© 1993 Irene Borutta
© 1993 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
Irene Borutta, Melbourne
With great interest I have been following the ongoing legal wrangles between the Urantia Foundation and Kristen Maaherra. As often happens in prolonged disputes, both sides are polarising, creating more division instead of coming any nearer to a solution.
What purpose does this whole situation serve? The gradual breakdown of the cohesion of the Urantia movement. This would seriously effect the beautiful truth this book proclaims. Religious experience is only valid as a living experience, a knowing of God as our Universal Father and a knowing of God in our divine self as in all our brothers and sisters. With this realisation, Jesus is our greatest inspiration of a God-conscious life, lived with total dedication and devotion in unbroken communion with the heavenly Father.
As we partake of his life as he lived it on earth, as we ponder his teachings and try to integrate them in our own lives, the closer we get to him.
By opening our hearts and listening to his words we see many present day situations in a new light.
“_The new kingdom which my Father is about to set up in the hearts of his earth children is to be an everlasting dominion. There shall be no end of this rule of my Father in the hearts of those who desire to do his divine will. I declare to you that my Father is not the God of Jew or gentile.
The power of this kingdom shall consist, not in the strength of armies nor in the might of riches, but rather in the glory of the divine spirit that shall come to teach the minds and rule the hearts of the reborn citizens of this heavenly kingdom, the sons of God. This is the brotherhood of love wherein righteousness reigns, and whose battle cry shall be: Peace on earth and good will to all men. This kingdom, which you are so soon to go forth proclaiming, is the desire of the good men of all ages, the hope of all the earth, and the fulfillment of the wise promises of all the prophets._” (UB 140:1.2-3)
“Your message to the world shall be: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and in finding these, all other things essential to eternal survival shall be secured therewith. And now would I make it plain to you that this kingdom of my Father will not come with an outward show of power or with unseemly demonstration. You are not to go hence in the proclamation of the kingdom, saying ”it is here“ or ”it is there“, for this kingdom of which you preach is God within you.” (UB 140:1.5)
It is the actual experience of the divine presence within our own being which makes us feel like apostles “proclaiming the good news”. This kind of experience can come in many ways: in a ditch by the roadside, in a family crisis or totally unexpected out of the blue. This baptism of the spirit has a mighty effect on most people. It can work out in many different ways.
We may turn to some existing religion, we may be inspired to write uplifting, helpful books, we may be a source of strength for the people around us.
There are many possibilities. All the good flowing from these activities are the fruits of the spirit which is beautiful and uniting. Sometimes it happens that people become so enthusiastic about what they have found and experience to work so well for them as individuals, that they think the whole world would change for the better if many more people would have this experience. When this proves not so easy to get across, it is the means and ways to achieve the aim that gets the attention.
When we decide to co-operate with God, accept him in our lives, allow him to become part of our lives, we will find all type of assistance on our path fostering our spiritual growth.
When people feel very strongly about achieving their aim, unfortunately it sometimes happens that this kind of situation leads to downright fanaticism. Fanaticism, as is well known, can lead to violence. Over the ages and down to the present day we see the enormous costs in human suffering that this attitude has created. What started out as a beautiful experience has, after so much distortion, little left. Reading religious books, being revelations or not, will not in itself help us find God. It is the crying out, the longing for, that makes God reveal himself somewhere along the line. When we decide to co-operate with God, accept him in our lives, allow him to become part of our lives, we will find all type of assistance on our path fostering our spiritual growth. If we have created any problems in our lives we find the creative approach to solve them. We are all endowed with special talents that can be utilized in service and if we truly want to be apostles, our special line of work will gradually reveal itself. The URANTIA Book is an astounding book but let’s keep a balanced view on distribution and protection. Let us keep in mind what is truly at stake and that is: a demonstration of the living, dynamic religion which Jesus exemplified, by us as individuals.
“Salvation is the free gift of God, but those who are born of the spirit will immediately begin to show forth the fruits of the spirit in loving service to their fellow creatures. And the fruits of the divine spirit which are yielded in the lives of spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace. If professed believers bear not these fruits of the divine spirit in their lives, they are dead; the Spirit of Truth is not in them; they are useless branches on the living vine, and they soon will be taken away. My Father requires of the children of faith that they bear much spirit fruit. If, therefore, you are not fruitful, he will dig about your roots and cut away your unfruitful branches. Increasingly, must you yield the fruits of the spirit as you progress heavenward in the kingdom of God. You may enter the kingdom as a child, but the Father requires that you grow up, by grace, to the full stature of spiritual adulthood. And when you go abroad to tell all nations the good news of this gospel, I will go before you, and my Spirit of Truth shall abide in your hearts. My peace I leave with you.” (UB 193:2.2)