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Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I don't understand why, if this is our introductory life, why some people are born hereditarily disposed to mental illness...

Q: I don't understand why, if this is our introductory life, why some people are born hereditarily disposed to neurosis, psychosis, schizophrenia, bi-polarism, retardation, etc...... How does a personality work through that? What a horrible start. How unfair. How can an individual "do the will of God" in this context? Surviving in this rat race is hard enough. Certainly the individual didn't deserve this since this is only the very first experience of what life is. Sometimes life can get so unbearable for these people, suicide is the only relieving option. What's the wisdom in seeing yourself crumble in dignity because one cannot participate "adequately" in society. Yet, we are expected to "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Then there are those born with a golden spoon and those with charm , beauty and ultra-charisma; the highly gifted intellectual; the musically gifted genius; the leaders, the heroes etc.....What a cake walk for them. Yes, life is wonderful for them. What a great introduction to life. Surely their decision to want to survive and continue on this adventure of life is easily made. It is fueled by such positive experiences and so much to look forward to.

As for the former, I think they'd think twice whether to participate again in a universe where you have no choice of what card is dealt to you and at the risk of "annihilation"

A: You raise age-old questions - and the bottom line is - Life is not fair. It has always been this way, and probably always will be this way. Why? Because we are trapped in a time-space situation where there is always the chance of sorrow, where our fortunes can change in the blink of an eye, where uncertainty is the only constant. Everything changes in this life except the presence of God. This does seem unfair, especially if you feel you have gotten that "short stick..."

Just because a person is born into this life with hereditary tendencies to mental illness does not automatically mean they are less able to do God's will in their life. These kinds of problems can seem overwhelming, and they occcur through no fault of the person - likewise those with physical disabilities may seem terribly disadvantaged when you view them through the eyes of the material. But Jesus said:

"In the matter of sickness and health, you should know that these bodily states are the result of material causes; health is not the smile of heaven, neither is affliction the frown of God.

"The Father's human children have equal capacity for the reception of material blessings; therefore does he bestow things physical upon the children of men without discrimination. When it comes to the bestowal of spiritual gifts, the Father is limited by man's capacity for receiving these divine endowments. Although the Father is no respecter of persons, in the bestowal of spiritual gifts he is limited by man's faith and by his willingness always to abide by the Father's will." (166:4.10)

So, even if one has not received a goodly inheritance in a material sense, still each person receives "spiritual gifts," and it is how those are used that determines spiritual growth and progress. When God advises us to "be ye perfect," I think this only means that we do the best we can with what we have, and become the best person we can be within the confines of the life that we have. No one - not even the most well-endowed person on Earth, can ever come close to actually being perfect as God is in this one, short life, but we CAN be the most perfect person possible given the limitations that have been placed upon us - whether physically or mentally - by using our spiritual gifts (the Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, etc) to become like God. This becoming like God is not a material striving, but a spiritual one. Paraphrasing something that Jesus said once - if wealth is the smile of Heaven, why are not more wealthy people drawn to the Gospel? Why is it so often the meek, the afflicted, the humble, the downtrodden, who turn to God?

Sometimes, the most beautiful, the richest, and the most gifted people are those who feel no need of God. They are satisfied - and why shouldn't they be? Life seems easy; however, don't be fooled by outward shows of happiness by the seemingly "beautiful people." All of us are dealing with some kind of struggle in our lives, no matter our station in life. But it is those who struggle, those who have to tread the paths of rugged faith, who may be the luckiest in the long run. Remember this passage?

Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (48:7.14)

Having to work through difficulties means lots of decisions, lots of opportunities to choose hope over despair - faith over fear. And by always choosing the good, one can improve one's life immeasurably, even if outward circumstances may not change.

Look at famous people who have overcome great adversity - people like Steven Hawking, or Temple Grandin (who suffers from severe autism, and who has become a noted national voice in the humane treatment of animals). I have a sister who suffers from schizophrenia - although her life has been hard, she is very much a shining star in many respects because of her reliance on Jesus - she is still afflicted, but she helps herself through her difficulties with God's help. I shudder to think how bad things could be for her if not for those choices she has made in the spiritual sense.

In fact, this page of the inevitabilities is a good one to read again - especially when we are feeling that our lives are harder than they need to be.

As for those who might opt out of life because of having to deal with unfortunate experiences here on Earth: no matter what we have to experience here, it is the EXPERIENCE of living that is important; we can get that no other way than by living this life through. Having an attitude of bitterness about life indicates a need for more faith and trust in the goodness of God. Bitter resignation may be an easy way out, but is it the best way? This is an illustration of our inability to make eternal decisions here. I don't believe anyone who is beset with material problems can rightly make a decision not to go on to eternal life simply because they can't see a better future. Sometimes, the best we can do is just hang on and keep our little light of faith burning ...and that is enough to get us through. And there are rewards for just hanging on - maybe not material rewards, but rewards that are just as real and even more valuable in the long run.

This is such a short (The Urantia Book calls it "intriguing...")life - compared to the eternity of adventure and progress that awaits us...

The Urantia Book illuminates so much of this for us - I wish everyone could learn of God's goodness through its teachings.

Labels: decision, disability, God, inevitabilities, mental health, spiritual gifts, suffering, The Urantia Book

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Do we have to pay for the misdeeds and sufferings of our ancestors?

Q: I have a query. Do the departed souls affect us? If they are not happy do they cause us suffering? Do we have to pay for the misdeeds and sufferings of our ancestors? What does one do to bring peace to the departed souls? I do not understand that when we are good why we have to suffer for someone else's misdeeds and sins. Its unfair.

A: Thank you for your question to Truthbook.com. Yes, what you've related would be unfair if it were true. I know many people suffer from the burden they believe the departed have placed upon them. In some cultures people die because of their belief that those who've departed can influence them so profoundly, so it's not a problem to be dismissed lightly.

Our minds are powerful influences and can perform amazing things, some hard to believe. Having powerful minds and the free will to direct them however we choose is a birthright we all are endowed with. Some people are willing to turn over the control and function of their minds to others -- the others don't have the capacity to control a healthy mind without the willful consent of the person being controlled. So, yes, some people can and do suffer from someone else's misdeeds, but it is a choice they've made, perhaps unconsciously, to do.

The Urantia Book has the most complete and factual information about the birth of the soul, how it functions, what it does, where it and we go upon death, and what the life hereafter will be like. There's a short presentation on our site titled After You Die that should be of comfort to you and help answer your question. Briefly though, the answer to your question is no, departed souls do not physically or mentally affect us -- they leave earth and are involved in activity that's meaningful to their own development and are not involved in any further activity here on earth; they do not return. Energy patterns and mindal energy systems that had been part of that person's makeup while alive may still exist once the individual is gone -- sensitive people can tap into those energies or even those not so sensitive can as well if they choose to. It's a matter of free will choice whether one wants to indulge in these undertakings or not; they can as easily be dismissed and disregarded, whether they're real or not.

Do we pay for the misdeeds and sufferings of our ancestors? Only if we choose to aim our minds in those directions -- yes, some people do suffer from such perceived burdens, but again, it's their choice to do so, whether the choice has been made consciously or unconsciously; such choices can be reversed by refusing to entertain thoughts along those lines. Our Father in heaven does not burden his mortal children; we are not held accountable for another individual's actions -- it's only our own actions that matter. Just as the Father did not require an innocent sacrifice in order to appease wrath, neither does the Father require that we pay for the sins of others -- it's our choice if that's what we choose to do. Jesus has exhorted us to fear not; trust Jesus.

May I recommend that you spend time at our site to help you understand these answers better and 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, The Urantia 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. To subscribe click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Labels: Jesus, life after death, soul, suffering, the departed, The Urantia Book

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Friday, November 07, 2008

How can I help someone who is very 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.

Please see our Life After Death page, where you'll find our e-magazine "There Is Life After Death," as well as flash movies about life after death, and other uplifting features that will help and inspire you and your friend.

Labels: anger, cancer, God, illness, life after death, suffering, The Urantia Book

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

My son died from cancer at the age of 21. Was it so much necessary to suffer and leave this world like that?

Q: My son died from cancer at the age of 21. Was it so much necessary to suffer and leave this world like that?

A: Your sad loss touches every caring mortal learning of it. It touches the angels too who are endowed with greater love and compassion than we are. It touches Jesus and it touches our heavenly Father. Knowing this doesn't make it easier to understand, but your sorrow is shared.

The Urantia Book says of God, "He has said of the mortal races, 'In all your afflictions I am afflicted.' He unquestionably experiences a fatherly and sympathetic understanding; he may truly suffer, but we do not comprehend the nature thereof." (3:6.6)

The Urantia Book helps to clarify the meaning of life, our purpose here, and our purpose hereafter. While we live here we're subject to physical laws and the laws of nature, and of nature The Urantia Book relates, "... nature knows nothing of fairness--" (84:5.2) This physical world is the birthplace of the soul, the vessel needed to carry personality forward into the less material, more spiritual existence we have before us. Whatever happens to us beyond the circumstances necessary for this birth is subject to the "vicissitudes of time."

In The Urantia Book, Jesus relates, regarding the Book of Job, "And who can challenge the attitude of Job in view of the counsel of his friends and the erroneous ideas of God which occupied his own mind? Do you not see that Job longed for a human God, that he hungered to commune with a divine Being who knows man's mortal estate and understands that the just must often suffer in innocence as a part of this first life of the long Paradise ascent? Wherefore has the Son of Man come forth from the Father to live such a life in the flesh that he will be able to comfort and succor all those who must henceforth be called upon to endure the afflictions of Job." (149:6.7)

Perhaps there will be some comfort in considering the following inevitabilities of material existence (3:5.5):

"The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:

1. Is courage--strength of character--desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.

2. Is altruism--service of one's fellows--desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.

3. Is hope--the grandeur of trust--desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.

4. Is faith--the supreme assertion of human thought--desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.

5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.

6. Is idealism--the approaching concept of the divine--desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.

7. Is loyalty--devotion to highest duty--desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of default.

8. Is unselfishness--the spirit of self-forgetfulness--desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.

9. Is pleasure--the satisfaction of happiness--desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential possibilities."

Your question was "Was it so much necessary to suffer and leave the world like that?" and the answer that comes to mind is "no," it is not necessary to suffer -- suffering is not a prerequisite to entry to the world of the spirit although often suffering endows the sufferer and those closely associated with a new and more complete understanding of and spiritual awakening to the purpose, value, and meaning of life; and "yes," it is necessary to suffer because it is part of the material human existence. Earth is not heaven and it will never be so.

Your loss is great and your suffering is real. Your son is no longer suffering and is now taking the first steps in a thrilling adventure extending into eternity. We pray that that understanding will ease the pain in your heart.

Labels: death, inevitabilities, Job, Sorrow, suffering, The Urantia Book

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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