© 2006 Lynn E. Rhoderick
© 2006 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
| The Call to Ministry | Spring 2006 — Last Issue — Index | Spiritual Practice and Individual Lectio Divina |
In the three decades I’ve been a student of the Urantia papers, I’ve encountered personal disappointment in two areas. The first area is the suspicion and mistrust that seems to exist within and between the various Urantian groups. How can those of us struggling to interest others in the beautiful teachings of the papers be uplifted by “a house divided against itself?” No one dwelling in such a house receives spiritual nourishment: “fear, anger, envy, jealously, suspicion, and intolerance, likewise, tremendously interfere with the spiritual progress of the evolving soul.” (UB 110:1.5)
My second area of disappointment is the seemingly lack of interest that many intelligent individuals I know have for the beautiful promises of the Fifth Epochal revelation: “True it is, you mortals are of earthly, animal origin. Your frames are indeed dust. But if you actually will, if you really desire, surely the heritage of the ages is yours, and you shall someday serve through out the universes in your true characters, children of the Supreme God of experience and divine sons and daughters of the Paradise Father of all personalities.” (UB 112:7.19)
Can the lack of interest shown by many to whom I’ve introduced the Urantia concepts be blamed on my teaching techniques? Or is their lack of interest due to the fact that they are afraid to “wholeheartedly” follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Consider what Jesus taught in UB 159:3.13: “Teach all believers that those who enter the kingdom are not thereby rendered immune to the accidents of time or to the ordinary catastrophes of nature. Believing in the gospel will not prevent getting into trouble, but it will insure that you shall be unafraid when trouble does overtake you. If you dare to believe in me and wholeheartedly proceed to follow after me, you shall most certainly by so doing enter upon the sure pathway to trouble. I do not promise to deliver you from the waters of adversity, but I do promise to go with you through all of them.”
In October of 2004 I signed a contract with a printing company for the publication of my autobiography entitled “Christianity’s Degrees of Insanity.” It is the story of my “turbulent religious quest” to find theological sanity and how I found it in The Urantia Book. I intend to use my story to “confront” the ignorance and prejudice rampant within Christianity. Would Jesus approve of such a confrontational approach?
“Jesus gave this man his sight by miraculous working, on that Sabbath morning and in Jerusalem near the temple, for the prime purpose of making this act an open challenge to the Sanhedrin and all Jewish teachers and religious leaders. This was his way of proclaiming an open break with the Pharisees. He was always positive in everything he did. And it was for the purpose of bringing these matters before the Sanhedrin that Jesus brought his two apostles to this man early in the afternoon of this Sabbath day and deliberately provoked those discussions which compelled the Pharisees to take notice of the miracle.” (UB 164:3.16)
As a public school educator for almost four decades I practiced the belief that children can’t be taught without first obtaining their attention. However, I finally concluded that even getting a student’s attention can prove fruitless if what is being taught has no lasting value. What I learned in Urantia paper #72 about the error of keeping children confined to classrooms caused me to become a “conscientious objector.” I could no longer blame students for not paying attention nor could I blame myself for failing to inspire some to learn. I ended my teaching career because I believed I could better benefit the children of America by using Urantia teachings to confront the ignorance of our nations’ educational, social, political, economic and religious institutions. Without any doubt I knew that by so doing it would lead me to follow “the sure pathway to trouble.”
Will my fellow Urantians applaud my efforts to openly confront “the doctrinal fallacies of Christianity” and by so doing move our planet one step closer to the age of “Light and life,” or will they view my motives with suspicion and mistrust? My hope is that God did approve of my efforts to write “Christianity’s Degrees of Insanity” and that I was guided by his gift of the Thought Adjuster. Time will tell for surely the “proof is in the pudding.”
Lynn Rhoderick has been a student of the Urantia papers since the mid-seventies. He retired from teaching in 1994 after 36 years in the classroom. His book can be purchased from Amazon.com. A companion work entitled “Christianity’s Doctrinal Fallacies” is scheduled for publication.
| The Call to Ministry | Spring 2006 — Last Issue — Index | Spiritual Practice and Individual Lectio Divina |