© 1975 Emma L. Christensen
© 1982 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
Greetings to the Soldiers of the Circles! This designation has been applied to us because we are the men and women who have been called to take the first steps in offering a new light to a frustrated church and a distracted world. We are the first light in nearly 2,000 years to illuminate the path of deliverance from the chaos, confusion, and darkness of the present planetary dilemma.
But we are not soldiers bearing arms. We bear the good news of man’s sonship with God — our Heavenly Father. W are entrusted with a great and unique responsibility — the custody, safeguarding, and dissemination of The URANTIA Book. The carrying out of this responsibility will require of all those who would take it up: self-discipline, dedication, and extraordinary efforts at co-operation. So may we all be valiant Soldiers of the Circles, wholeheartedly enlisted in the ranks of those mortals who shall go forward in the battle for truth against error under the unfaltering leadership of the mighty seraphic corps,
“… (Our) mission among men is to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom — the reality of the fatherhood of God and the truth of the sonship of man. (We are to) proclaim the whole truth of the good news, not just a part of the saving gospel … Sonship with God, by faith, is still the saving truth of the gospel of the kingdom. (We) are to go forth preaching the love of God and the service of man. That which the world needs most to know is: Men are the sons of God, and through faith they can actually realize, and daily experience, this ennobling truth. (Michael’s) … bestowal should help all men to know that they are the children of God, but such knowledge will not suffice if (we) fail personally to faith-grasp the saving truth that (we) are the living spirit sons of the eternal Father. The gospel of the kingdom is concerned with the love of the Father and the service of his children on earth.” (UB 193:0.4)
Let all mankind benefit from the overflow of our loving spiritual ministry, enlightening intellectual communion, and uplifting social service; but none of these humanitarian labors, nor all of them, should be permitted to take the place of proclaiming the gospel. These mighty ministrations are the social by-products of the still more mighty and sublime ministrations and transformations wrought in the heart of the kingdom believer by the Spirit of Truth and by the personal realization that the faith of a spirit-born soul confers the assurance of living fellowship with the eternal God.
Let me remind you that we are in the greatest business on this planet. I call it “this business of finding God.” In “this business of finding God,” we have been called torch-bearers. Let the torch shine brightly for we have much work to do. For this is our world and what happens in it is ours for the making.
We are afforded the opportunity of playing a significant part in helping Urantia take its place among the enlightened worlds of Satania. We are in the vanguard of the movement which shall gradually make each of us one with the enlightened cosmic citizenry of our local universe. The events of our unusual little planet constitute it of unique value to this universe. Our mission is, therefore, far more than global in its significance.
We are in the business of making this a better world. Why not strive to make this the best world in all Satania? Jesus lived here. What a pleasure it would be for him to know that this is the goal we have chosen for ourselves.
Picture just a moment the whole panorama of the planetary stage whereon we are now to play our part. To begin with, our planet is an experimental one, certain experiments having succeeded, others having failed. It had been assumed that certain of these failures would be offset by the normal epochal revelations of a planet. However, the Caligastia upheaval and the Adamic default further complicated and compounded what were already unusual problems. Ours is a long history of planetary savagery and retardation. The accumulated mortal propensities were even sufficient to thwart, dilute, and submerge beneath the evolutionary wave the teaching: of a Melchizedek Emergency Son and the Sovereign Creator of our universe. In this spiritually confused environment, “… the aims of the best overshadowed by the drift of the worst …” "a fortuitous set of circumstances made possible the launching of the fifth epochal revelation. (UB 111:7.5)
This has been our past. What is the future? It lies in our hands. The URANTIA Book, containing a restatement of the life and teachings of the greatest revelation of God to man possible, can eventually direct civilization from its present low status to the very threshold of the unimaginable ages of light and life.
This is why we are called Soldiers of the Circles. We are called to do this. We are called to begin this work. It will take generations upon generations to complete this work, but we must start it. Time must necessarily intervene between the planting of a seed, its growth to maturity, and the harvesting of its fruits. Therefore, let us not be impatient, but let us plan our work wisely and well. Let us adopt a perspective of thousands of years not just our short lifetime. I do not believe that there is a group in this world charged with a more solemn responsibility than ours. We who have dedicated our lives to the service of the URANTIA revelation can little realize the import of our doing. We are just beginning the great work and we, who are the seed-sowers of today, may live and die without fully realizing the potentials of our participation in this dawning of a new age of religion on our planet. We are pioneers in a new planetary adventure. We have a solemn obligation.
Love is the great, infectious power by which the transformation will take place. The love of God and the love of man are the simple truths which will guide the new religious era, the great motivators which will enable us to do our task. The consciousness of sonship with God quickens the entire life service of every man, woman, and child who becomes the possessor of such a mighty stimulus to all the inherent powers of a human personality. Love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. If each mortal could only become a focus of dynamic affection, this benign virus of love would soon pervade the sentimental emotion-stream of humanity to such an extent that all civilization would be encompas5ed by love, and that would be the realization of the brotherhood of man. The simple truths of the love of God and the love of man can unify the religions of the world and bring together in appreciative harmony the religionists of the world filled as it is with diversity in culture, language, background, and experience.
One important lesson we must learn is trustworthiness, confidential capacity. Jesus often admonished his apostles, “See that you tell no man.” Our great responsibility consists in becoming so saturated with the truths of this revelation that all persons coming in contact with us will feel that we are truth lovers and spiritual explorers, that we are cosmic citizens engaged in the fascinating adventure of searching for God and dedicated to the supreme passion of doing his divine will.
In the battle of truth against error, we have simple but effective means to begin to nullify the consequences of the Caligastia rebellion and the Adamic default. It was the plan that Adam and Eve would establish many outposts of light throughout the planet and it has occurred to me that perhaps our societies and URANTIA Book study groups will, in some measure, compensate for the miscarriage of the Adamic plan by becoming such outposts of light and truth.
This is the kind of thing that is now possible on our world. We must stop thinking of ourselves as a backward and wayward planet which has lost its way, and begin to see ourselves in the light of the new truth we have as the mortal home of our sovereign Son, Michael of Nebadon.
Our task is a tremendous one and cannot be accomplished in one generation, but we must prepare the soil, sow the seeds for the future harvest. We regard The URANTIA Book as a feature of the progressive evolution of human society. The book belongs to the era immediately to follow the present ideological struggle.
Each of us has a part to play in the immediate re-organization of human society. And it is work — hard work. But it is also an adventure. And the rewards of adventure are manifold and the taste of real adventure is grand and glorious. The possibilities for service are diverse and challenging. There is an endless supply of areas of endeavor which can readily employ the efforts of the spirit-led sons and daughters of God.
Challenges both large and small are waiting to be accepted. On a global scale they include, to name just a few:
On a more personal but not less important scale are:
To love God and strive to do His will.
To love our fellowmen as Jesus loved them.
To be a good son or daughter in an earthly family.
To be a wise an loving mate and parent. To be a loyal friend.
To participate in local government as an individual.
To assist in the visitation and care of the elderly, the sick and the infirm, and
Even to work to keep our streets clean.
Of course, there are many more areas wherein we may each now participate. We needn’t sit back asking why “they” don’t do this and “they” don’t do that. We can become involved personally now.
But let us lovingly caution one another that in so becoming involved, we forever keep before us the mission of our societies and study groups — spiritual upliftment. We must avoid giving up our ultimate spiritual mission as we individually become involved in the worthy and necessary activities of the realm.
Let us be about our Father’s business. The hour is striking for each of us as individuals intelligently to contribute to the re-organization of the world in our respective spheres. We know what could be done. It is up to us to do it. Our planetary history is filled with great individuals of past eras, men and women who have acted rightly, courageously, and joyously in accordance with our Father’s will. And these individuals, known and unknown to the pages of planetary history, are the leaders who have accounted for the mortal part of what progress has been made. Every person here today could similarly aspire to mobilize his or her personality potential to the service of our Father in heaven and to the satisfaction of his Creator Son in the many tasks we have at hand.
Ours is a transcendent privilege. I don’t believe we fully realize that we are participants in the birth of a new age of religion on our planet. As a friend so often says, “Only transformed individuals can create a transformed world.” Remember, this is our world — our planet — and we are not just casual observers of an epochal drama. We are an important part of it. The eyes of the universe are upon us, each and every one of us, as we actively play our part in this new era. Let us ever be alert to the importance of the extraordinary responsibility — truth — which has been placed in our hands.
We have our marching orders. We must go to work in our respective spheres. Let us be patient. Let us be wise. Let us seek good counsel and proceed with group wisdom. And in doing so, may we have every ounce of the bold, courageous, joyous, righteous, and ebullient spirit that our own Creator Son of Nebadon displayed when he was here, Good humor and the smile of happiness are among the most powerful and influential of the human assets of religion propagation.
We may be few in number now. Some of us may even feel isolated in our respective spheres. “ … (But) those who would see wonderful things must often be ready to travel alone.” And “while he who walks in love may wander far,” in truth, we always know the real end of our quest.
In the words of Jesus, “You see for yourselves that the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Let us all, therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest that he send forth still more laborers into his fields.” (UB 150:4.1)
“Having started out on the way of life everlasting, having accepted the assignment and received your orders to advance, do not fear the dangers of human forgetfulness and mortal inconstancy, do not be troubled with doubts of failure or by perplexing confusion, do not falter and question your status and standing, for in every dark hour, at every crossroad in the forward struggle, the Spirit of Truth will always speak, saying, ‘This is the way.’” (UB 34:7.8)
August 1, 1975