by Eileen Laurence General Conference 1990 Snowmass, Colorado
Like most of us here in this room, I lead a varied and busy professional life. I interact with a lot of people, most of whom are not Urantia Book readers, but many of whom are actively participating in a religious life both professionally and privately. As I go about my daily chores trying to live the concepts of the book, I have begun to ask myself some basic questions:
1. Is there a difference between morality and ethics? They are often used in the same sentence such as "the mores (religious, moral, and ethical) together with property, pride, and chivalry, stabilize the institution of marriage and family." (*939)
2. If there is a difference between moral and ethical, what is it?
3. How has our conception of morality and ethics changed since the appearance of this fifth epochal revelation, The Urantia Book?
4. What is being done in our present American society to address moral and ethical questions about our evolving business organizations, the connection between government and the media, ethics and chronic illness, ethics and neonatal care? Is anyone taking the time to share thoughts on ethics in the global community?
All of these questions grow out of a personal desire to be and do my best, following the example of Jesus' life to the best of my ability. Being a parent I want to take any opportunity I have to encourage our young people to think and behave on the highest level of moral and ethical understanding. Being a teacher I know that actions speak louder than words, so I am sensitive to some degree of the responsibility I have towards my students, not only in dealing with subject matter, but in the way I associate with them as sisters and brothers.
In my work, I do not normally deal with life and death situations, although some of my students would argue that point when performance time comes. My worshipful problem solving has to do with an evenness of relationships between me and my students; i.e., not playing favorites. This is an area that I approach carefully, trying to contact the divine spirit within each of them -challenging when dealing with middle and upper school students.
Advanced technical knowledge and skill has led, however, to a need in our society for sound ethical thinking and decision making in such areas as medicine, law, science and finance. I do believe that the way an individual lives can affect the community around her or him, and I think we have to be sure that the speed of our communications does not impede our ability to seriously and deeply think about the repercussions of our actions. We really are a global village, drinking the same water and breathing the same air as everyone else on the planet.
Let's look at the possible difference between those two words, ethical and moral. Webster defines moral as "1. relating to, dealing with, or capable of making the distinction between right and wrong in conduct." Synonyms are righteous, ethical.
Ethical is defined as "1. having to do with ethics or morality; or of conforming to moral standards." Ethics are "1. the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment; moral philosophy." I don't find those definitions helpful in separating the meaning of the two words, ethical and moral. They seem almost synonymous; however, quotes from The Urantia Book do seem to differentiate.
In describing the seven developmental epochs of an average world a Secondary Lanonandek Son of the Reserve Corps said of the fifth level, the epoch of philosophy and brotherhood: "The society of this age becomes ethical, and the mortals of such an era are truly becoming moral beings. Wise moral beings are capable of establishing human brotherhood on such a progressing world. Ethical and moral beings can learn how to live in accordance with the golden rule." (*577)
In the paper on the Evolution of Local Universes, a Mighty Messenger temporarily attached to the Supreme Council of Nebadon, assigned to this mission by Gabriel of Salvington, tells us that "The Creator Son rules supreme in all matters of ethical association, the relations of any division of creatures to any other class of creatures or of two or more individuals within any given group." (*363)
In the Foundations of Religious Faith paper a Melchizedek of Nebadon, speaking of the evidences of religion, says that "The difference in the religions of various ages is wholly dependent on the difference in man's [the person's] comprehension of reality and on his[her] differing recognition of moral values, ethical relationships, and spirit realities." (*1127)
In the final paper of The Urantia Book on the Faith of Jesus, a midwayer writes, "The human mind does not create real values; human experience does not yield universe insight. Concerning insight, the recognition of moral values and the discernment of spiritual meanings, all that the human mind can do is to discover, recognize, interpret, and choose.
The moral values of the universe become intellectual possessions by the exercise of the three basic judgments, or choices, of the mortal mind:
To my understanding, these quotes point to the fact that, as used in The Urantia Book, the word moral refers most often to the individual and ethical relates to an association of individuals or groups.
* * * Carol Gilligan has done a lot of research in the way women think and behave. In reading Mapping the Moral Domain, edited by Carol Gilligan, Janie Victoria Ward, and Jill McLean Taylor, Piaget was quoted as having said, "apart from our relations to other people, there can be no moral necessity."
In the same book Simone Weil is said to have defined morality as "the silence in which one can hear the unheard voices." Interesting, in light of our knowledge of the work of the Thought Adjuster.
Carol Gilligan has defined a justice perspective and a care perspective. Justice has to do with relationships organized in terms of equality, symbolized by balancing of scales. Moral concerns focus on problems of oppression, problems stemming from inequality, and the moral ideal is one of reciprocity or equal respect. This way of thinking and relating to others is living the golden rule as it was understood before Jesus' teachings, do unto others as you would have done to you.
"To treat others as you would like to be treated demands distance and objectivity." (p.74) The care perspective speaks of a relationship connoting responsiveness or engagement, a resiliency of connection that is symbolized by a network or web. Moral concerns focus on problems of detachment or disconnection or abandonment, or indifference, and the moral ideal is one of attention and response.
In my opinion that points towards ethical behavior in a situation involving two or more people based on the moral understandings of the individuals, "working out the least painful alternative for all those involved, seeing the situation in its context, working within an existential reality and ensuring that all persons are understood in their own terms." "We can appreciate the passionate clarity of a face value judgment, the generosity of a composite picture judgment that looks for the good side, and the integrity of a multiple lens judgment that recognizes that actions that satisfy one's conscience may not be truly helpful." (p.97)
In the present-day world of fast communications and vast networking, we must realize that our behavior may have broad repercussions. We need to recognize and take that into consideration when acting. Let's examine that phrase, "integrity of a multiple lens judgment."
The word integrity comes from a root meaning wholeness, soundness, entire. It is a way of looking at matters that is found most often in a woman's way of seeing matters, according to the research of Gilligan and colleagues. To act with integrity is to bring a sense of honesty, sincerity and wholeness to our thinking and decision making.
The Urantia Book says in the Real Nature of Religion paper, "In and through all the historic vicissitudes of religion there ever persists that which is indispensable to human progress and survival, the ethical conscience and the moral consciousness." (*1107)
Our spiritual teachers seem to be saying that before we can become responsible, ethical participants with our sisters and brothers, we must become aware of our private moral fiber and strive to improve it daily. I seem to remember the admonition that before we attempt to remove the splinter from our neighbor's eye, we first remove the log from our own.
We know that the Thought Adjuster arrives with the first moral choice we make somewhere between the ages of 5 and 6. That fragment of God is our very best friend and is an untiring guide working from within to nurture our evolving soul. In addition to these inner urgings we have other sources of aid in our spiritual growth such as the Seraphic Guardians of Destiny, who work from the outside in. "Seraphim are mind stimulators; they continually seek to promote circle-making decisions in human mind. They do this, not as does the Adjuster, operating from within and through the soul, but rather from the outside inward, working through the social, ethical, and moral environment of human beings." (*1245)
We often joke in the Laurence household that we should be careful in our prayers. Opportunities for spiritual growth seem to present themselves constantly without our having asked for them. We are comforted, however, by knowing that the book says, "To accept the guidance of a seraphim rarely means attaining a life of ease. In following this leading you are sure to encounter, and if you have the courage, to traverse, the rugged hills of moral choosing and spiritual progress." (*1245)
In the Planetary Mortal Epochs paper at the bottom of page 597 there is a paragraph on "Ethical Awakening." "Only ethical consciousness can unmask the immorality of human intolerance and the sinfulness of fratricidal strife. Only a moral conscience can condemn the evils of national envy and racial jealousy. Only moral beings will ever seek for that spiritual insight which is essential to living the golden rule."
Later in that same section, on page 598, we read that "The quickest way to realize the brotherhood of man on Urantia is to effect the spiritual transformation of present-day humanity. The only technique for accelerating the natural trend of social evolution is that of applying spiritual pressure from above, thus augmenting moral insight while enhancing the soul capacity of every mortal to understand and love every other mortal. Mutual understanding and fraternal love are transcendent civilizers and mighty factors in the worldwide realization of the brotherhood of man[kind]." We have help on every side.
We have but to ask for it, which leads us to look at ethical prayer.
We know that "No prayer can be ethical when the petitioner seeks for selfish advantage over his fellows [others]. Selfish and materialistic praying is incompatible with the ethical religions which are predicated on unselfish and divine loveSelfish praying transgresses the spirit of all ethics founded on living justice. Prayer must never be so prostituted as to become a substitute for action. All ethical prayer is a stimulus to action and a guide to the progressive striving for idealistic goals of superself-attainment." (*997)
We are advised to be persistent in our prayers. In the 11th chapter of Luke is recalled the story of the person who knocked on the neighbor's door asking for some food to feed another friend who had arrived unexpectedly. At first rejected because of the late hour, the neighbor finally answered the call when the surprised host continued to knock. "What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13)
In Paul's letters to the Romans we are told, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words." (Romans 8:26)
The Chief of the Urantia Midwayers clearly states that "Words are irrelevant to prayer; they are merely the intellectual channel in which the river of spiritual supplication may chance to flow. The word value of a prayer is purely autosuggestive in private devotions and sociosuggestive in group devotions. God answers the soul's attitude, not the words." (*1002)
The Jews have a style of song called the Niggun where nonsense syllables are sung in prayer. I had two seniors approach me this past graduation with a suggestion of a song they wanted to sing at that celebration. The words were innocuous, but the music and style of singing was very touching and transmitted just the right message to the parents.
Which takes me back to my everyday world. Erickson has said, "to share true authority with the young would mean to acknowledge something which adults have learned to mistrust in themselves: a truly ethical potential." To Erickson, ethical concerns were a natural meeting ground between adults and adolescents, both rendered uncertain by the predicament of modern civilization. (Mapping the Moral Domain p. XV)
Jesus taught that the kingdom of God (the will of God) "was in itself a new standard of moral values, a new ethical yardstick wherewith to measure human conduct. It portrayed the ideal of a resultant new order of human society." (*1859) We are encouraged "to come as a little child, to receive the bestowal of sonship as a gift; to submit to the doing of the Father's will without questioning and in the full confidence and genuine trustfulness of the Father's wisdom, to come into the kingdom free from prejudice and preconception; to be open-minded and teachable like an unspoiled child." (*1861)
The young people I teach are encouraged to grow through their interpretation of the golden rule from just seeing themselves as sibling inhabitants of the same neighborhood to the recognition that this golden rule was the "positive injunction of a great moral teacher who embodied in this statement the highest concept of moral obligation as regards all fraternal [sibling] relationships." (*1950)
The Urantia Book further says that the "true cosmic meaning of this rule of universal relationship [ethics?] is revealed only in its spiritual realization, in the interpretation of the law of conduct by the spirit of the Son to the spirit of the Father that indwells the soul of mortal man[kind]. And when such spirit-led mortals realize the true meaning of this golden rule, they are filled to overflowing with the assurance of citizenship in a friendly universe, and their ideals of spirit reality are satisfied only when they love their fellows [cohabitants] as Jesus loved us all, and that is the reality of the realization of the love of God." (*1950)
As for my future relationship with present day organized religious groups, I remember the advice given Jesus when he was about to embark on his mission to our planet, "As you may see fit, you are to identify yourself with existing religious and spiritual movements as they may be found on Urantia but in every possible manner seek to avoid the formal establishment of an organized cult, a crystallized religion, or a segregated ethical grouping of mortal beings." (*1330)
I have sought to work within three major religious groups and be open to dialogue with others for whom religion is more than a passing fancy or a family tradition, but I still feel the need to gather as we do here in Snowmass to discuss religious ideas and experiences emanating from our study of the book.
Referring to the last question I asked at the beginning of this talk: What is being done in our present American society to address moral and ethical questions about our evolving business organizations, the connections between government and the media, ethics and chronic illness, ethics and neonatal care and ethics in the global community? Moral individuals are gathering in other parts of our world to discuss these issues.
In a publication of the World Business Academy, John Renesch from San Francisco describes an emergence of a new consciousness in the world of business, articulating some changes of thinking from the traditional ways to the emerging new trends; from controlling leadership to evoking leadership, from solving problems to creating opportunities, from a hierarchy of unequals to a voluntary association of equals, from management that supervises and intimidates employees to one that inspires and cares for teammates.
The Hastings Center in Briarcliff Manor, New York, exists to "confront and attempt to resolve the moral problems brought on by advances in the biomedical sciences and the professions; To educate the general public on the moral aspects of those scientific, medical, and professional issues that will inevitably change our own lives and those of our children; To take on some of the most difficult moral dilemmas of our society: AIDS, care of the dying, chronic illness, animal welfare, artificial reproduction, genetic screening, professional ethics, justice in health care, long-term care ethics."
In the spring of 1988 the Iowa division of the United Nations Association-USA presented an international colloquium to explore "the substantial moral and ethical dimensions of choices and trade-offs to be made in order to achieve a truer ethical balance between freedom and social responsibility and how these choices and trade-offs can be translated into hope and reasoned action." Their vision of the immediate future is "firmly rooted in a present awareness that political will begins with people."
Just as we are gathering here to discuss religious ideas and think about our own moral health and habits, we are advised to apply the revelatory information from The Urantia Book to present day religions. I suggest that as we hone our own moral fiber based on our understanding of the teachings in our blue book we likewise enter into groups such as the ones mentioned to add our thinking to those who are meeting to discuss such important practical communal, national and international problem solving.
"The teachings of Jesus constituted the first Urantian religion which so fully embraced a harmonious co-ordination of knowledge, wisdom, faith, truth, and love as completely and simultaneously to provide temporal tranquillity, intellectual certainty, moral enlightenment, philosophic stability, ethical sensitivity, God-consciousness, and the positive assurance of personal survival." (*1112)
We need to remember to trust that "truly ethical potential" Erickson referred to that we adults may have ceased to acknowledge. To paraphrase a quote on page 1115, true religion is that sublime and profound conviction within the soul which compellingly admonishes us that it would be wrong for us not to believe in those morontial realities which constitute our highest ethical and moral concepts, our highest interpretation of life's greatest values and the universe's deepest realities.
I believe that what we do to see the world through the lenses of ethics and morality in our professional and personal lives will make a difference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ultimate mystery in theism is the problem of evil. How can one reconcile belief in an all-wise, all-good, and all-powerful God with the destructiveness of nature, the seemingly unjust and arbitrary suffering of people and animals, and social evils like Dachau, Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki?
The history of religion is replete with attempts to answer this question. All of these theodicies have more or less failed. Finite attempts to understand such incongruities we recognize must go beyond our limited knowledge and find resolution in a transcendent leap of faith or voice the frustration of existential meaninglessness. Nevertheless, deep within human nature is the imperative to probe the mystery of ultimate questions century after century. Periodically, with the advent of new knowledge, past answers are glaring in their inadequacy.
We are entering the Space Age where new frames of reference are giving enhanced perspectives to ancient dilemmas. Traditional religious answers to the problem of evil are rooted in a geocentric and pre-scientific understanding of the nature of the universe. These prophets and seers of the past perceived great spiritual truths but understood them in terms which today are, at best, simplistic and at worst, erroneous in fact.
Carl Jung observes that human beings can suffer anything if they know its meaning. When contemporary humanity contemplates the cosmic picture now available to the growing edge of twentieth century planetary vision, there will be a far greater understanding and appreciation of the meaning of evil and suffering. Through the insights brought about by a more comprehensive view of universe reality we also intuit an enhanced perspective of the great truths and eternal purposes of an all-wise, all-good, and all-powerful Creator. As we discover that the imperfections of the finite universe are indigenous to the divine plan for evolving unique, experience-tested mortals with unimaginable potentials rather than some incapacity or deficiency of God, our entire conceptualization of imperfection and evil is transmuted into a life view of glorious opportunity and intriguing possibility.
Before we can comprehend the authentic meaning of human experience we need to understand the basic nature and methodology of reality. Without a view of the underlying dynamics of universe phenomena, the immediate experience and events of life may be grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted. The part gains true perspective when it is viewed in relation to the whole.
Our understanding of experience begins with an examination of the sources of knowledge. We have three basic sources of information: the perception of the material world, the awareness of our own inner consciousness, and the realization of values. Psychologically, therefore, we experience reality in three categories or forms: matter, mind, and value or spirit. We must know the nature and operational dynamics of these reality manifestations if we are to comprehend what is happening in our lives.
Our knowledge of the material world has exploded in modern times. We no longer live in the circumscribed, provincial, geocentric universe of our forefathers where the basic elements were thought to be earth, air, water, and fire. The cosmos in which we live is extensive beyond human imagination where distance is measured in millions of light years. There are billions of suns in our local Milky Way galaxy and billions of such galaxies exist in outer space. The microcosmic world of the molecule, the atom, and the quark is equally incomprehensible. Each breath we take contains a trillion trillion atoms and each atom is a complex universe of its own. Our astronomical-nuclear, material-energy continuum made up of physical materials and living organisms is billions of years old and is directed, controlled, and integrated by countless material-physiological mechanisms operating in an overall ecological system. As we look at this complex, many-faceted universe observing its many interacting laws and principles, one basic dynamic appears to dominate the entire cosmos: the evolutionary process. Whether we look at the formation of galaxies, the development of organisms, or the events and struggles of human society, evolution appears to be the key modus operandi of the universe. Nothing in universe function or human experience can be adequately understood apart from this underlying, indigenous dynamic conditioning all things.
How can we understand mind in which we psychologically live and move and have our being? Our knowledge of mind is still in its primitive stages. We must, therefore, understand it largely from the standpoint of experience and function. Although mind activity is related to electro-chemical activities, its universe function is all-encompassing. In the broadest sense the term "mind" can be applied to any control and guidance function which operates in things, mechanisms, organisms, or persons. Mind activity in the inorganic world is that energy function which produces the regulative behavior of matter. Those aspects of the nucleus of an atom which causes it to capture one electron (hydrogen) or ninety-two electrons (uranium) and to behave in a chemically characteristic manner is due to some regulative or mind characteristic of matter.
In the organic world, mind is that energy function which produces adaptive behavior. Here we see mind operating in differential levels of complexity starting with one cell organisms, proceeding through plant life to lower animals and reaching its highest expression in man.
Human mental activities culminate in self-consciousness, rational and creative thought, superconscious insights, and God-consciousness. These descriptions of mind function are, of course, abstractions because in nature mind and matter or body activities are inseparably linked.
While our scientific knowledge of mindal reality is in its infancy, our understanding of values and spiritual reality consists almost entirely in experiential discovery and philosophic conjecture. We are material beings endowed with minds through which we perceive truth, beauty, and goodness. We have a limited awareness of cosmic realities of a spiritual nature; we are lured and guided by a subliminal God-consciousness which at times focuses into conscious awareness to direct and transform our lives.
Faith must always transcend our knowledge if we are to grow and progress. We now stand at a moment in history when our creative future depends on our courage to follow the larger vistas of truth opening to us and leave behind the naive and provincial conceptions of spiritual reality held by most of our forefathers. The old simplistic three-story cosmology of heaven-earth-hell is hopelessly outdated in our contemporary astronomical universe. Experience suggests that there is a parallel between material reality and spiritual reality; the cosmos appears to be designed in an integrative, unifying manner. We must begin to conceptualize spiritual cosmology along the lines of our expanding knowledge of the celestial universe of astronomy. This spiritual cosmos must be perceived as even more limitless than our material universe and the substance of spiritual reality must be infinitely more complex and powerful than the microcosm of the atom.
If the spiritual universe has any meaning for human experience, there must be an analog in spiritual cosmology for the billions of galaxies of outer space. Just as we conjecture in our scientific hypothesizing that there are millions of inhabited planets, so must we assume the spiritual cosmos is populated with countless creations and myriads of intelligent beings and personalities with capacities and abilities quite beyond human imagination.
The integrative dynamics of such a material-mindal-spiritual cosmos appears to be structured and controlled by an overall operational system in which matter is ultimately subject to mind control and mind is eventually directed by spirit purposes, all functioning in the context of the evolutionary process. These, then, are the universe realities in which human experience takes place. To more adequately understand the suffering, ambiguities, and mysteries of the human condition, it is not only necessary to view our lives in the context of these realities but we must also deduce some conceptualization of the spiritual purposes for human destiny and the divine methodology for achieving those objectives.
We see from the nature of man that it was God's plan to create with intelligence, including truth, beauty" and goodness perception integrated by personality. Although we are conditioned by biological heredity factors, environmental conditions, and social-personal experience, basic in the purpose was to create mortals who had free will in value decisions and were autonomous in spiritual identity and destiny determination. To accomplish this objective we observe that God initiated an indigenous, creative evolutionary process involving physical mechanisms, biological organisms, and ecological systems which eventually produced intelligent beings of free will dignity and spiritual development potential. All of this evolutionary creation, although broadly directed by spiritual overcontrol, is entirely the outworking of natural laws, mechanisms, and processes.
The culmination of the divine plan was to provide for the inner motivation, the environmental stimuli, and spiritual guidance whereby these free and independent mortals, these material sons and daughters, could evolve immortal souls-- supermaterial or spiritual reality identies--which could survive the death of the material body and the chemical-electrical brain-mind. By following inner spiritual guidance these children of time through free will decisions and actions predicated on their sincere understanding of truth, beauty, and goodness (spiritual reality) may evolve living souls and transcend their material animal origins. This endogenous divine-human partnership factualizes the supermortal soul which at death can abandon the physical body as the cocoon is left behind by the emerging butterfly.
God's methodology in actualizing these creative purposes coincides with the world of human experience. Both the finite limitations of human nature and the imperfections of the material universe which serves as the stage of this divine-human drama are so structured because of the wise and perfect plan of the Universal Father, not because of any limitations or imperfections in the divine nature. God has established the conditions for fashioning a unique quality of universe personality--a being which could only be created by mortals of free will capacity participating in their own growth toward perfection. Such persons will be quite different and have many potentials not possessed by beings arbitrarily created perfect.
Evolving such indigenous and innate qualities of character requires certain inevitabilities of environmental conditions. If evolutionary mortals are to develop courage, then must they live amid surroundings that necessitate struggling with hardships and danger in order to survive and effect favorable conditions for living. If hope is to evolve in human consciousness, then must man be constantly confronted with insecurities and uncertainties. In order to establish the love of truth in the human heart one must live in a world where error is present and the evils of falsehood experienced. Unselfishness is acquired in human experience when we repeatedly discover the unhappiness brought about by an ego continually clamoring for pleasure, honor, and recognition. Humankind would be unable to develop the spiritual qualities of love and service unless the evils of hatred are experienced and there were the anxieties and emptiness of the egocentric life to forsake. Evolutionary man must live in an environment of relative and potential evil to experientially be certain about and indigenously acquire the higher spiritual realities of the universe through personal freedom of choice.
In addition to these environmental stimuli of imperfection the Creative Process inculcated into human motivation a hierarchy of developmental values" insightfully described by Abraham Maslow. Beginning with the biological and safety needs, proceeding through the social, self-esteem, and independence deficiency needs to the self-actualizing and transcending meta needs, human nature is dominated by the urge to grow toward spiritual reality achievement: truth, beauty, and goodness identification.
Capping and guiding this broad-based environmental education and motivational directionalization the Universal Father has placed his own Spiritual Presence in the superconscious mind of man. With all of these potentials for transcending our animal heritage we are given sufficient freedom to shape our own destiny. Through personal decision and action in this human-divine partnership we have the opportunity of evolving souls or reality identities which will no longer need the material scaffolding mechanism which brought it into being.
As we view this finite universe of designed imperfection, with spiritual overcontrol, we see that it is fashioned to operate largely as a closed educational system whereby human beings have the opportunity to evolve a quality of being which is supermaterial. Here through identity formation and action spiritual realities such as truth, beauty, goodness, love, and righteousness become the dominant aspects of being. When this takes place we become more God-conscious and more real and effective as persons.
This transformation, usually so gradual that it is unconscious, takes place in the, so called, natural world. The old religious dichotomy of the natural and the supernatural is an illusion resulting from a lack of knowledge of how God acts in the finite universe. It may be meaningful to speak of material, mindal, or spiritual reality but anything which the creative action of God precipitates in any of these categories is an indigenous, lawful, or "natural" event. In the finite and material cosmos God maintains an immanent, endogenous presence and control. We sense his presence largely by the inference of faith insight. Even in the one place where we have a direct and personal experience of God, our inner consciousness, his presence in our superconscious minds is an immanent presence. All spiritual ministrations to finite beings must be a downstepped or immanent type of ministry. This is the essence of the incarnation message.
All this means that God does not relate with us as a cosmic puppet master nor as an anthropomorphic trouble shooter that we must call on or plead with to change the realities of creation and experience or shield us from problems and suffering. The design and purpose of finite creation is to encourage and enable us to meet and cope with the problems, frustrations, and tragedies of mortal experience. God's purpose for our lives is to help us evolve into the spiritually mature type of beings that are stimulated by perplexities, frustration, and suffering and who believe that in partnership with God all things eventually work together for good.
Between the hammers of anxiety and suffering and the anvil of necessity God is helping us to develop into strong and resilient personalities who can cope with imperfection and evil through our own resources as his finite sons and daughters. This requires a life predicated on courage, invigorated by hardships, and inspired by divine fellowship and guidance.
In view of these universe realities and divine purposes for human existence, we see that our traditional use of prayer in the hope of escaping evil or suffering has often been simplistic and immature. While such childish use of prayer may comfort the human mind and sensitize it for the reception of spiritual truth, twentieth century humanity would do well to engage in more intelligent forms of prayer.
Prayer is not a technique of magic nor a way to enlist divine help to alter nature or arbitrarily shield us from suffering and evil. Divine supplication cannot be used to escape facing the hard realities of human experience and soul growth or avoid expending rigorous effort in facing the problems of life. Since God has chosen to relate in a personal way with man almost exclusively in the realm of mind and consciousness, praying for the change or delivery of material things is not reality oriented. Human life is lived in the context of a natural world order which is not ordinarily miraculously modified as the result of prayer. The divine purpose of such a seemingly closed natural system is to require man to grapple with the problems of survival and the opportunities of soul growth through the use of his own resources.
Prayer, rather, is a mighty psychological-spiritual aid in developing such resilient, effective, and spiritually mature personalities. Communion with God is a major resource for struggling with and eventually mastering the planetary human situation. Through prayer we establish a fellowship with the Indwelling Presence of the Universal Father which undergirds, sustains, and inspires us as we wrestle with the problems and challenges of life. Since the Spirit of God is resident in the human mind we not only develop a partnership in our soul evolving adventure but when our human resources are exhausted in this struggle we can and should seek divine insight, guidance, and direction in finding a way to solve our human dilemma.
When we are courageous in facing reality, have exhausted our human resources and make a wholehearted decision to follow the Father's will and way such living faith prayers are reality oriented and efficacious. In these situations when we experience our existential finitude and impotence and yet do not surrender to spiritual doubt and despair unusual things happen. We discover fresh sources of comfort and inner peace which sustain us in the midst of chaos and tragedy. At times when the human situation looks bleak and foreboding fortuitous events happen, inexplicable contingencies take place, the form of reality changes. These experiences are always mysterious. Were they simply chance happenings or the result of spiritual ministry? They defy objective analysis and elude logical and rational explanation.
With this view of universe reality as a background, let us focus on some of the aspects of the problem of evil in human experience. We see the divine plan designed the finite universe as an imperfect creation which is, in the main, a closed evolutionary system where indigenous laws and mechanisms operate instead of direct Deity control. This self-limitation of God is basic to the actualization of a great and good universe plan to evolve in mortal man a unique quality of being. Through rigorous experience, often involving trial and error learning, we are making decisions and creating life styles which are evolving souls that are sui generis in the universe.
Man is actually participating in his own creative growth toward spiritual maturity. Starting at the bottom of the universe and experiencing growth from the lowest form of life having truth perception to the eventual perfection of human potentials, we will possess an experiential appreciation of reality, a functional wisdom, impossible to any beings created perfect.
Experience is a finite quality which always adds to and alters all other forms of universe reality. Through the educational process encountered in the vicissitudes of human experience the creative evolutionary process is forging out of man the beginnings of a noble, strong, and thoroughly experienced being whose potentials transcend our fondest dreams. Human anxiety and sorrow, our trials and suffering, are just as much a part of a wise divine plan of universe education as the lessons of childhood, the rigors of school days, and the psychic suffering of adolescence are necessary in developing character in our contemporary family life. There is historical, scientific, and experiential evidence which gives considerable support to this purposeful view of the problem of suffering and evil.
Nonetheless, many troubling questions remain unanswered regarding catastrophic and irrational aspects of the problem of evil. Why do the innocent suffer? How does one make sense out of mass destruction and horrendous pain which, in themselves, seem to serve no constructive purpose? These are problems to which theists down through centuries have, in the main, failed to find rational answers. Probably the closest we can come to discovering a meaningful answer to this enigma is to again refer to the reality picture previously presented.
God has a glorious plan for lowly man that required the creation of a finite universe of imperfection which operates largely as a closed system. Such self-limitation by God eventuates inevitable evil and involves great risk. The Universal Father in his great love and desire to share as much of himself with other beings as possible initiated the finite creation in perfect wisdom knowing its wonderful culmination and supremely confident that his immanence and over-control in the evolutionary universe would eventually overcome all breakdowns and catastrophies which might beset the divine plan.
Let us look at some of the risks which such a self-contained finite creation involves. First of all the creation of limited atomic and molecular, matter in an imperfectly balanced ecological system of this evolutionary universe results in periodic upheavals of nature. The inherent balance and control forces and mechanisms take aeons to consolidate their effect. Built upon the limitations of matter, living organisms exhibit similar characteristics of imperfection. Gradually through the trial and error randomness of biological phenomena such as mutations organisms with survival capabilities proliferate. This slow evolutionary development produces biological disharmony, destructive bacteria and organisms, as well as harmonious adjustments and interrelationships. Centuries and centuries of time are required for the indigenous integrative and synergistic influences to become dominant
Even after intelligent beings of a human order evolved their imperfection coupled with a degree of free will inevitably results in decisions and actions which precipitate evil. This evil is socially compounded resulting in brutalities like Dachau and Auschwitz and wars with the mass destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over and above the imperfections of planetary phenomena and the evil perpetuated by human error and sin the divine plan is also thwarted by the misadaptations and rebellion of supermortal beings who are native to the finite universe.
The traditions of the Lucifer rebellion and the Adamic default suggest catastrophies of major proportions in which the divine plan was abrogated.
When we contemplate the pervasive openness and uncertainty of universe phenomena along with the colossal problems actuated by evil (imperfection) and sin (knowing rejection of truth, beauty, goodness: God), we begin to catch a glimpse of the enormous forbearance and love of the Universal Father and the infinite resources he has for salvaging and saving his wayward children. And this he does by methods which are in harmony with his perfect plan of autonomy and self-determination for the finite creation. Through immanent techniques such as incarnation into the human condition, periodic epochal revelation and indwelling the mortal mind, his loving ministry is slowly but surely winning the struggle with evil and sin without violating man's complete spiritual independence. God's creativity in the evolutionary cosmos begins at the lowest levels but is destined to achieve the highest ends.
We have seen that the divine plan for the finite universe is to create beings of a unique spiritual quality through evolutionary experience. This requires an environment of imperfection in which the principles of reality are immanently present in the material-mindal world of experience.
Here man can discover the spiritual verities in daily living, taste the bitterness and suffering of evil and sin, and repeatedly verify the fulfilling and synergistic character of truth, beauty, and goodness. In this educational atmosphere we are free to make our own value decisions and evolve immortal souls.
The unsurpassed educational character of planetary experience is the reason that even in the face of intense, widespread, and irrational suffering accompanied by seemingly hopeless international confusion the Universal Father does not arbitrarily "step in" to alter his evolutionary methodology for overcoming evil and sin. Error and spiritual rebellion are more clearly seen for what they are they are allowed to run their evolutionary course. More good will accrue in individuals and society by this experiential process than would occur through forced, arbitrary, or revolutionary solutions.
The final answer to the problem of evil for the individual resides in the Spirit of God which indwells the human mind. Although we live in a world where Immanent Intelligence is detected by inference, where knowledge of God is mediated through all reality, we know him personally only through inner experience. By faith and spiritual fellowship we establish a God-consciousness and a living partnership with the Universal Father. As we then face the problems and perplexities of life we are aided by divine wisdom. When suffering and tragedy enter our experience and we have exhausted our own ability to cope, an augmented inner peace, a new understanding, a fresh combination of resources undergird our life. Those who establish this inner relationship are invulnerable to life's most crushing blows. They are learning "to feast upon uncertainty, to fatten upon disappointment, to enthuse over apparent defeat, to invigorate in the presence of difficulties, to exhibit indomitable courage in the face of immensity, and to exercise unconquerable faith when confronted with the challenge of the inexplicable. They are discovering that "in liaison with God, nothing--absolutely nothing--is impossible." (The Urantia Book, p. 291)
The Inner Conversation: Unbroken Communion With God
Author: Marvin Gawryn, Boulder, Colorado
The Urantia Book asserts that the heart of religion is a living relationship with God. Such communion must not be limited to religious services or peak experiences. It should be habitual, an ongoing moment-to-moment process of inner sharing. One of the revelation's most startling pronouncements is that such Father-child communion can be constant. Continuous communion is attainable. Indeed, it is a methodological key without equal, a "secret" of great spiritual leverage.
"The secret of his [Jesus'] unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship —unbroken communion with God—. . ." (*2089:1)
"... the divine bestowals may flow to the hearts and souls of those who thus remember to maintain unbroken communion with their Maker through sincere prayer and true worship." (*2066:1)
The method is remarkably straightforward. While it takes persistent effort to form the habit, it involves simply an ongoing conversation, an internal dialogue with the Father. In every situation we can "talk" continuously, inwardly, with the very best listener. And we in turn can listen — pause to be attentive to the Father's constant communication to us, his nourishing love and wise guidance. When we are conversing with God, it is easy to remember that he is actually present.
One of the most effective proponents of the spiritual value of habitual inner conversation was Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite monk living in France in the late 1600's. A little volume of his thoughts, The Practice of the Presence of God, has become a devotional classic. The book's preface comments, "No conceited scholar was Brother Lawrence; theological and doctrinal debates bored him, if he noticed them at all. His one desire was for communion with God."
Brother Lawrence suggested "that we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity. That we need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him at every moment." He was adamant about the remarkable power of the method. "There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it. Were I a preacher, I should, above all other things preach the practice of the presence of God; and were I a director, I should advise all the world to do it, so necessary do I think it, and so easy, too."
Brother Lawrence was quite correct in placing such singular emphasis on this practice of "conversing" with God. The Urantia Book indicates that the doing of the Father's will is synonymous with such inner communion.
"The doing of the will of God is nothing more or less than an exhibition of creature willingness to share the inner life with God. . ." (*1221:3)
The more we fellowship with the Father, the more our lives can reflect his will. We grow God-like through such constant inner contact.
"Sooner or later we all become aware that all creature growth is proportional to Father identification." (*1174:8)
Perhaps we can best accomplish Father identification — doing God's will — through the communion of inner sharing. Unbroken communion is a habit. It takes persistent effort at first to develop it, but eventually it becomes automatic and relatively effortless.
Brother Lawrence observes, "In order to form a habit of conversing with God continually, and referring all we do to Him, we must first apply to Him with some diligence; but after a little care we should find His love inwardly excites us to it without any difficulty . . . We should not wonder if, in the beginning, we often failed in our endeavors, but at last we should gain a habit, which will naturally produce its acts in us, without our care, and to our exceeding great delight . . . Thus, by rising after my falls, and by frequently renewed acts of faith and love, I am come to a state wherein it would be as difficult for me not to think of God as it was at first to accustom myself to it."
This is good news. While we may have to work at developing an inner conversation with the Father, eventually it flows effortlessly, affording us great joy and comfort in the press of life.
Rodan observes, "These practices are difficult and time-consuming at first, but when they become habitual, they are at once restful and timesaving. The more complex society becomes, and the more the lures of civilization multiply, the more urgent will become the necessity for God-knowing individuals to form such protective habitual practices designed to conserve and augment their spiritual energies." (*1777:4)
Perhaps Rodan and Brother Lawrence would agree that living in constant communion with God is the paramount spiritual habit. While it can be habitual, inner conversation with God is varied, creative, and ever-experimental. If mortals can communicate in a thousand and one ways, then the shadings of inner dialogue possible between God and man must be well-nigh infinite. Prayer, worship, thanksgiving, reflection, adoration, inspiration, guidance, contemplation, support, and clarification are but a few of the communication paths which wind their way through the vast inner regions of companionshipwith God.
Brother Lawrence describes the options with such sweetness. "God requires no great matters of us: a little remembrance of Him from time to time; a little adoration; sometimes to pray for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, and sometimes to return Him thanks for the favors He has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles, and to console yourself with Him the oftenest you can. Lift up your heart to Him, sometimes even at your meals, and when you are in company; the least little remembrance will always be acceptable to Him. You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we are aware of ... Accustom yourself, then, by degrees thus to worship Him, to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time in the midst of your business, even every moment, if you can."
The most important step in developing the habit of unbroken communion is to begin, and begin often. Start expressing yourself inwardly at every opportunity. You will forget repeatedly; but each time you recollect, plunge in again. Speak simply, as a child. Ask questions and listen inwardly for response. Share the events of your life with the Father, from the large and pressing questions and challenging relationships, to the small happenings of the day. Pause; allow him to show you his view of them.When you are alone, it is often helpful, at first, to talk out loud to God; it aids in developing the mental focus necessary for effective inner dialogue. Practice maintaining the inner conversation while in the midst of outer activities, and even during conversations with others. Life activities and relationships take on a new shine, a value lustre, when you share them inwardly in unfolding friendship with the Father.
The URANTIA Book is clear in stressing the priority of developing our inner relationship with God. "I cannot but observe that so many of you spend so much time and thought on mere trifles of living, while you almost wholly overlook the more essential realities of everlasting import, those very accomplishments which are concerned with the development of a more harmonious working agreement between you and your Adjusters. The great goal of human existence is to attune to the divinity of the indwelling Adjuster. . ." (*1206:3)"
The great challenge to modern man is to achieve better communication with the divine Monitor that dwells within the human mind." (*2097:2)
Brother Lawrence, in his humble, human way, utters the same call. "Pray remember what I have recommended to you, which is, to think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone.You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you; why, then, must God be neglected? Do not, then, forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this the glorious employment of a child of God. In a word, this is our profession; if we do not know it, we must learn it."
Xerpi
