© 2000 Larry Mullins
© 2000 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
The Garden of Eden fascinates a large number of Urantians. From my own perspective, having far less religious training in my youth than most people, the story of the Garden was relatively uninteresting. This has changed in recent months. A friend and fellow Urantian, Behzad Sarmast, passionately began to tell Joan and I about his research and discoveries into the legends and myths that are rooted in the true Urantian story of the Garden. He disclosed some astounding things. Virtually every civilization has a version of the Garden story, with threads that reach into the distant past and then seem to fade away and disappear. The parallels between these legends are uncanny.
Under the sponsorship of The Urantia Book Fellowship, Behz has completed a preliminary manuscript about the Garden, its aftermath, and its abiding legacy as human myth. The scope and originality of Behz’s work is a remarkable achievement, fully documented and richly illustrated.
The centerpiece of the sacred myths is remarkably similar, “Behz” explained to us. A heroic god and a beautiful goddess miraculously appear on our planet (populated but still in a savage state), and teach humankind the arts of civilization. Behz can make a very convincing case that one of science’s most perplexing mysteries can be explained by the Adam and Eve revelation as depicted in the Urantia Papers. Scientists know that thirty-five thousand years ago there was an astounding upsurge in human evolution, and the Cro-Magnon humanoid (modern man) suddenly emerged as we know it today. Under the sponsorship of The Urantia Book Fellowship, Behz has completed a preliminary manuscript about the Garden, its aftermath, and its abiding legacy as human myth. The scope and originality of Behz’s work is a remarkable achievement, fully documented and richly illustrated.
Yet, Behz told me, there still remains an immense amount of research to be done on the subject of the Garden and the history of Adam and Eve. One evening, not long ago, his eyes aflame with excitement, Behz said that a “hundred scientists could spend a hundred years following the threads in the Urantia Papers and never complete the task.” I turned this remark over in my mind several times. Then, as luck would have it, another Urantian said almost the same thing to me about an entirely different theme in The Urantia Book.
A day or so later, my wife Joan brought up her favorite subjects: prayer, worship, service and the inner life. Joan can get very excited about the significance of these factors. To her it is very clear: the Urantia Papers tells us that “Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it.” Next, the Papers tell us: “The secret of his unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship — unbroken communion with God.” Taken together with: “Worship is the highest privilege and the first duty of all created intelligences,” it is clear that we need to spend a great deal more time cultivating our inner lives.
What is the most efficient way to achieve enlightenment? Through meditation? No! Joan quotes the book again: “The contact of the mortal mind with its indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by devoted meditation, is more frequently facilitated by wholehearted and loving service in unselfish ministry to one’s fellow creatures.” Joan believes we have a clear and persuasive series of admonitions. So, much of Joan’s outreach consists of persuading people to take the time to cultivate their inner lives with prayer and worship.
Joan augments her study of the inner life with books such as “The Spiritual Guide” (Molinos), “The Seeking Heart” (Fenelon), and “Practicing His Presence.” (two books in one — Laubach and Lawrence). The remarkable thing about these books is that all but Frank Laubach’s were written in the 17th century. Yet they all interface wonderfully with the teachings in the Urantia Papers. Joan says there was such a rich treasure of information in the Urantia Papers about prayer and worship, we could not exhaust it a hundred years. Naturally, Joan’s comment made me think about what Behz had told me.
Then, I began to consider my own favorite parts of the Urantia Papers. The concept of values as presented in the Papers came to mind. The information about values is so original and intriguing I have spent years on it and have not scratched the surface. The meta-values of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness are valuable to me when I work with business management. Although the concept of God cannot be presented in most business situations, the concept of meta-values can. Truth, Beauty and Goodness easily translate to modern business concepts of integrity, excellence, and benevolence. It happens that experts now believe that virtually every business built to last must address these core values. Integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness are table stakes in modern business. Next, Beauty translates into self-expression, or excellence. To succeed in business today, you must be superior in how you perform. Finally, benevolence, the “people element” is requisite to success in business. You must genuinely respect, appreciate and acknowledge all people-including customers, associates, vendors and stockholders.
Yet I have not come close to using much of the information in the Urantia Papers. The Urantia Papers carry the concept of values beyond the common parameters of philosophical thought. There is so much information there, and it is so condensed, that a single lifetime could not begin to explore it. My point in all of this is the idea that each of us has at least one segment of, or a theme of, The Urantia Book that we find especially engrossing. We love to think about it, and we enjoy talking about it. Your own favorite may translate into modern terms and you may be able to link with common ideas to reach people with your own special knowledge from the Papers.
The Urantia Papers carry the concept of values beyond the common parameters of philosophical thought. There is so much information there, and it is so condensed, that a single lifetime could not begin to explore it
Consider that David Zebadee was the first spiritual Internet. How can we expand upon his noble service in these days of turmoil and confusion? The feminine component of God may interest you: how can that factor be presented to the benefit of young women in the Urantia Movement? Imagine what a service it will be if you could translate the Rodan Papers into a modern philosophy of practical living! Whatever parts of the Papers are of special interest to you, think about ways to present them in an original and creative outreach effort. “The religion of the spirit leaves you forever free to follow the truth wherever the leadings of the spirit may take you. And who can judge-perhaps this spirit may have something to impart to this generation which other generations have refused to hear?” (UB 155:6.5)
So many Urantians may answer this question, “Who, me?” Abraham Maslow liked to challenge his college classes by saying: “Who in this room is going to be the next great leader, or writer, or scientist, or artist, or poet?” After a few moments of embarrassed silence, with no sound but a few muffled giggles, he would then ask: “If not you, then who?”