© 2000 Carolyn Kendall
© 2000 The Urantia Book Fellowship
Excerpts from the address presented at the observance of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Urantia Foundation, Chicago, IL, Saturday, March 18, 2000
Someday on a bright tomorrow we, or our descendants, will awaken to the startling news that somewhere on our planet a majestic Paradise personality has arrived. He will be accompanied by twelve stately personalities visible to every citizen of our material existence. And if this were not sufficient cause for joy and thanksgiving, an even more astounding event will be transpiring—unseen by human eyes—but described in luminous detail by our new friends. Thus will the dispensational adjudication and resurrection of the sleeping souls of the Bestowal Son age occur. It will be conducted by the heralds of resurrection who have long been resident on our world. As the new dispensation is proclaimed, another group of Paradise beings will take up residence and begin planning the age to follow the new age: the stage of light and life. On that wondrous tomorrow, yet another being, familiar and fatherly, will grace our presence for an all too brief time among his mortal brothers and sisters. As that long day comes to an end, he will make ready to leave, but not before we savor one last moment in his gracious presence. We will hear again his inspiring admonition to proclaim the Fatherhood of God and the son and daughtership of the Father’s worldwide family.
A fantasy? Yes. But only in the sense of timing. These visitations will indeed occur, but we do not know when. How we envy our descendants who will surely be alive to see and hear such things!
Four thousand years ago Machiventa Melchizedek came to Urantia. His mission was to prepare the way for the bestowal of the Creator Son of our universe of Nebadon, Christ Michael, Jesus of Nazareth. Machiventa reintroduced the concept of the one God to the people of his day. Many new religions evolved through the efforts of his missionaries, including, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Taoism and Judaism.
Michael arrived on our world in 7 B.C. His primary mission was to achieve the sovereignty of his universe through experiential knowledge. Our world was the seventh and final bestowal in which he put on the cloak of one of his universe creatures. On Urantia he assumed the likeness of humanity, the lowest form of universe personality. Jesus taught us about the Heavenly Father, and demonstrated to the Father the highest example of humankind.
The Urantia Book, the fifth epochal revelation, in its brief 45-year history, has accumulated fanciful legends surrounding its origin. It was not brought to earth by aliens in space ships. It did not materialize in a locker in Detroit. It was not found in a bank vault in Chicago. This revelation was unique in its manifestation; its origin was truly mysterious, and events accompanying it were legendary, but it was not launched upon the world as an orphaned entity—set adrift, without plan, purpose or direction.
On UB 21:5.9, the book states: “A Master Son may at will vary the order of the spiritual adjudication and evolutionary adjustment of the inhabited planets.” He can make and carry out plans of his own choosing particularly regarding the worlds of his bestowals, “and still more concerning the realm of his terminal bestowal.” It was Michael himself who approved the prototype. The Word made Book.
This may or may not be an emergency revelation like Melchizedek’s. Unlike his day, the God concept is alive and well. The Urantia Book seeks to remedy the losses of the Dalamatian culture of the Planetary Prince, the first epochal revelation 500,000 years ago, which was lost in rebellion and disloyalty. It reintroduces the biologic principles of the Adamic bestowal, the second great revelation, 37,000 years ago, another loss due to the default of its two principal bestowal personalities. The Urantia Book is the precursor to even greater events to bless our planet sometime in the future.
One might think of the revelators and planetary overseers as operating backstage in a great theater. There are directors and managers who are subdued now, but whose voices were not so silent in the past. There are stagehands, and sound and light technicians. After the script was drafted, the playwrights spent upwards of twenty years polishing the lines and ensuring that the human actors rehearsed, learned their cues, and trained their understudies.
There is a high purpose to this epochal drama, and it’s clearly presented in the script itself. The world will not come to an end. The planet will not be consumed in fire, nuclear or otherwise. Satan and Lucifer will not claim our errant population. Caligastia will not control our minds and souls. There is a much better plan in store for us all.
Jesus promised that “an enhanced demonstration of righteousness” and “an enlarged revelation of truth” will be sent by the Father. (UB 176:2.3) This demonstrator of righteousness will either be an Avonal Son, or the Trinity Teacher Sons, or all three bestowal beings at once: an Avonal, Trinity Teachers and Michael himself on a return visit. We are promised in the book that these visitations will occur; there is no doubt about them. While it is highly doubtful any of us will live to witness them, we do have important work to do in future years preparing for this coming extravaganza.
It’s time to ponder the wisdom of the men and women whose concepts infused the revelation. Thousands of religionists and philosophers were drawn upon to enhance our comprehension of core truths. The sources are significant because they demonstrate the value of human evolutionary thought. The revelation won’t take hold until the majority of the world’s people evolve to a level of readiness for these ideas. There have been setbacks. World War II put us back philosophically, while science and technology progressed rapidly. The world’s people are slowly refocusing upon higher values and more spiritual pursuits. Our task is to encourage, to enhance, and to uplift civilization.
Emma L. Christensen (Christy) shared some heartening information in her 1967 address to the Second Triennial Delegate Assembly. “I have heretofore reminded you that the celestial supervisors of Urantia are mobilizing small groups of spirit-led men and women throughout the world—among all nations—and these truth battalions, these selectmen, are concerned today with scores of vital enterprises which have to do with the rehabilitation of the world following the ending of the present distressing conflicts.”
“And of all of the emergency corps of mortal select-men on Urantia, none is charged with a more solemn obligation than our group. We have been called to do a great work of taking the first step in offering to mortal man a new light, a new revelation, of the love of God. The easy jog-trot religion of former days no longer suffices to meet the challenges of today. Following Jesus’ way of life calls for an act of complete commitment, a dedicated intention, a resolute purpose, a trumpet call to a life that will not compromise.”
The Urantia Book points in shame at the follies of past revelawrs and their disciples. What will future revelators say about the servers of the Urantia revelation? Our mission is to help pave the way for the next bestowal Son. We cannot make progress in the next age while working at cross-purposes. We have no choice but to reignite the quest for unity.
A year ago, in the spirit of working toward unity of purpose, a small group of readers took it upon themselves to search for ways to get the two divergent groups together. The Millennium Initiative was born in March 1999 with ten people who represented various viewpoints. They met to debate the issues that separated the readership, and to consider the kind of organization that would appeal to both Fellowship and IUA members, as well as to readers having no affiliation. By June the group expanded to twenty, and an Alliance was unanimously proposed. The committee delegated the presidents of IUA and the Fellowship to take the idea back to their respective organizations. The Fellowship’s General Council voted to support the Alliance. But before the vote, and before further progress could be made, a member of the Fellowship’s leadership published the Part IV of The Urantia Book in a separate volume. IUA was disappointed in the Fellowship’s reaction to this infringement of Urantia Foundation’s copyright, and further progress stalled.
Many people are not concerned about the notion of having a multiplicity of separate organizations dedicated to the dissemination of The Urantia Book. Nevertheless, too many groups performing the same services for the same people are competitive, wasteful of money, engender suspicion of each other, and confuse the public.
One of the things we will have to think about is the kind of organization that will serve us best when— not if— but when the two member groups unify. Sooner or later the Fellowship and IUA will have to find a way to integrate their functions.
A merger could be negotiated, but such entities seldom work. The Millennium Initiative Committee considered building a new organization from the ground up, incorporating workable features of both groups. What Americans must remember is that there are major differences between American-designed organizations and what is appropriate and useful for international readers.
The main problem is not whether two existing membership groups can combine. Any new entity will have to work in a lateral, equivalent, relationship with Urantia Foundation. The original plan for the two Urantia organizations made sense. Both Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood were charged with disseminating the book and its teachings. One group, the Foundation, was to be small, autocratic, self-perpetuating, and had just a few important functions: Publish the book, translate the book and protect the book. There were no stipulations in its trust document or bylaws as to how to disseminate the book and its teachings; there was no structure and no provision for membership. The other organization, the Brotherhood, was to be the membership group, to be democratic, and to function as the outreach agency. They coordinated all aspects of studying, teaching, and meeting.
These were spelled out in the Constitution. Although the Trustees started the Brotherhood, this was never intended to he a parent/child relationship. It was to be complemental and cooperative. Everyone understood the reasons for having separate organizations with their division of labor_ One group was to be responsive to the will of the majority—political; the other had to be free of political pressures. Between 1955 and the mid-70s neither side encroached upon the other’s prerogatives.
In the same vein, we must work cooperatively toward achieving one version of The Urantia Book and its translations. Believers are confused by the concept of “inviolate text” when there are successive printings incorporating textual changes. We must not compound their confusion by putting out new printings of less than high quality, or with new mistakes. The last series of changes that were approved by the revelators were in the version published prior to the death of the last contact commissioner. One of the ideas behind the Foundation’s diligent maintenance of the marks was so that they will be used to identify the genuine Urantia Book after the copyright expires. If there are multiple versions, which is the genuine revelation?
The Urantia Book promises that “sooner or later another and greater John the Baptist is due to arise proclaiming ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’—…” (UB 170:5.19) and we are assured that someday a great religious teacher will arise to espouse the teachings of The Urantia Book. When a great human teacher arises, wisdom will be required to not turn over the reigns of administrative control to this one individual. Leadership must continue to be diffused, not concentrated in one person, whereas an inspirational, dynamic teacher can turn lives upside down, and bring many souls to the Father.
It might be useful to think about where our true loyalties and priorities should be placed both on the institutional and the individual, personal levels. First the organizational level. The first president of Urantia Brotherhood, William S. Sadler, Jr., addressed these matters in his report to the First Triennial Delegate Assembly. “The Urantia Book is not an End in itself. The Brotherhood is not a true End; they are Means to an End.” “The only true End is the Universal Father.” Dedication to dissemination—the propagation of The Urantia Book—is, according to Mr. Sadler, a secondary loyalty. “Our primary spiritual loyalty and dedication is to the Universal Father, and to him alone. A sectarian Urantian is one who has allowed the importance of The Urantia Book to take precedence over the importance of God. The Brotherhood [today’s Fellowship] and IUAI, and the Foundation were designed to disseminate the book; the book is designed to bring God and man closer together.” He summed up by saying, “If we can clearly separate Means and Ends, if we can always subordinate Means to the true End, then we shall continue for a very long time as a real Brotherhood, and we shall avoid becoming merely another church or another sect in the world…; a world that needs neither a new church nor a new sect.”
Carolyn Kendall has been a reader since 1951, and was a member of the Forum, along with her parents, brother and husband, Tom. She is currently the president of the First Society of Chicago and a member of the Fellowship Publications Committee.