© 1976 Marjorie Reed
© 1976 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
Once upon a time, according to ancient myth, some of the gods decided to visit earth, incognito, in order to participate in a great festival. Disguised as humans, they mingled without attracting attention until they sat down to the feast. There, at the banquet, the gods “blew their cover”. Whereas men were gluttonously stuffing themselves, the gods were observed to be placing the most delectable morsels in each other’s mouth-an action not at all customary among mortals.
Sharing is divine. Sharing is one of God’s eternal patterns. Furthermore, The URANTIA Book tells us, “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), to invite the Creator to participate in our creative life.
What is the ideal life? One of loving service-service to God and service to man, the one inseparable from the other. God shares of himself with me, and I can choose to respond to this gift of love by living in the manner suggested on UB 110:3.6 of The URANTIA Book, and so beautifully demonstrated by the Master.
Surely there is no better way to serve my brother than the way which serves God. My inner life, insofar as it reflects my understanding and experience of Jesus’ gospel of love and truth, is the only real thing which I have to share with others. The “service trails” and “happiness highways”, of which Jesus spoke to Fortune, certainly lead through the hearts of men, and I perceive that there is inexpressible joy attendant upon helping another in his “progressive comprehension of reality”, bringing to him a measure of Love, however small.
Another aspect of service, which inheres in the first two r is service to self, that self of eternal destiny. It is my responsibility to attain a high level of self-realization, of self-mastery, and to pursue the concepts of divine goodness. Toward this end I require your help-that “…third and sacred obligation:” which Jesus designated as “service to the brotherhood of God-knowing believers” (UB 178:1.5).
To give a possible example of this obligation, and to complete what I hope has been descriptive of a form of “circular simultaneity”, I ask you to imagine The URANTIA Book as a great feast spread before us. Will you share your portion with me? Will you place in my mouth the nourishing morsel which I might not otherwise taste?
The time and place for service is always the present moment, wherever that finds me. I would like to offer you a condiment for the feast, one which enhanced, for me, the flavor and fragrance of service. It is Martin Buber’s brief book, (available in paperback), Hasidism and Modern Man, a lovely interpretation of the tradition of the true helper.
—Marjorie Reed