© 2021 Kaye Cooper
© 2021 The Urantia Book Fellowship
The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of our Local Universe Mother Spirit, a gentle, yet powerful, stream of her spiritual energy, mercy, patience, love, and wisdom. Our Universe Mother Spirit fosters our ascension through the universe in many ways, through her angels and the adjutant mind-spirits, for example. But her direct personal ministry comes to us through the Holy Spirit.
She is the co-creator of this universe and the vast family who lives here. She is the mate, the partner, of our Creator Son, who incarnated on our planet as Jesus of Nazareth. Because Jesus lived as a person on this planet, it is easy for us to imagine our Creator Son. Because The Urantia Book reveals so much about his life, it is easy to know Michael of Nebadon. I love to imagine myself as a small child sitting on Jesus’ lap while he tells a story or talks to me personally. That experience in imagination helps me feel close to Michael through the Spirit of Truth.
We do not have a human demonstration of our Mother Spirit to help us know her. In fact, outside of The Urantia Book , we have heard very little about her. But we do have a way to experience her and come to know her, because she establishes direct contact with us through the Holy Spirit—her personal presence. Just as our consciousness of the Spirit of Truth enhances our experience of relationship with Michael, so the Holy Spirit gives us an experience of the presence of our Mother Spirit. We have already experienced her. We just may not have realized that our sense of spiritual presence was our Mother Spirit.
Imagination is given to us for the purpose of connecting spiritually and growing closer to God. Let’s use our imaginations to help us get a sense of our Mother Spirit. Think of the most amazing, unselfish, generous mother you can imagine. Imagine her encouraging her one-year-old toddler son to walk. She calls to him. She reassures him by standing close. She reaches out with her hand and gives him a little bit of help, just enough for him to be successful. He walks a few steps. The child is so proud of his accomplishment. His mother praises his efforts. The child beams and grins ear to ear.
As you enjoy this image, feel the mother’s presence—her love, her patience, her wisdom, her pleasure in her beloved child. Feeling our Mother Spirit is similar. Feeling her presence is possible through contact with the Holy Spirit; and we have been in continuous contact with the Holy Spirit since about the age of five.
We mortals can personally know the Infinite Spirit—the third person of the Trinity—because we can actually experience her goodness and generosity as she “functions as the Holy Spirit” in each local universe. [UB 9:2.5]
We can experience both our Universe Mother Spirit and the third person of the Trinity, because the Infinite Spirit is actually present as our Mother Spirit. Each Local Universe Mother Spirit is a divinity attenuation of the Infinite Spirit. An attenuation is a stepped-down form of the original, so each Mother Spirit is a version—the essence—of the Infinite Spirit.
The Infinite Spirit and the Mother Spirits exude the Motherliness of God. We can see that in the way the Holy Spirit interacts with us. The Infinite Spirit and the Mother Spirit display all the qualities that we recognize as the characteristics of an ideal mother. They love us no matter what. They are warm and welcoming as we turn to them. They laugh with us and delight in our discoveries. They cheer us on as we take our first spiritual steps. They teach us and guide us as we learn and grow. They are patient and encouraging, kind yet firm. They^ are constantly supportive yet allow us to learn by experience. To consciously experience our Mother Spirit is to be drawn closer into the arms of God! That is one of the wonderful benefits of seeking a relationship with the Motherliness of God.
Our Mother Spirit, along with many other children of the Infinite Spirit, is intensely involved in the “practical affairs” of our daily lives. In fact, we are told to “work out the details” of our lives with these motherly aspects of God. [UB 5:3.5] If you have noticed the hand of God in your ordinary daily life, you have probably recognized the Holy Spirit at work. The Spirit leads us. One of the reasons I think it is important that we pay more attention to her work is this: by becoming aware of what our Mother and her daughters do in our lives and how they work with us, we can better cooperate with her and strengthen her influence on our spiritual growth and development.
“The Holy Spirit is partly independent of human attitude and partially conditioned by the decisions and cooperation of the will of mortals. Nevertheless, the ministry of the Holy Spirit becomes increasingly effective in the sanctification and spiritualization of the inner life of those mortals who the more fully obey the divine leadings.” [UB 34:5.5]
So…
The possibility of receiving help with my daily life interests me tremendously! I am committed to God, my Heavenly Parent. I want to make this great voyage through the universes from material child to morontia being, to spirit, and on to Paradise. I ask to be led. I listen for the Spirit of Truth to tell me the way at each crossroad.
But I want to take a step further. I want to bring God into my life in each moment of my life. This constant communion will enable me to become more like my spiritual parents! I want to respond to each situation in my ordinary life the way Jesus demonstrated for us. I want to be Godlike in each of my reactions to life.
The Urantia Book talks about our “enlightened spiritual consciousness” as being concerned “with discovering the truth of living, the good and right technique of reacting to the ever-recurring situations of mortal existence.” [UB 101:9.5] That is what our Mother Spirit and her daughters work to help us do. They help each of us to react to life in a God-like way. They encourage each of us to become the spiritual person we are destined to become—a beautiful and gracious child of the God of all universes. At any time when we face a decision large or small in daily life, we are face-to-face with an opportunity to seek the Holy Spirit and follow the guidance of our Mother Spirit. Challenges are always opportunities to learn and grow.
The more we learn how our Mother teaches us through all of her children, the easier we can make their work. And the more we will blossom and grow into the persons we were created to become! It is very much to our advantage to learn how to cooperate with her.
There is one more reason I think it is important to get to know our Mother through her Holy Spirit. Religion passes through three phases as it matures on a planet.
Primitive human beings made little effort to put their religious convictions into words. Their religion was danced out rather than thought out. Modern mortals have thought out many creeds and created many tests of religious faith. Future religionists must live out their religion, dedicate themselves to the wholehearted service of the brotherhood of humankind. It is high time that human beings had a religious experience so personal and so sublime that it could be realized and expressed only by “feelings that lie too deep for words.” [UB 99:5.9]
It seems obvious that the writers of The Urantia Book put most of the religionists on our planet into the second category—thinking out religion. I see no reason why we, as individuals, cannot move on to the third category of religion—living out our religion, dedicating ourselves to the wholehearted service of the family of mortals.
The Infinite Spirit is the universal expert on service. Her whole life and ministry is service, a great deal of it focused directly on us mortals! If we feel a call to service, we can be sure our Mother (i.e., the Infinite Spirit, our Mother Spirit, the seraphim) is somehow involved in initiating this experience.
Everyday life is filled with service opportunities. [See the box “Serving in Everyday Life” nearby for examples.] Serving as we pass by is more than occasionally responding to a need when you happen to see it. It is being aware of our environment, being alert to catch every opportunity presented to us.
Our Mother’s seraphim work tirelessly to put us into situations where we are invited to be of service to others. That is a big part of their job! Living our religion calls on us to pay attention to these service opportunities of everyday, ordinary life, and to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Through the Holy Spirit we invite God into our decisions and actions. That is sharing our inner lives with God. That is doing God’s will.
“The doing of the will of God is nothing more or less than an exhibition of creature willingness to share the inner life with God” [UB 111:5.1]
Being useful in service to others stimulates our spiritual growth and contributes to the spiritual health of those we serve. Think about how it changes us when we become constantly aware of the opportunities for service with which we are surrounded! Our internal lives are transformed. Our priorities change. We pay attention to being of service…all the time. And joy blooms in moment-to-moment life. Jesus promised “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” [UB 34:6.13] and [UB 137:8.1] Joy is the result of serving. I invite you to get acquainted with our Mother Spirit through her Holy Spirit and accept the abundant help she gives us to live our religion.
Our Universe Mother Spirit’s seraphim work tirelessly to put us into situations where we are invited to be of service to others:
Don’t dismiss the importance of responding to these service opportunities because they so commonly occur. We just need to pay attention, open ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and act with love in our hearts.