© 2015 Lawrence Schkade
© 2015 The Urantia Book Fellowship
| Sixty-Four Original Urantia Book Concepts | Volume 15, Number 1, 2015 (Summer) — Index | The Importance of Christian Ministry |
“Can you not … recognize that the watchword of the universe is progress? … Throughout all these millenniums Providence has been working out the plan of progressive evolution.” [UB 4:1.2]
Social evolution on our planet, Urantia, is a part of the much larger story of universal progress. Evolving material universes, spheres, species, and societies arise from the disarray of primitive conditions and progress toward ultimate order, perfection. Accordingly, despite humble origin, as a “worm of the dust by nature,” the destiny of humanity is divine, said Jesus. [UB 149:6.9] The social development of humankind on Urantia, the narrative of man’s journey from savage to cosmic citizen, is complex, involving a wide range of issues in multiple disciplines. Accordingly, this overview is limited to selected aspects of societies, for an exhaustive study is beyond our scope and purpose. This essay seeks to relate excerpts from The Urantia Book to applicable ideas and analogies from various disciplines. The views expressed herein are those of a seeker of truth “wherever it may lead.”
In this offering, the term society will refer to the totality of a large group of people who live together in a more or less ordered community. Cultural civilization is equal to “the sum of man’s adjustment” to the demands of life. [UB 68:5.1] An examination of the system-like features of a human society gives insight into aspects of its nature. In the general, a system consists of three or more parts that interact or “arrange” to form an entity that is greater than the sum of the parts. For instance, in preparation for a performance, musicians “warm up” or practice, each playing a different portion of the program. The combined result is disordered noise. But as the musicians begin to perform together with a conductor, they are an organized entity, a system. In function, the individual musicians constitute an orchestra, a system, only when they perform coordinately in rhythm and harmony. Similarly, societies function effectively to the extent that individual citizens choose to contribute cooperatively. Systems abound in other realms. For instance, “The mind is a personal-energy system existing around a divine spirit nucleus and functioning in a material environment.” [UB 12:9.6] On a cosmic level, “There is a precise system . . . which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space.” [UB 49:1.6]
Systems range from being relatively closed to relatively open. A totally closed system exists only in theory. A system is closed if either there is no external environment or no system interaction with an existing environment. An insulated cooler with soft drinks and ice illustrates a relatively closed system. Closing the lid restricts what can go in or out of the cooler. The drinks remain cold for a time, but the ice will eventually melt. As an analogy, a closed mind does not tend to respond to new ideas, limiting its adaptive capacity.
In contrast, living systems are relatively open, e.g., animals, persons, and societies. Such a system interacts with an environment, for it senses change in external conditions and adapts. Resources and information flow in and out across a boundary that separates the system from its environment. Boundaries of systems, such as in society, can be physical, e.g., human body; ideological, e.g., political; conceptual, e.g., theoretical belief; functional, e.g., athletic player ability; markets, e.g., competitive share; etc. Consider an animal as an example of an open system. A tiger scans an area for a source of food, captures prey, and consumes it for nurture (input). The animal also produces outputs, e.g., progeny for species survival; environmental impact, e.g., leaving a carcass on which hyenas and vultures can feed; and interaction with other species in the food chain.
Many systems open or close in response to circumstances. For instance, the tiger in the foregoing example acts as an open system when in search of food, but it performs as a closed system while asleep. Meditation is another instance of closure. The process seeks a deepened state of mind, conscious thoughts and sensory inputs are “tuned out”, and attention is focused on the inner mind. In a third instance, selfishness, one’s mind is closed to the needs of others. In a fourth, selflessness, openness is exhibited by sensitivity to the needs of others (inputs) and attempts to serve them (outputs). Finally, nations that give assistance to other nations, e.g., foreign aid, are relatively open, but nations that are isolationist and uninvolved are relatively closed systems. For example, prior to WW II, the United States adopted a policy of non-entanglement in international affairs. PostWW II American policy opened, e.g., the Marshall Plan, and assisted European nations to repair wartime damages.
While many human societies tend to be relatively open, there are exceptions. For instance, the early Chinese civilization was relatively closed due in large part to its geography. In the modern era, Winston Churchill famously characterized the former Soviet Union as being surrounded by an “Iron Curtain”, because its borders were closed and guarded. North Korea now typifies a society that is essentially closed. With borders closed tightly, severe restrictions are imposed on the entry and exit of people, products, information, etc. Moreover, access to the Internet is rare. The populace is largely uninformed about the external world.
History tells us that, in Greek mythology, Chaos was the name of their most ancient god who personified the infinite disorganized nothingness of space before the creation of the first material objects. Today chaos has multiple meanings. Some synonyms include formless, confused, disordered, unorganized or unavailable. In this presentation, the term chaos will imply significant disarray, not a total lack of order. Chaos can, but not always, suggest an undesirable condition. For instance, illnesses are termed disorders, undesirable deviations from normal conditions. Jesus healed a child who suffered from a grievous nervous disorder.
In science, the extent of randomness (chaos) is expressed by a measure termed entropy. In physical terms, entropy is a measure of how much of the energy in a system is chaotic and unavailable. In that case, entropy is viewed negatively. Remarkably the opposite side of nature’s “entropy coin” offers a positive view of entropy. In contrast, information theory, an approach to the quantification of human communication, entropy is a measure of the potential for discovering information from chaos. Such disorder is measured as entropy and is viewed positively. For instance, discovery involves uncovering indications of order or meaning in an uncertain situation. Trial and error and/or insight can be employed in problem solving to dispel uncertainty or risk and gain knowledge from experience.
As an aside, there are instances of asymmetric mirrorimage pairs in nature other than entropy. Many substances in living organisms have this feature. For example, there are two forms of sugar in fruit and honey, dextrose, and levulose, that are similar in chemical constitution. But when examined by polarized light one is the reverse of the other, rotating the plane of polarization of light in opposite ways. Dextrose is right-rotating and levulose is left-rotating. In literature, Lewis Carroll wrote in The Looking-Glass that Alice wondered, “Perhaps looking-glass milk isn’t good to drink.” Some scientists wonder, was Carroll speculating about adverse results from drinking milk, e.g., a person with lactose intolerance suffers ill effects because of the sugars in milk?[1] In biology, certain snails present asymmetric characteristics analogous to the two fruit sugars above, as some are coiled to the right and others to the left.[2] In social interactions, mortals choose between two asymmetric interests, self or others, whether to be selfish or selfless.
Discovery can be seen in an example of an experimenter using random sampling methods to obtain information about a variable of interest. Statistical analysis can disclose order in the unknown. Sampling results yield summary estimates, e.g., average, dispersion, etc., that enhance learning. Statistical methods have been used extensively in medical research in the development of procedures and medications for treating disorders, e.g., current research is yielding encouraging results for new medications for treating Ebola.[3] Statistical methods, while powerful for making descriptive estimates of groups, have a significant limitation: “Statisticians may announce laws governing a large number of either atoms or persons but not for a single individual atom or person.” [UB 42:7.10]
Decoding a message illustrates discovery. The process deals with randomness as experience is gained while decoding an encrypted message. The method involves the progressive discovery of order that is clouded by the randomness of characters. For instance, an analyst examines a selected coded sequence. Repeated searches for clues are sought in associative meaning in selected pairs or groups of characters. Various matches of characters are made and gradually disclose meaning (order) in the message. The process continues until decoding is complete, maximum information has been obtained, and there is no entropy. Notable historical instances of decoding include the successful decryptions of German and Japanese military messages in World War II that are believed to have shortened Allied campaigns significantly in Europe and the Pacific.
Societal progress evolves as experience is gained, and order is increased in an imperfect world. “We are part of a gigantic creation, and it is not strange that everything does not work in perfection; our universe was not created in perfection. Perfection is our eternal goal, not our origin.” [UB 75:8.6] “Eventually evolution and culture become related as cause and effect.” [UB 81:5.1] In a social sense, chaos infers disorganization and risk. A society is “essentially designed to lessen the risk element in an individual’s mode of living.” [UB 68:2.2] The early races learned, “in union there is strength”. [UB 68:1.1] Progress in ordering primitive society was also enhanced by the formation of families.“Marriage, with children and consequent family life is stimulative of the highest potential in human nature… The family provides for the biologic perpetuation of the human species … Family life is the progenitor of true morality, the ancestor of the consciousness of loyalty to duty.” [UB 84:7.28,30]
However, some attempts toward social adaptation can be counter-productive. The existence of castes curtails “individual development and virtually prevents social cooperation.” [UB 70:8.13] When there are castes a degree of disorder prevails, since interaction between castes is stifled and social progress is impeded. In modern times there is, lamentably, limited interaction between the caste-like financial “haves” and the “have-nots” in many societies, despite the fact that opportunity to serve the needs of others is ever-present. Jesus said, “you have the poor always with you so that you may minister to them.” [UB 172:1.6] Cults have “always retarded social progress.” [UB 87:7.3] “The Christian cult has been devitalized by the loss of many fundamental ideas.” [UB 87:7.4] Christianity has become identified “as part of the social system, the industrial life, and the moral standards of Western civilization . . . The hope of modern Christianity is that it would cease to sponsor” those systems. [UB 195:10.20-21] The societies of Urantia will be transformed by “the revelation of God to the world, in and through Jesus.” [UB 196:3.33]
Acquiring experience in imperfect universes is fundamental in the divine plan. Existential God, the I AM, “cannot personally know imperfection of his own experience,” but does share the consciousness of experiences with imperfection through Thought Adjusters in mortal minds. [UB 2:2.6] Experiential God, the Almighty Supreme, actualizes in response to “the act of the creature’s choosing to do the will of the Creator.” [UB 117:6.1-4] The Supreme wont actualize until “the completion of the realization of all evolutionary experience.” [UB 117:7.1] For that reason, God conceived of imperfect (entropic) worlds on which intelligent creatures could be given free will, experience life, make decisions, and evolve by choosing to participate in a perfecting process. God can self-realize through the life experiences of mortals. The Supreme actualizes as ascending creatures attain Godlikeness through their decisions. Concerning experience we read: “Why should man bemoan his lowly origin and enforced evolutionary career when the very Gods must pass through an equivalent experience before they are accounted experientially worthy and competent finally and fully to rule over their universe domains?” [UB 21:4.6]
By the way, concerning imperfection, physicists tell us that if our universe were symmetrical physically (i.e., laws of physics acting equally in all directions), there would be no “asymmetric lumps” (life forms) in its otherwise perfect symmetry. Without time, “life would not exist as we know it . . . the arrow of time—a broken symmetry—there’d be no future or past, no scientific discovery, no anticipation, and no memory.”[4] This imperfection in our physical universe is an essential aspect of creation. Imperfection reveals purpose in the creation of the material universes. [UB 117:7.14] Consider: If perfect worlds had been created, would there be life, things for mortals to discover, societies to evolve, and decision opportunities for mortals to contribute to the actualization of Experiential Deity? Clearly, the answer is no, for without imperfection, none of the foregoing would have been possible
Order is experienced in a variety of life experiences. For instance, there is order in conformance to set rules, in the logic of mathematics and physics, in proportion and arrangement, in loving intent and action, in spirituality, etc. In our view, a process of ordering can also be seen in a current theory of the origin of our universe. In this theory, chaos reigned in the instant following the explosion of the hypothetical Big Bang.[5] Energy slowed in the primal universe, initiating an ordering process. Multiple natural forces and subatomic particles, named in the “standard model” of physics, appeared. Molecules of matter formed. This ordering, which started as the universe began, enlarged and continues to expand as gravity “reaches out into time-organizing space.” [UB 106:3.5]
The “Creator Son intended man to be the masterpiece of planetary creation.” [UB 4:3.1] Accordingly, special care has been taken to stabilize, fine tune, and maintain order on our planet. In this process, physical factors are controlled within narrow ranges of variation. [UB 58:2] This delicate balancing of factors provides an environment, called a ‘Goldilocks world’ by scientists, that is habitable by mortals. Observations by scientists have revealed that a large number of physical relationships and ratios are critically balanced to enable life to exist on earth. Changes in these variables, however slight, could make it difficult or impossible for life, as we know it, to exist on earth. The crucial and delicate balancing of Urantia’s physical factors leads some scientists to conclude that we live in a specially ordered universe. They are correct. The scientist’s conclusion is known as the anthropic principle.[6] The term anthropic refers to humans. Principle denotes the fine-tuning of vital physical conditions. This principle proposes that the laws, constants and structure of the universe are not arbitrary. Neither is the universe mechanical nor is it mystical. We read that, in reality, dominant divine mind is purposefully in control. The principle also asserts that the stability of more than a hundred variables is not likely to have happened by chance. [UB 58:2.3] The crucial nature of fine-tuning is shown by the following physical effects of imbalance: if our planet’s gravity were weaker, the atmosphere would lose too much water; if the water vapor level were greater, a runaway greenhouse effect would result; and if earth were located in a slightly different position, the night sky would appear to have no stars or else the sky might be so flooded with light that no stars could be distinguished.
Observing order can depend on perspective. Photos of nebulae in outer space, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, have been distributed widely. Many of these photos show what appear to be chaotic collisions and clouds of turbulence. These observations suggest a mortal’s “bottom-up” perception of the universe. According to the divine plan, there is ever “an underlying order and security in the midst of the energy upheavals and the physical cataclysms of the starry realms . . . There is also an organic unity in the universes of time and space which seems to underlie the whole fabric of cosmic events.” [UB 4:1.5,10] We speculate that a “top-down” view, from a higher cosmic perspective, would reveal universal order.
Organizing is a social ordering process. Individuals transform chaos into order in society by aligning their actions. A social group has systemic features, for “human beings in co-ordinated working harmony stands for a force far greater than the simple sum of its parts.” [UB 133:5.6] Moreover, society is a self-organizing, adaptive system. The fact that living organisms are self-organizing was identified in the early eighteenth century.[7] Yet the concept of self-organizing fell into disrepute, because the prevailing philosophy of science was based solely on causation, i.e., cause, effect and prior factors. In contrast, self-organization presumes teleology, the use of an end purpose or telos in explaining phenomena. Aristotle reportedly said, “the acorn sprouted and grew into a seedling because its purpose was to become a mighty oak.” In another instance, teleological reasoning asserts, “we have ears for the purpose of sensing sound.” More recently distinguished scientists have established the validity of self-organization and self-maintenance (autopiesis) in natural and social systems. The concept of self-organization is now recognized widely in multiple disciplines.
Material science employs causal reasoning exclusively and rests on material facts. This mechanisitc philosophy has substantial acceptance in modern society. However, cosmic mind recognizes response on three levels of universe reality: causation, duty and worship. The use of the concept of purpose in teleology is an anathema to causality-focused materialists. In response material scientists ask, “Who says?” and “Whose purpose?” Such questions arise because material facts cannot address a First Cause or an ultimate spiritual purpose. Materialists would do well to follow the causal reasoning of science to “lead the scientist straight back to the first great cause—the Universal Father of Paradise.” [UB 195:6.5] However, such logic will not lead them to realizing God. The realization of the presence of God comes only to those with the “spiritual attitude of a sincere child,” not through facts or logic. [UB 155:6.12] Albert Einstein succinctly stated, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”.[8] Material scientists ask, “What?” whereas religionists ask, “Why.” Our view is that blending the answers to these questions requires supermind (morontia mind) and true scientific reasoning.
“God is . . . the secret of the order, plan, and purpose of the whole creation of things and beings.” [UB 102:7.2] The purpose of finite creation, including the social development of “the material beings of time,” is expressed by the “divine plan of progress: the universal plan for the creation, ascension, and perfection of will creatures.” [UB 7:4.1-2] The mortal ascent of humankind is evidence of purpose in evolution. “Organic evolution is a fact; purposive…evolution is a truth that makes consistent the otherwise contradictory facts.” [UB 102:6.10] The goal of the divine plan is the progressive “realization of the human upreach and the divine and saving downreach.” [UB 102:6.10]
Social evolution is teleological, goal-oriented. “The eternal purpose of the eternal God is a high spiritual ideal. The events of time and the struggles of material existence are but the transient scaffolding which bridges over to the other side, to the promised land of spiritual reality and supernal existence.” [UB 32:5.2] The divine plan supports continuing societal progress, for “spiritual idealism is the energy which really uplifts and advances human culture.” [UB 81:6.27] The ultimate objective of evolution is the achievement of fully ordered social and spiritual status. “The Master came to create in man a new will…the eternal urge to become perfect.” [UB 140:8.32] “Every mortal really craves to be a complete person, to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.” [UB 140:4.11] Accordingly, “_the watchword of the universe is progress. [UB 4:1.2] (underlining added for emphasis) The urge to progress is inherent in life. “In every living plant or animal cell, in every living organism—material or spiritual—there is an insatiable craving for the attainment of ever-increasing perfection … all living things evidence within them an innate striving for perfection.” [UB 65:6.2]
Experiencing is central to progress, the gradual but progressive ordering of evolutionary time-space creation. God initiates the perfecting process by creating imperfect universes and evolving will creatures. The Father’s plan has “predicated finite progress upon effort, creature achievement upon perseverance, and personality development upon faith … has made it possible for finite creatures to exist in the universes and, by experiential progression, sometime to attain the divinity of Supremacy.” [UB 115:7.2] The perfecting process depends on human decisions to do God’s will. [UB 130:2.9] Mortals and societies progress as they are prompted by the urge to become perfect, totally ordered. We are all included in the divine plan of God. “There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan in an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and eternal life. And the infinite treasures of such a matchless career are yours for the striving!” [UB 32:5.7] (bold added for emphasis)
Societal progress on Urantia has a long history. “Social evolution of the co-operative order was initiated by the Dalamatia teachers” hundreds of thousands of years ago. [UB 68:0.3] ”Evolution is a cosmic (divine) technique of growth.” [UB 100:3.7] The earliest human cultures on Urantia progressed through four great stages in their evolution: collection, hunting, pastoral, and agricultural. Land use and population-related issues were major factors in social evolution. “Land is the stage of society; men are actors.” [UB 68:5.1] “All human institutions minister to some social need.” [UB 69:1.1] These institutions are classified as providers of “self-maintenance, self-perpetuation and self-gratification.” [UB 69:1.2-5] The progress of planetary civilization is not uniform, but “all evolutionary spheres progress in certain well-defined directions.” [UB 50:5.2]
In general, the development of civilizations includes the following epochs: “nutrition, security, material comfort, quest for knowledge and wisdom, philosophy and brotherhood, spiritual striving and light and life.” [UB 50:5.4-10] These epochs may not be discrete, i.e., distinctly separate. Societal progress is apparently not uniform on Urantia. An examination reveals some overlap, as some societies appear to be experiencing portions of several developmental epochs simultaneously. Social system progress occurs “slowly and by…gradual stages” as decisions made by individuals contribute toward the fulfillment of the divine purpose, perfecting. [UB 39:4.12] Social evolution includes the gradual progressive development of several component subsystems, e.g., economic, political, defense, etc. However societies must continue to be dynamic and progress, for “economics, society, and government must evolve if they are to remain. Static conditions on an evolutionary world are indicative of decay; only those institutions which move forward with the evolutionary stream persist.” [UB 71:4.1]
“Society is not a divine institution; it is a phenomenon of progressive evolution.” [UB 81:6.39] The experience of discovery is essential in societal evolution. Discovery requires the presence of chaos. Without chaos discovery would be impossible, consequently no experiencing. Amid essential chaos, trial and error has been employed in the search for methods of social ordering. Social discovery involves the experience of developing new ideas and finding suitable actions for adapting to shifts in the external environment. Societies, as systems, can experience a generative process termed selforganization. [6:1] This phenomenon, a sort of ‘Eureka effect’ experience, occurs as component parts at a lower level of a system interact spontaneously to produce an idea for increased order or cooperation at a higher level of the system.
Random actions can also produce useful results that can feed back into a system to prompt adaptation and progress. However, some adaptive attempts have not been successful. Many ideas must be tested for effectiveness as strategies for change. Evolution consequently takes a long time, but the process is effective, for it leads to improved societies. For example, the history of commerce is the history of civilization. The evolution of commerce stretches more than fifteen thousand years from local bartering and trade in prehistoric times to global e-commerce of today. During this evolutionary period commerce became “the most potent influence in the spread of cultural civilization.” [UB 81:3.6-7] Other factors contributed to societal progress. The formation of classes brought a degree of order in societies. “Religion is the mighty lever that uplifts civilization from chaos.” [UB 70:8.18] “The state is a useful evolution of civilization” that promotes social order. [UB 71:0.1]
The civilization which is now evolving on Urantia grew out of, and is predicated on, the following factors … natural circumstances, capital goods, scientific knowledge, human resources, effectiveness of material resources, effectiveness of language, effectiveness of mechanical devices, character of torchbearers, racial ideals, co-ordination of specialists, place-finding devices, the willingness to co-operate, effective and wise leadership, social changes, and the prevention of transitional breakdown … And it was by these rungs on the evolutionary ladder that civilization climbed to that place where those mighty influences could be initiated which have culminated in the rapidly expanding culture of the twentieth century. And only by adherence to these essentials can man hope to maintain his present-day civilizations while providing for their continued development and certain survival. [UB 81:6.2-43]
Western civilization “groans wearily under the tremendous overload of luxury and the inordinate multiplication of human desires and longings. Modern society is enduring the strain of one of its most dangerous phases of far-flung interassociation and highly complicated interdependence.“ [UB 68:2.5] The development of epochal communication technologies, written language, the printing press and the digital computer, have “enormously accelerated the rate of cultural advancement.” [UB 81:6.9] These technologies plus others, including the means of transport, space technology, weaponry, market globalization, international finance, outsourcing of labor and services, etc. have provided benefits but also compounded societal strain and stress. “Human society is now plunging forward under the force of the accentuated momentum of all the ages through which civilization has struggled.” [UB 81:6.44] Without help from superhuman sources the strain of society breaks down upon reaching certain limits and plunges mankind into “war and bloodshed.” [UB 68:3.4]
“The attainment of a high cultural civilization demands, first, the ideal type of citizen and, then, ideal and adequate social mechanisms wherewith such a citizenry may control the economic and political institutions of such an advanced human society.” [UB 99:3.4] Social evolution will continue until the realization of the ultimate human goal, the brotherhood of man. Higher levels of order are achieved as mortals seek to do the God’s will through love and selfless service, the essence of Jesus’ teachings. “Love is the essence of religion and the wellspring of superior civilization.” [UB 102:6.3] We are mindful of Jesus’ words, “It is my will that they should eventually be perfect, even as I am perfect,” as our goal. [UB 137:8.13] Arising from the imperfection of mortal origin, spiritual progress is “inward and upward from man to God.” [UB 109:1.5] Ascender’s contribute to social evolution by striving to do the Father’s will in life. All else is a degree of deviance, disorder and mortal illusion. Achieving spiritual order is the God-seeking ascender’s goal and opportunity. “The attainment of completed spiritual insight enables the ascending personality to detect harmony in what was theretofore chaos.” [UB 118:10.10,19] Spirituality has major implications for social progress. “The advances of true civilization are all born in this inner world of mankind …” However we should note, “Civilization can hardly progress when the majority of the youth of any generation devote their interests and energies to the materialistic pursuits of the sensory or outer world.” [UB 111:4.3]
Self-mastery, a basic goal of spiritual order, “is the measure of man’s moral nature and the indicator of his spiritual development.” [UB 143:2.3] Jesus said, “you are first transformed by the Spirit of Truth and thereby strengthened in your inner soul by the constant spiritual renewing of your mind, and you are so endowed with the power of the certain and joyous performance of the gracious, acceptable, and perfect will of God.” [UB 143:2.4] He went on to say, “Your secret of the mastery of self is bound up with your faith in the indwelling spirit, which ever works by love.” [UB 143:2.7] “Self-control leads to altruistic service.” [UB 54:1.6]
A spiritual personal life is a masterpiece of order. A significant trait of such a life, self-forgetfulness, follows a radical paradigm shift from self to selfless. Becoming selfless requires being “born of the spirit.” [UB 142:5.4] Spiritual thinking habits are formed to replace selfish reactions. Jesus gives us the model for selflessness by the life he lived. “But mortal personality, through its own choosing, possesses the power of transferring its seat of identity from the passing material intellect system to the higher morontia-soul system which, in association with the Thought Adjuster, is created as a new vehicle for personality manifestation. . . . And it is this very power of choice, the universe insignia of freewill creaturehood, that constitutes man’s greatest opportunity and his supreme cosmic responsibility.” [UB 112:5.4-5]
Spiritual order in personal life comes as one strives for ”spiritual satisfactions and cosmic understandings.” [UB 50:5.9] These gifts are bestowed on ascenders who strive spiritually. “The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use them—advance in spirit status—by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice . . .is to choose to do the will of God.” [UB 39:4.14]
Ascenders contribute to social evolution by living lives of loving service, the fruit of the spirit. In the Father’s plan progress follows effort, “creature achievement upon perseverance, and personality development upon faith.” [UB 115:7.2] “Faith most willingly carries reason along as far as reason can go and then goes on with wisdom to the full philosophic limit; and then it dares goes to launch out upon the limitless and never-ending universe journey in the sole company of TRUTH.” [UB 103:9.7] As planetary citizens striving for spiritual order, we have the opportunity to contribute to societal growth through the enhanced quality of our lives. Seraphim “portray the responsibility and morality of cosmic citizenship to the material mortals on the inhabited worlds.” [UB 39:4.9] As law-abiding United States citizens seeking to contribute to social progress, it is well that we recall: “True religion … is born of the experience of knowing God and striving to be like him.” [UB 99:2.6] “Religion is exclusively a personal spiritual experience.” [UB 99:5.1]
As citizens we are also mindful of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution that states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This statement is the basis of the federal policy for the separation of church and state. In addition, Jesus said to his disciples: “You must not seek to promulgate truth nor to establish righteousness by the power of civil governments or by enacting secular laws.” [UB 178:1.12] Moreover we read, “But there is no excuse for the involvement of the church in commerce and politics; such unholy alliances are a flagrant betrayal of the Master.” [UB 195:10.13]
Perhaps we have heard comments akin to: “Thinking about the enormity of creation makes me feel miniscule, like a mere grain of sand on the cosmic beach of the universe.” Such a demeaning quantitative statement would debase a person to being a fact. However, our qualitative reality reveals self-worth, value, for we are created in God’s image by being invested with Thought Adjusters; we are God’s children by faith; and we have been given the opportunity to bring truth, beauty, and goodness—love—to this planet. God invites all of us to become his partners in the grand order-producing cosmic drama of which societal development is a part. “When man goes into partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen.” [UB 132:7.9] Clearly, the contributions beyween all of us, as ‘inspirited grains’ taken together, comprise the ‘beach’ of social advancement. Synergistically, we are greater than the sum of the parts. ‘The only game in town’ is to do the Father’s will.
Jesus said, “love God supremely and your neighbor as yourself.” [UB 142:3.22] When ascenders try to follow this commandment in life they need no other rules, requirements or commandments to grow in spiritual order and to contribute to society. Ultimately, spiritual order will have become perfected when the Father’s will is being done by all ascending creatures on all worlds across the universes of time and space. “The sincere religionist is conscious of universe citizenship and is aware of making contact with sources of superhuman power . . . The consciousness of self-worth has become augmented by the stimulus of the quest for the highest universe objectives—supreme goals.” [UB 100:6.3] As ascending mortals of faith, we progress toward greater spiritual order as the self is being surrendered in “the intriguing drive of an all-encompassing motivation which imposes heightened self-discipline, lessens emotional conflict, and makes mortal life worth living.” [UB 100:6.4]
The highest level of society attainable on Urantia is the brotherhood of man, the realization of the ultimate human goal, a “civilization encompassed by love.” Imagine living in a society wherein all citizens strive to live according to the highest of levels of the Golden Rule. Such a society would surely be the realm of light and life, “the acme of evolutionary material development.” [UB 55:5.2] Until we reach that achievement we are assured: “Be not discouraged; human evolution is still in progress, and the revelation of God to the world, in and through Jesus, shall not fail.” [UB 196:3.33]
While we are not likely to reach light and life on Urantia, we are destined to have such experiences on the Mansion Worlds. It is thrilling to anticipate such delights and to being there with you!
Lawrence Schkade has studied The Urantia Book since 1980. He has hosted a Study Group in his home for over thirty years and has given topic presentations at Urantia conferences, symposia and meetings. He is Regents Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas System and has served in several academic administrative positions including Dean, University Graduate School, The University of Texas, Arlington. He is a twentytwo year heart transplant survivor.
| Sixty-Four Original Urantia Book Concepts | Volume 15, Number 1, 2015 (Summer) — Index | The Importance of Christian Ministry |
Gardner, Martin, editor. The Annotated Alice. Penguin Books. 1970. p. 185 ↩︎
https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/08/symmetry_in_the_universe_physics_says_you_shouldn_t_exist.html ↩︎
httpd://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization ↩︎
Einstein, Albert. Science. Philosophy and Religion, A Symposium. Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in Their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York, 1941. ↩︎