© 1991 Annette Crawford
© 1991 The Fellowship for readers of The Urantia Book
Study Group Notes Assembled by Annette Crawford, Denver, Colorado
Ed. Note: This study may require two study group sessions to complete (depending on the length of discussion that accompanies the reading.) It deals with the central question of what we have to work with in our partnership with God and what it is that we are co-creating. We find ourselves in God’s reality, but not part of it, until roe actually partake of it. Becoming real is the job at hand. “Herein is the Father Glorified: that the vine has many living branches, and that every branch bears much fruit.” UB 180:2.1
Page Numbers: | Begins/Ends with: | |
---|---|---|
UB 0:5.10 | 4. Soul/ascension. | |
Here, early in the Foreword, the individual’s responsibility to use mind in cooperation with the Adjuster to mother their own immortal soul is first indicated. | ||
UB 156:5.3 | It was/and divine. | |
Jesus used his own craft of carpentry in a parable to teach the futility of attempting to evolve a noble character of spirit nature without first being born of, and then taught and led by, the spirit. We can spend much time and effort conforming to self-imposed rules and controlling our outer selves - but we can only build a foundation for eternity by developing eternal values from the inside out. Jesus reminds us that the jointly created soul is a living growth. The individual’s mind and morals are the soil from which our divine character of infinite destiny grows. | ||
UB 49:4.8 | Mind is/much alike. | |
The Infinite Spirit bestows mind. Throughout the broad cosmos all mortal mind is similar and mortal careers after death are also similar. | ||
UB 49:5.1 | But mortal/material mind. | |
But mortal mind without the spiritual transformation provided by the Thought Adjuster cannot survive. | ||
UB 9:5.7 | Mind, on/of humility | |
So we can see that our minds need the guidance of the spirit if they are to be relied upon to build an eternal soul. As is also indicated in: | ||
UB 195:7.7 | The partially/his logic. | |
UB 86:2.3 | The primitive/of quality. | |
UB 12:9.6 | Mortal man/identity. | |
UB 101:9.6 | The enlightened/conduct. | |
As we grow in enlightened spiritual consciousness, we become more concerned with discovering the truth of living — the truly good and right ways to respond amidst the diverse social anc intellectual challenges of daily life. | ||
UB 16:7.1-10 | 7. MORALS/in heaven. | |
These are the dynamics of moral and virtuous living along with the resources and endowments provided mortals to enable them to carry out these “performances”. The words “performances” and “directed” in defining moral acts, seem to add emphasis to the word conduct - and remind us we are characters in the play of our lives as we live out the roles of our assignment. | ||
UB 118:8.2-7 | 8. CONTROL AND/self-contiol. | |
In time and space our freewill is fenced in by natural restraints and limits. As we transcend time and space, wisdom must be our guide. | ||
UB 100:4.2 | 4. Problems/problem solving. | |
UB 132:2.3-6 | My brother/like him. | |
UB 130:2.7-10 | This was/creative. | |
Will = The deliberate choice of a self-conscious being leading to decision-conduct based on intelligent reflection. Human will making temporal decisions on material problems devoid of moral meanings and spiritual values is operating on an animal level. Will enables the human mind to experience the wonder of aspiring to be Godlike. | ||
UB 100:1.5-9 | The soil/superconsciousness. | |
If you tell a gardener the soil type necessary to grow tomatoes or roses or african violets or herbs, the gardener knows that various plants need different kinds of nutrients for healthy growth. If he is a serious gardener, he will test the soil and make the necessary adjustments to provide the best soil for the plant he is growing. | ||
Here, several ingredients of the soil necessary for religious growth are carefully described. | ||
And we water this garden with whole hearted devotion to supreme values; dedicated to doing the will of the Father in Heaven. | ||
The religious habits recommended in UB 100:1.8 form an “Eight Fold Path” for religious growth. Each of the eight is worth a topical study. | ||
UB 111:1.4-9 | Material mind/human intellect. | |
This reading pulls no punches in stating the awesome responsibility we have in using our minds to either eternalize or destroy ourselves. This powerful and poetic statement makes it clear that all we really have that is subject to our will is mind. And this mind of ours is just a temporarily loaned intellect system. | ||
The surrender of our will to God is an active, not passive, choice to cooperate with the adjuster’s leading when that leading consciously differs from the desire of the natural mortal mind. | ||
UB 143:2.7 | Salvation is/love of God. | |
As our knowledge of our salvation and our real peace with God mature, our spirits are regenerated and we become masters of ourselves and of our flesh. We then truly consider it a privilege to cleanse ourselves from body and mind evils and seek perfection in the love of God. | ||
UB 101:6.8 | Revelation teaches/morontia worlds. | |
It is indicated that we must provide the adjuster something to work with. These are the “self-possessed ideas” that the Adjutant Spirit of Wisdom can transform and the Adjuster can Spiritize, making these concepts available for living out under the guidance of the Spirit of Truth. Thus is a righteous character developed: "the prerequisite for mortal admission to the everexpanding and increasing spiritual realities of the morontia worlds. | ||
The careful reading of this paragraph reveals a working relationship of the divine ministry laboring in our behalf and with us. It comes as close as any in expressing our ability to escape the dead level of temporal existence by use of mind. And this point is aptly followed by this next reference on page: | ||
UB 117:5.14 | What man/brotherly service. | |
And this is the result of our working in concert with our divine friends and making spiritually illuminated decisions! | ||
UB 1:0.5 | Urantia mortals/God-consciousness. | |
We may not ever be infinitely perfect, but we can, in fact, be humanly perfect - as we are now and here. | ||
UB 1:3.7 | In the/God-consciousness. | |
Mortal mind in service only to the material world will become more and more material and will eventually suffer personality termination. | ||
Survival is achieved by so adjusting the human will and transforming the mortal mind so the God-conscious intellect can be spirit-taught and spirit-led. |