© 2005 Chris Ragetly
© 2005 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
| Proposal of a reading method | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 33 — Spring 2005 | The search for God is the search for his three values: truth beauty goodness |
“Notwithstanding that God is an eternal power, a majestic presence, a transcendent ideal, and a glorious spirit, though he is all these and infinitely more, nonetheless, he is truly and everlastingly a perfect Creator personality, a person who can “know and be known,” who can “love and be loved,” and one who can befriend us; while you can be known, as other humans have been known, as the friend of God. He is a real spirit and a spiritual reality.” (UB 1:5.8)
Here we come back to the faculty that we all have to love God, to be loved by him as individuals. If he loves us individually, it is because he knows us well, even intimately (his Thought Adjusters keep him informed), but to know God well, (we do not have a Thought Adjuster who inhabits God, do we?) we must have recourse to faith.
As I explained in a previous article, living faith is this spiritual reality that allows us to cross the immeasurable abyss that separates us from God the Father. Our knowledge of God is evolving, it is done little by little during our personal ascension towards Paradise. But as the Father, He knows us well, by sharing our experiences, with time and habit we come to know Him better; therefore to love Him better, because we cannot know God without loving Him. It is a mysterious constant but deep down, it is of a logic that is both subjective and objective. I think that the intervention of faith is part of this constant.
Under these conditions, each of us can be known “…as the friend of God, as other humans have been…” (UB 1:5.8). When I first came across this statement, the immense curtain that hid the Father from me was torn. Knowing that one can be the friend of God gave my faith (which was, it must be admitted, rather shaky) a boost that I did not expect. The Urantia Book offers us from time to time unexpected boosts. I am sure that similar opportunities will present themselves during our ascension. What more can be said when one knows that a person can become the friend of God? A complete trust is then activated. This is where discernment comes in handy, how to discern such a quality. I do not believe that a person can become God’s friend until he is a finaliter, (at present we are all potential friends of God) because before you can become someone’s friend, not only must he know you well, but you must know him well. To achieve such knowledge, the completion of our ascension will not be amiss. God “…is a real spirit and a spiritual reality.” (UB 1:5.8) In our present state, I do not believe it is possible to know well the most real spirit or the most real spiritual reality in all creation. Besides the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, there will be many other real spirits to know before we know the real spirit of God. It is not worth mentioning those mentioned in The Urantia Book, for I am sure there are many more that are not revealed to us. Just having this goal before us, that of one day being known as the friend of God, is an incentive that can only satisfy and edify people who share our convictions.
C. M. Ragetly
| Proposal of a reading method | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 33 — Spring 2005 | The search for God is the search for his three values: truth beauty goodness |