of us all would treat us even worse than a human parent? That seems contradictory too doesn't it.

If you've not already done so, may I recommend subscribing to our Quote of the Day. It offers daily inspirational and meaningful quotes from The Urantia Book along with a great picture. It's an easy way to become familiar with the teachings of this marvelous book and is available from the upper right corner of our home page.

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: Armageddon, atonement, Christian, God, heaven, hell, Jesus, Larry Watkins, love, Paula, religion, revelation, The Urantia Book, truth

Permalink

Thursday, October 13, 2005

The Religion of Jesus

Q: You question the use of the term â€œreligion of Jesus.â€�

Jesus came here as an ambassador of The Kingdom of Heaven. The assumption that he was a divine being, a Son of God, would lead us to believe that he existed before coming here. He was not a Christian; Christianity arose around the fact of Jesusâ€™ life on this world. Neither was he a Jew. He was raised as a Jew but had he been a devout Jew (in the sense of the Jewish beliefs and practices of his day) he would hardly have been crucified as a heretic and law-breaker. The Urantia Book defines religion in many ways but I like this one, â€œIn its true essence, religion is a faith-trust in the goodness of God.â€� The religion of Jesus, then, is his whole life, his philosophy of living, the way he lived and the way he treated others with love, respect and dignity. He showed us how to live in grace and in accordance with Godâ€™s will. He showed us the real meaning of devoted and religious living. Religion is so much more than just the church you organized religious sect you belong to. To understand what is meant by â€œthe religion of Jesusâ€� one must expand oneâ€™s own concepts of the word â€œreligion.â€�

Who is Jesus?

Jesus came forth directly from the Father. He is a perfect representation of the Father. Many times he said, â€œHe who has seen me has seen the Father.â€� Do you say that Jesus is not the Father? The Urantia Book says that Jesus is as a Father/Brother to humanity. Always he pointed to the one true God, the Father of all and always did he tell us that the kingdom of God was within us.

Does God really exist?

What The Urantia Book points out is that if you are not already inclined to believe in the existence of God, there is nothing, no scientific experiment, or anything that anyone can say or do to convince you that he does exist. Only a personal experience of faith can do that. Carl Baugh already believes in God and so he is going to feel his evidence is irrefutable. Scientist that donâ€™t already believe in God feel quite the opposite about Carlâ€™s conclusions, and this is the point. Here is the entire quote: â€œThe existence of God can never be proved by scientific experiment or by the pure reason of logical deduction. God can be realized only in the realms of human experience; nevertheless, the true concept of the reality of God is reasonable to logic, plausible to philosophy, essential to religion, and indispensable to any hope of personality survival.â€�

Are angels real?

The Urantia Book says that all humans have angels who watch over them but that not all have â€œpersonal guardians.â€� Some Angels are assigned to groups of mortals but a personal guardian is assigned only to those mortals who have reached a certain level in their spiritual growth. It is absolutely true that God is not respecter of persons, and any person can potentially have their very own guardian angel if the work diligently to grow in spirit. The creation of God is fair and just, God rewards those mortals who willingly strive to know him and be like him. This is, in part, what Jesus meant when he said, â€œTo him who has, more shall be given, while to him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away.â€�

Is there only one way to heaven?

It is true that no person will come to the Father except by Jesus. The Urantia Book suggests that this is a literal truth. In your journey inward and upward to Paradise you literally will not advance except that Jesus will be the one to send you on. Literally, not one being in this universe will get to God, except through Jesus. Christians use this too often as a condemnation to Jews and Muslims and Buddhists, teaching that unless one accepts Jesus, now, as the only way to God, they are doomed. Jesus is the way shower to God, but every human who bears the fruits of the spirit and who loves God and values the ways of God, truth, beauty and goodness, has a equal opportunity to advance. Christians do Jesus and mankind a great disservice when they presume to judge (by their own imperfect scriptural interpretation) who has eternal value and who does not. â€œYou can only judge men by their acts, but my Father looks into the hearts of his children and in mercy adjudges them in accordance with their intents and real desires." Anyone can say anything, God looks into the heart.

Your quote: 'And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or lo, he is there; believe him not. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.'

Jesus himself was accused of being false. He was the one who also chastised the religious leaders of his day for persecuting and killing the prophets of God. Too often folks use this passage as an excuse to discount anything that disagrees with their cherished beliefs and interpretations of scripture. It was Jesus who said, â€œThe old things are passing away, behold, all things are becoming new.â€� I think he was referring to our religious beliefs as much as anything else.

Thanks for writing and be of good cheer!

Paula

Labels: angels, Christian, God, heaven, Jesus, kingdom of heaven, Paula, religion

Permalink

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Changing your inner self

You asked how you can change your inner self and I submit to you that the fact that you desire such a change is an indication that it is already happening.

Each human being is absolutely unique. The Urantia Book says it this way;

The love of the Father absolutely individualizes each personality as a unique child of the Universal Father, a child without duplicate in infinity, a will creature irreplaceable in all eternity.

Ponder that for a moment and really let it sink in. You are a child without duplicate in infinity, irreplaceable in all eternity! Now, ponder the fact that a piece of the Father's ultimate perfection lives in you. It only makes sense then that all significant personal change occurs from the inside out and this process is greatly facilitated if we do not resist it but accept and even embrace it.

You expressed some regret about the mistakes that you have made.

I can assure you, there will come a time when you realize that your mistakes and experiences have been your greatest teachers. Our patient and loving Heavenly Father expects us to make mistakes. In fact, he set that scenario up. He wants us to strive for perfection, but he knows (better than anyone) how far away from that lofty goal we are. His desire is only that our intentions are turned toward that goal and that we are mindful of it and working on it. The pain you feel about your mistakes is good because it suggests that you are conscious and moral.

These comforting words of Jesus always help me through a dark night in my soul:

"Do not become discouraged by the discovery that you are human. Human nature may tend toward evil, but it is not inherently sinful. Be not downcast by your failure wholly to forget some of your regrettable experiences. The mistakes which you fail to forget in time will be forgotten in eternity. Lighten your burdens of soul by speedily acquiring a long-distance view of your destiny, a universe expansion of your career."

You asked what you can do to make your mistakes right.

A Native American friend of mine says, "When you make a wrong turn you must make two right turns. One to correct the wrong turn and one just for growth."

I love this simple kind of wisdom.

You wondered "where exactly" you are going.

You are headed into eternity to become perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

It's a journey that he has prepared for you, but it is your choice whether or not to take it. He has provided all you will need for the journey and even more, he has given you a piece of himself to live in your heart and mind and act as your personal guide. All this, to ensure your safe arrival home to Him where he actually dwells at the Paradise center and source of all that is. This is your eternal destination but getting there will also be sublime.

Jesus once told a Chinese merchant, "...we shall meet again in the worlds of light where the Father of spirit souls has provided many delightful stopping-places for those who are Paradise-bound."

Quoting the book again:

Love of adventure, curiosity, and dread of monotony--these traits inherent in evolving human nature--were not put there just to aggravate and annoy you during your short sojourn on earth, but rather to suggest to you that death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery.

Quoting from Jesus again:

"You may be surrounded with small enemies and be retarded by many obstacles, but the big things and the real things of this world and the universe are on your side. The sun rises every morning to salute you just as it does the most powerful and prosperous man on earth."

My thoughts and prayers are with you. May the golden white light of Christ enfold you in healing and peace.

Blessings always.....Paula

Labels: God, humans, inner life, Jesus, mistakes, Paula, regret, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Angry at God

Q: I have a friend who's husband is really, really angry at God for the terminal cancer that his brother-in-law is facing. His brother has two small children, and it seems so unfair to him. Do you have any insight as to how to address this - to give her (my friend) some words of wisdom that she might be able to help her husband with?

A: The most important thing I would tell someone who was angry at God for the illness and impending death of a loved is that everyone dies. There is nobody on earth that doesn't die sooner or later. This is a fact of our existence and to some degree the only variable is how we will die. There are some blessings involved in dying with an illness that allows everyone time to assimilate the reality of it, take care of business and say their goodbyes. It's much harder when someone dies accidentally and leaves many things undone. Even so, death happens to everyone and it will happen to this woman's husband too.

From God's point of view, death is not an end but a beginning and it helps to try to get people to look at it that way. Death is really just another birth in an endless cycle of life. The analogy of birth really helps me a lot. Before a person is born they have everything they need. They are in a warm and nurturing environment. Then suddenly the same environment that sustained their being is now totally rejecting them. It must be terribly traumatic. Soon they go from a very small closed environment, where everything is provided rather automatically, to a huge open environment where nothing is provided except when they cry. No wonder they cry so much. But think of the loving hands and warm smiling faces that greet new babies.

Emergence into the next world is no different. Perhaps your friend can get her husband to imagine the joy on the other side when a newly born soul arrives over there. Imagine the joy of reunion for those loved ones who have already passed over and the joy of God and the angels to welcome this beloved child to the shores of the next phase of their ongoing existence. Also, there is the indescribable personal joy of the one who dies but then makes the awesome discovery that there really is no death.

She can remind her husband that because God is the perfect loving parent he feels our pain and is afflicted with us, just as her husband would be afflicted by the pain of his own children.

Some human suffering is unavoidable. God does not dole out death and suffering, these things are brought about by life on the material worlds. However, trust in the goodness of God does give us the comfort and hope that gets us through these difficulties.

Also, comfort your friend with the simple reality that God understands why we humans get angry at him but truly experiences nothing but love for us. Anger does not exist in God. He knows that, compared to eternal viewpoints, human viewpoints are as limited as the vision of a new born baby. Her husband will come to peace in time, anger is part of a grieving process and most people move beyond it, sooner or later.

The Life After Death Magazine helps to comfort many people.

Love.....Paula

Labels: anger, death, God, illness, Paula, suffering, trust