© 2024 Éric Martel
© 2024 Urantia Association of Quebec
Eric Martel
Joliette
Hello friends! In 2018 and after thirty years of reading and studying the Urantia Book I realized that I had never been interested in worship. I read this word, worship, but I paid no attention to it even though it is found everywhere in the Book. I ended up understanding that I had prejudices against worship. I saw worship as something part of the old religions. A kind of submission to an authority like institutional religions. I tried to find another word that would suit me better like contemplation, admiration, wonder, etc. But in vain.
In my determined desire to understand what worship was (initially intellectually) I used the search engine and collected the passages from the Book that speak of worship. I added remarks and questions in blue. I began this process on a personal basis, but recently a friend suggested that I publish it.
Worship is rather indefinable, but what it does is not and can be experienced.
[Jesus]… The secret of his incomparable religious life was this awareness of the presence of God; he attained it through intelligent prayers and sincere worship… UB 196:0.10 This is the model to follow to be more and more aware of God even if we are not told how to do it precisely because it is personal for each of us. I leave aside prayer, but it is interesting to see what the prayer was for Jesus in this same paragraph.
There is absolutely no self-request or other element of personal interest in true worship; we simply worship God for what we comprehend him to be. Worship asks nothing and expects nothing for the worshiper. (UB 5:3.3)
We do not worship the Father because we can gain something from this veneration.
Yet in several other passages we are told what worship does for us. We ask for nothing, but we receive much. When you think about it, one does not preclude the other.
As for our conception of what He is, we who have The Urantia Book can be said to be fortunate.
The worship experience consists in the sublime attempt of the betrothed Adjuster to communicate to the divine Father the inexpressible longings and the unutterable aspirations of the human soul—the conjoint creation of the God-seeking mortal mind and the God-revealing immortal Adjuster. (If our adjuster communicates our desires and aspirations, then he communicates what we want?) Worship is, therefore, the act of the material mind’s assenting to the attempt of its spiritualizing self, under the guidance of the associated spirit, to communicate with God as a faith son of the Universal Father. The act of the mind approving its spiritualizing self. Human self, or the soul? In my opinion, both. (UB 5:3.8)
. . . The mortal mind consents to worship; the immortal soul craves and initiates worship; the divine Adjuster presence conducts such worship in behalf of the mortal mind and the evolving immortal soul. True worship, in the last analysis, becomes an experience realized on four cosmic levels: the intellectual, the morontial, the spiritual, and the personal—the consciousness of mind, soul, and spirit, and their unification in personality. (UB 5:3.8)
Here it is said that the mind, of which we are conscious, only consents to worship, that the soul, of which we are not fully conscious, longs for worship, and that the Adjuster directs that worship. All that is required is to consent and take time for worship, and there our volitional mental action ends.
Sincere worship connotes the mobilization of all the powers of the human personality under the dominance of the evolving soul and subject to the divine directionization of the associated Thought Adjuster. The mind of material limitations can never become highly conscious of the real significance of true worship. Man’s realization of the reality of the worship experience is chiefly determined by the developmental status of his evolving immortal soul. The spiritual growth of the soul takes place wholly independently of the intellectual self-consciousness. (UB 5:3.7)
So worship goes beyond our mental capacities and our consciousness, here we are not in understanding, knowing or knowing. But we can live the experience of worship.
Prayer is self-reminding—sublime thinking; worship is self-forgetting—superthinking. Worship is effortless attention, true and ideal soul rest, a form of restful spiritual exertion. (UB 143:7.7)
In the practice of worship if we try to understand and analyze what is happening, we are making efforts and especially not resting.
At the evening conferences on Mount Gerizim, Jesus taught many great truths, and in particular he laid emphasis on the following: (UB 143:7.1)
Worship—contemplation of the spiritual—must alternate with service, contact with material reality. Work should alternate with play; religion should be balanced by humor. Profound philosophy should be relieved by rhythmic poetry. The strain of living—the time tension of personality—should be relaxed by the restfulness of worship. The feelings of insecurity arising from the fear of personality isolation in the universe should be antidoted by the faith contemplation of the Father. . . (UB 143:7.3)
Worship is intended to anticipate the better life ahead and then to reflect these new spiritual significances back onto the life which now is. Prayer is spiritually sustaining, but worship is divinely creative. (UB 143:7.5)
Worship is the technique of looking to the One for the inspiration of service to the many. Worship is the yardstick which measures the extent of the soul’s detachment from the material universe and its simultaneous and secure attachment to the spiritual realities of all creation. One receives inspiration, the soul detaches itself from the material and attaches itself to spiritual realities. (UB 143:7.6)
As prayer may be likened to recharging the spiritual batteries of the soul, so worship may be compared to the act of tuning in the soul to catch the universe broadcasts of the infinite spirit of the Universal Father. (In the original English text, for accorder, the word tuning is used, which means to tune) (UB 144:4.8)
Jesus . . . did exhort his believers to employ prayer as a means of leading up through thanksgiving to true worship. (UB 146:2.15)
16. Jesus taught his followers that, when they had made their prayers to the Father, they should remain for a time in silent receptivity to afford the indwelling spirit the better opportunity to speak to the listening soul. (UB 146:2.17)
It is when the human mind is in an attitude of sincere worship that the spirit of the Father speaks best to men. We worship God through the help of the indwelling spirit of the Father and the illumination of the human mind by the ministry of truth. Jesus taught that worship makes the worshiper more and more like the being he worships.
Worship is a transformative experience through which the finite gradually approaches the Infinite and ultimately attains its presence.
We receive help from the Father’s spirit and illumination through the ministry of truth. The experience transforms us and we eventually attain His presence.
Prayer is indeed a part of religious experience, but it has been wrongly emphasized by modern religions, much to the neglect of the more essential communion of worship. The reflective powers of the mind are deepened and broadened by worship. Prayer may enrich the life, but worship illuminates destiny. The reflective powers of the mind deepen and widen through worship. Worship illuminates destiny. Wow! (UB 102:4.5)
[Rodan] This worshipful practice of your Master brings that relaxation which renews the mind; that illumination which inspires the soul; that courage which enables one bravely to face one’s problems; that self-understanding which obliterates debilitating fear; and that consciousness of union with divinity which equips man with the assurance that enables him to dare to be Godlike. The relaxation of worship, or spiritual communion as practiced by the Master, relieves tension, removes conflicts, and mightily augments the total resources of the personality. And all this philosophy, plus the gospel of the kingdom, constitutes the new religion as I understand it. Worship brings us relaxation, renews the mind, inspires the soul, removes fear, provides assurance, relieves tension, eliminates conflict, and powerfully increases the sum of the personality’s resources! ReWow! (UB 160:1.12)
[Rodan] The effort toward maturity necessitates work, and work requires energy. Whence the power to accomplish all this? . . . Look to your Master. Even now he is out in the hills taking in power while we are here giving out energy. The secret of all this problem is wrapped up in spiritual communion, in worship. From the human standpoint it is a question of combined meditation and relaxation. Meditation makes the contact of mind with spirit; relaxation determines the capacity for spiritual receptivity. And this interchange of strength for weakness, courage for fear, the will of God for the mind of self, constitutes worship. No need to add anything! (UB 160:3.1)
Religious habits of thinking and acting are contributory to the economy of spiritual growth. One can develop religious predispositions toward favorable reaction to spiritual stimuli, a sort of conditioned spiritual reflex. Habits which favor religious growth embrace cultivated sensitivity to divine values, recognition of religious living in others, reflective meditation on cosmic meanings, worshipful problem solving, sharing one’s spiritual life with one’s fellows, avoidance of selfishness, refusal to presume on divine mercy, living as in the presence of God. Does worship help us solve problems? (UB 100:1.8)
[Rodan] When these experiences are frequently repeated, they crystallize into habits, strength-giving and worshipful habits, and such habits eventually formulate themselves into a spiritual character, and such a character is finally recognized by one’s fellows as a mature personality. 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. (UB 160:3.2)
. . . Kingdom builders must be undoubting of the truth of the gospel of eternal salvation. Believers must increasingly learn how to step aside from the rush of life—escape the harassments of material existence—while they refresh the soul, inspire the mind, and renew the spirit by worshipful communion. (UB 156:5.12)
Your personalities may be refreshingly diverse and markedly different, while your spiritual natures and spirit fruits of divine worship and brotherly love may be so unified that all who behold your lives will of a surety take cognizance of this spirit identity and soul unity; (UB 141:5.2)
. . .in fact, such a consecration of creature will constitutes man’s only possible gift of true value to the Paradise Father. In God, man lives, moves, and has his being; there is nothing which man can give to God except this choosing to abide by the Father’s will, and such decisions, effected by the intelligent will creatures of the universes, constitute the reality of that true worship which is so satisfying to the love-dominated nature of the Creator Father. So doing God’s will is synonymous with worship. (UB 1:1.2)
While sojourning on mansonia number seven, permission is granted to visit transition world number seven, the world of the Universal Father. Here you begin a new and more spiritual worship of the unseen Father, a habit you will increasingly pursue all the way up through your long ascending career. So why wait until you get to the mansion worlds to experience worship? (UB 47:9.2)
Two years ago I joined a Zoom worship group on the US side.
Every Sunday morning we meet (25 to 30 people) to worship as a group.
The session leader slowly reads a passage from The Urantia Book, followed by 5 to 10 minutes of silence or music conducive to meditation and worship. Another short passage from the Book, and so on.
Most participants turn off their cameras during the session. Shortly before the end, there are 7-8 minutes dedicated to sharing for those who wish. So what is the difference between worshiping alone or in a group? Certainly even in a group we worship personally and individually, but there is a unique energy that is difficult to describe. I believe it is the union of souls. Also I would not be surprised if our invisible friends join us and worship with us.
- Worship leaders
Worship is the highest privilege and the first duty of all created intelligences. Worship is the conscious and joyous act of recognizing and acknowledging the truth and fact of the intimate and personal relationships of the Creators with their creatures. The quality of worship is determined by the depth of creature perception; and as the knowledge of the infinite character of the Gods progresses, the act of worship becomes increasingly all-encompassing until it eventually attains the glory of the highest experiential delight and the most exquisite pleasure known to created beings. (UB 27:7.1)
It is the task of the conductors of worship so to teach the ascendant creatures how to worship that they may be enabled to gain this satisfaction of self-expression and at the same time be able to give attention to the essential activities of the Paradise regime. Without improvement in the technique of worship it would require hundreds of years for the average mortal who reaches Paradise to give full and satisfactory expression to his emotions of intelligent appreciation and ascendant gratitude. The conductors of worship open up new and hitherto unknown avenues of expression so that these wonderful children of the womb of space and the travail of time are enabled to gain the full satisfactions of worship in much less time. (UB 27:7.4)
. . . The mode of worship on Paradise is utterly beyond mortal comprehension, but the spirit of it you can begin to appreciate even down here on Urantia, for the spirits of the Gods even now indwell you, hover over you, and inspire you to true worship. (UB 27:7.5)
True religious worship is not a futile monologue of self-deception. Worship is a personal communion with that which is divinely real, with that which is the very source of reality. Man aspires by worship to be better and thereby eventually attains the best. (UB 196:3.22)
The exquisite and transcendent experience of loving and being loved is not just a psychic illusion because it is so purely subjective. The one truly divine and objective reality that is associated with mortal beings, the Thought Adjuster, functions to human observation apparently as an exclusively subjective phenomenon. Man’s contact with the highest objective reality, God, is only through the purely subjective experience of knowing him, of worshiping him, of realizing sonship with him. (UB 196:3.21)
The great challenge to modern man is to achieve better communication with the divine Monitor that dwells within the human mind. Man’s greatest adventure in the flesh consists in the well-balanced and sane effort to advance the borders of self-consciousness out through the dim realms of embryonic soul-consciousness in a wholehearted effort to reach the borderland of spirit-consciousness—contact with the divine presence. Such an experience constitutes God-consciousness, an experience mightily confirmative of the pre-existent truth of the religious experience of knowing God. Such spirit-consciousness is the equivalent of the knowledge of the actuality of sonship with God. Otherwise, the assurance of sonship is the experience of faith. It is through worship and prayer that one becomes more and more aware of God within oneself. Who would not want to become more aware of God in their religious experience? (UB 196:3.34)
Religion is only an exalted humanism until it is made divine by the discovery of the reality of the presence of God in personal experience. (UB 195:10.1)
Religion is designed to find those values in the universe which call forth faith, trust, and assurance; religion culminates in worship. Religion discovers for the soul those supreme values which are in contrast with the relative values discovered by the mind. Such superhuman insight can be had only through genuine religious experience. (UB 195:5.8)
. . .Thinking man has always feared to be held by a religion. When a strong and moving religion threatens to dominate him, he invariably tries to rationalize, traditionalize, and institutionalize it, thereby hoping to gain control of it. By such procedure, even a revealed religion becomes man-made and man-dominated. Modern men and women of intelligence evade the religion of Jesus because of their fears of what it will do to them—and with them. And all such fears are well founded. The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, Do we want to be transformed? (UB 195:9.6)
¶ Some thoughts.
We are fully equipped for worship! We have a personality, a mind, the adjutant of worship, a soul, an Adjuster, and the Spirit of Truth. Jesus/Michael is the master of worship and He lives in us. If we are having difficulty in our worship, we can invite the Spirit of Truth to participate in our worship.
Worship isn’t really complicated, it’s more the idea we have of it that sometimes is.
We are aware of what we focus our attention on. This applies to God too.
It is not absolutely necessary to isolate oneself in silence to worship. One can walk and worship at the same time.
We can worship for 2-3 minutes here, 2-3 minutes there. What I call microworships.
In worship free will is at work; one must decide to do it.
In the practice of worship, one should not worry about whether one is successful. 99% of success is in doing it.
The practice of worship does not necessarily mean a state of wholeness or grace, although it can happen.
The real result of worship is not necessarily seen when we worship, but rather in how we feel, sense, and act day to day.
When we worship, if worship turns to prayer, well, we pray and that’s very good.
When you’re trying to worship and thoughts come and go, that’s okay. To God, the Adjuster, it’s the motive that counts. Either way, you’re spending time with God.
Worship is receiving strength and energy.
It is a spiritual and mental recharge.
It’s connecting to God.
It is letting yourself be transformed by God.
It’s a moment of relaxation.
It is being in the presence of God.
It is a communion with God.
Worship is not an extraordinary state.
It is a transitional state between the material and the morontial that can be experienced.
The more we practice worship, the more God reveals Himself to us.
Worship is inviting God into your life.
Worship is sharing your life with God.
Worship is gratitude in action.