© 1997 Ken Glasziou
© 1997 The Brotherhood of Man Library
The Urantia Book describes, in detail, God’s plan for the ascending evolutionary mortals of time to finally make it to Paradise. Here we provide a short summary about that marvelous journey which commences with our birth as beings only marginally more advanced than the animals. But there is a major difference—we are provided with the precious gift of a mind capable of both self-awareness and of making a moral decision.
For most of us that first moral decision occurs at about the age of five. Incredibly, it is the signal for the arrival of a fragment of God himself. Perhaps this is the more remarkable because this fragment of God actually volunteers to become our full partner in the journey to eternity. And that despite having complete prior knowledge of our truly lowly spiritual and intellectual potential for making a journey that requires us to attain perfection.
The first part of the journey is crucial in that we are expected to make a free will choice to seek to do the will of God that, ultimately, we may become like God. In his talk series, Bill Sadler once reminded us that we Urantians have a hurdle to jump and that the height of the cross bar depends largely on what we know and understand. If we are in full possession of the facts, the height of the bar goes up and up in order to correspond with our level of understanding. For those who are in possession of The Urantia Book, who have read it, assimilated its content, and understood its message, the bar is set far higher than, for example, an illiterate Palestinian street urchin who has been taught that Allah will reward him with guaranteed bliss if he contrives to kill or injure an Israeli soldier by throwing stones.
The book tells us that the faintest flicker of faith assures us of a second chance to make that requisite free will choice when we arrive at the next stage of our journey, the location we know as the Mansion Worlds. The book states:
“Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith. He takes note of the physical and superstitious emotions of the primitive man. And with those honest but fearful souls whose faith is so weak that it amounts to little more than an intellectual conformity to a passive attitude of assent to religions of authority, the Father is ever alert to honor and foster even all such feeble attempts to reach out for him. But you who have been called out of darkness into the light are expected to believe with a whole heart; your faith shall dominate the combined attitudes of body, mind, and spirit.” (UB 155:6.17)
For those Urantia Book readers who have taken this faintest flicker of faith phrase as a guarantee of survival, it may be advisable to take a close look at the last sentence of the above quote.
A requirement for kingdom-seekers is that they seek to do the will of God. A question having merit is whether it is possible to be part-time doers of the will of God. Can we complacently assess ourselves as qualifying for mansion world admittance because we do the will of God for, say, 90% of our time. A parallel example might be fidelity to one’s spouse. Should our spouse be satisfied with the way we honor our marital obligations if we are faithful for 90% of the time—or even 99% of the time? Would a reciprocal performance from our spouses be acceptable? Most law courts of the Western World would score us a zero for even a 99% fidelity performance. So are the heavenly courts more generous?
It is worth noting that some believe that it is not possible to be a part-time doer of the will of God, that any purposeful and continued disregard of what we, in our hearts, really know is God’s will for us means that our disobedience is total, that we are simply attempting to fool God by accepting some of his requirements while going our own way when God’s will does not suit our intentions or purposes. If this be so, perhaps we might actually be unfortunate in having a Urantia Book to instruct us.
But let’s take the optimistic view and assume we make it through to the Mansion Worlds, that we have arrived on Mansion World number 1, a satellite of one of the seven spheres that encircle our local system headquarters known as Jerusem. The general layout of Jerusem and functions for the mansion worlds are:
Having made it safely through the mansion worlds, we then become eligible for Jerusem citizenship and a short holiday before we make our next move to the training worlds of our constellation of Norlatiadek. There we commence a rigorous socialization training in which we must learn to live and work happily with both similar and dissimilar beings.
This course will be no piece of cake, but after graduating from training world #70, we are received as a resident of the constellation headquarters named Edentia. At the “Assemblies of Paradise,” a supreme trinity-origin personality, a Faithful of Days, enlightens us about further aspects of our universe careers. All of this is to prepare us for the next move which is to our local universe headquarters at Salvington.
The physical arrangement at Salvington appears to be a standard one for other training locations—a central sphere encircled by 70 primary spheres, each having 6 satellites, making a total of 490 spheres. Together these make up the spheres of spirit progress that constitute the Melchizedek University. On arrival, we take up residence on the Melchizedek pilot world. Our seraphic guardians will be there on hand to help keep the anxiety level under control. Then, wonder of wonder and marvel of marvels, at the conclusion of our stay, our personal guardian will take us to stand face to face with Jesus of Nazareth, the Michael Son who is both sovereign of all Nebadon and God to his created children.
We are now classified as a first-stage spirit being, which sounds grandiose, but we may be reminded that, once again, we are “bottom rung-ers”—for this is the bottom rung of that long ladder of spiritual ascent to the Universal Father on Paradise.
Our next stopover is at Ensa, a minor sector of the superuniverse of Orvonton. There, on the seven study worlds, we will carry out experiments and studies of a physical and material character to do with the activities of the Master Physical Controllers and the Supreme Power Centers. Those who have an aversion to physics, chemistry, maths, and such like will take comfort in knowing that we pass through only one group of the minor sector training spheres. We also get introduced to the Recents of Days in charge of Ensa before proceeding to the major sector of Splandon.
On advancement to the major sector, we attain the status of a second-stage spirit. Our new duties are dominantly concerned with spiritual preparation for when we graduate to the central universe of Havona. Studies here are primarily of an intellectual nature. Although registered only on the major sector of Splandon, nevertheless we must pass through all ten of the major sectors of Orvonton, and will see all thirty of the Perfections of Days in charge before proceeding to the superuniverse capital, Uversa.
On advancement to Uversa, we qualify at the third-stage spirit level. This headquarters of Orvonton is surrounded by seven higher universities of advanced spiritual training. Each is a cluster of seventy specialized worlds devoted to universe training and spirit culture, and make up the 490 university worlds of the superuniverse. On graduation from these worlds, we proceed to the shores of Uversa from where we depart for Havona and an entirely new and different facet of the ascension career.
The journey to the Havona receiving spheres is always made alone. We are through with the technical and administrative training of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Now begins our personal education, our individual special training.
Throughout all Havona the instruction is threefold in nature: intellectual, spiritual, and experiential. But our first act on Havona will be to recognize and thank our transport seraphim for their loving service and care. After that we meet those who will sponsor our special activities and register our arrival. A time-out period is taken to prepare a message of thanksgiving and adoration to the Creator Son of our local universe who made possible our sonship career. Then comes some time for leisure and for the meeting of old friends.
Initially we are domiciled on the pilot world of the 7th Havona circuit, and are in the hands of the Graduate Guides whose task it is to prepare ascending pilgrims for admission to Paradise. After attaining identity comprehension of the superuniverse Master Spirit, we are advanced to the 6th circle as a fourth-stage spirit and placed under the supervision of the Supremacy Guides.
Attaining a realization of Supremacy qualifies us to be advanced to the 5th circle. The Trinity Guides undertake our instruction on the divine Trinity in preparation for our attempt to achieve personality recognition of the Infinite Spirit.
The 4th Havona circuit is the circuit of the Sons. From here, we make visits to Paradise itself in order to achieve an understanding contact with the Eternal Son. While on this circuit we also achieve a new comprehension of the nature and mission of the Creator Sons.
On advancement to the third circle the pilgrim comes under the tutelage of the Father Guides. The attainment of the Universal Father is our passport to eternity and also heralds our advancement to the status of a fifth-stage spirit.
On the 2nd circle, counselors and advisers begin our preparation for the great and final rest, an inevitable sleep which ever intervenes between the epochal stages of the ascendant career. On completion of the 2nd circle experience, the Graduate Guides issue the order admitting us to the final circle where we are in the custody of the Complements of Rest. Our time is devoted mostly to the study of the impending problems of Paradise residence. Near the end of this sojourn, we meet the Instigators of Rest and complete the preparation for the transition slumber, following which we are eternally resurrected on Paradise.
On Paradise, when we awaken from the transit sleep of time into the new experiences of eternity, we will be greeted by our permanent seraphic guardians who have been our companions from the early days of the universe career. Having been granted residential status on Paradise, we begin a progressive course in divinity and absonity. We must fraternize with upwards of 3000 orders of Paradise citizens and various groups of transcendentalers. And here, on Paradise, we actually “find” God as a person. We are designated as Paradise graduates after completion of a course with the Conductors of Worship. Then, on taking the Trinity oath of eternity, we advance to the level of a sixth-stage spirit and are thereupon mustered into the Mortal Corps of Finality.
As Finaliters, we are assigned on observational and co-operative service to the ends of the far flung creation. The expectation is that Finaliters will become seventh-stage spirits concomitantly with the attainment of God the Supreme.
The ultimate destiny of the Corps of Finality is unknown. Speculation has it that we will attempt to know God as Ultimate, and having attained that goal, we will begin the quest for the Absolute.
It might be a good idea to now read the Section entitled “Conductors of Worship” on UB 27:0.4 of the book in order to get a feel for what this journey is really about. Bon Voyage.
Heaven is not reached by a single bound. But we build the ladder by which we rise.
G. J. Holland