© 2015 Georges Michelson-Dupont
© 2015 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
In the new edition of the Link, we invite you to explore some concepts from the Urantia Book in an interactive way, a bit like a study group. Questions on a given theme will be asked with a list of readings suggested to answer them.
These questions will also be posted on the forum and those who wish will be able to exchange their points of view. For a first attempt we have chosen the following theme which will be spread over four issues of the Link.
The Inevitable Injunction
¶ Introduction to the study.
FOR us mortals, the final goal of time is perfection. The means to achieve this goal is to “do the will of the Father.” This involves not only God providing us with the evolutionary means to achieve this goal but also revealing His will to us through personal and epochal revelations. In return, we must willingly agree to cooperate wholeheartedly with the Divine to actualize perfection.
In this Link, we will examine what the authors of The Urantia Book reveal to us about the means and methods of God’s plan of perfection; how God reveals his will to us through a fragment of himself in each of us; and how the life of Jesus can inspire us on the path to perfection.
In the January 2016 Link we will further our investigations to understand what these divine gifts are, how they work in us, the importance of seeking to “do the will of the Father”, the extent of our free will and its responsibility with regard to our “first duty and supreme ambition”.
In the April 2016 Link we will attempt to understand what “doing the will of the Father” means and its implications in our daily lives by observing how Jesus effectively made it manifest during his life on Urantia.
In the September 2016 Link we will conclude this study on the advice given by the authors to work further towards the unification of our will with that of the Father and the contributions that other spiritual helpers from our local universe bring us in order to gradually become like God.
¶ Introduction to the second period
Although it is not possible within the framework of this study to consider in detail all the divine endowments, it is good to be able to examine them succinctly. Without a doubt our Thought Adjuster and our personality are the most fascinating. The authors of the Urantia Book are very clear, these endowments come from our Universal Father in Paradise, which is why they are perfect in actuality or in the process of actualization. Our mind, described as “the arena of choice” is the material interface which allows us, among other things, to become conscious of the levels of reality. It is an endowment of the Mother Spirit of the local universe of Nebadon. Finally, our soul is a creation of morontia substance, our passport to eternity.
All these divine gifts can only encourage us to wholeheartedly devote our will to doing the will of our generous Father and this is indeed our first duty.
Question 1: Read the following sections: UB 5:3.7-8; UB 107:0; UB 108:0,1,5; UB 111:2; UB 112:7; UB 0:5.11; UB 1:7.6; UB 16:8; UB 0:5.8; UB 16:6; UB 16:5; UB 42:12; UB 115:1; UB 36:5; UB 5:5; UB 16:8.6; UB 100:2-3; UB 117
Our Father desires to share his perfection and love with each of us, personally, by endowing us with a piece of himself, “the will of God in the far-off universes” (1:3:6). The Urantia Book reveals that not only is he the will of God in us, but he has many other missions to accomplish.
What do you think they are?
Question 2: Read the following sections: UB 0:5.11; UB 1:7.6; UB 16:8; Optional:112
Personality and the free will associated with it have never been explained with such clarity and depth as in The Urantia Book. It would be presumptuous to undertake an exhaustive study of what the authors have to say on the subject, nevertheless we can explore the main points. On the subject of free will Jesus said to Ganid: “It is the possession of such powers of spiritual discrimination and choice of truth that makes mortal man a moral being, a creature endowed with the attributes of spiritual responsibility and the potential for eternal survival.” (UB 130:2.8)
What are the fundamental characteristics of the human personality and in what circumstances of life is our free will exercised?
Question 3: Read the following sections: UB 0:5.8; UB 16:6; UB 36:5; UB 42:12; Optional:UB 111:1; UB 115:1
The description of the mind in The Urantia Book is quite different from those of psychology, psychiatry or medicine, which are too often confused with the brain. A Mighty Messenger tells us: “Mind universally dominates matter, just as it in turn responds to the ultimate overcontrol of spirit. And, in mortal man, only the mind that freely submits to the direction of spirit can hope to survive mortal existence in space-time as an immortal child of the eternal spirit world of the Supreme, the Ultimate and the Absolute: the Infinite.” (UB 42:12.15)
Describe the innate characteristics and functions of the human mind.
Question 4: Read the following sections: UB 36:5; UB 5:5; UB 16:8.6
The Urantia Book describes different, progressive levels of consciousness: awareness, self-awareness, and God-consciousness.
What are the characteristics and role of each of them?
Question 5: Read the following sections: UB 100:2-3
To a learned Greek who asked a question about the soul, Jesus answered: “The soul is that portion of man which reflects his self, which discerns truth and perceives spirit; it forever elevates the human being above the level of the animal world.” (UB 133:6.5) The Urantia Book explains the birth and growth of the soul.
In your opinion, what are the conditions for the growth of the soul and what determines its survival?
Question 6: Read the following sections: 117
The first and second periods ultimately reveal that everything we have comes from the Universal Father and his associates. What we are and what we want to become is what we offer Him in return. “When a man devotes his will to do the will of the Father, when a man gives to God all that he has, then God makes that man more than he is.” (UB 117:4.14)
Why is this inescapable injunction “our first duty and our highest ambition” and what are the repercussions on the universal level.
The third period will be published in Link No. 73 of March 2016