© 2013 Meredith J. Sprunger
© 2013 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
Love determines the quality and effectiveness of the spiritual life. It is the spiritual attitude that acts as the master synergetic catalyst and integrates all the spiritual qualities of the human personality. Love increases and unifies the power of the soul, it is our closest approach to a God-like attitude. It is the supreme reality of the universe, the most useful guide to the perception of truth and the most important relationship among and between personalities.
On the material level love appears to be a naive and unrealistic method of pursuing political goals or establishing social justice. Obviously, brute force and material power determine events on the physical level of existence. For this reason, spiritually immature individuals and societies must be regulated and controlled by physical power. But as civilization develops, those who have the vision and courage to sacrifice privilege and even life in acts of love for truth and justice are slowly shifting the direction of power among peoples and nations.
Through the mediation of mental influence spiritual reality becomes dominant over physical power. In this way love, the cardinal spiritual power, triumphs in individual and planetary life. Just as the principle of preservation of energy governs the physical continuum, the law of preservation of goodness dominates spiritual reality. An act of love and goodness is never totally lost. Because of the supremacy of spiritual reality, our decisions and actions are powerful and effective in proportion to the motivation of goodness, truth and love.
Anger is an indicator and measure of a lack of control and spiritual guidance in our behavior. People usually do not desire to be evil; and when they do evil things, they think they are justified in their actions. Our first reaction to angry remarks or actions should be to ask ourselves, where and why is this person doing evil? If we make an effort to determine the underlying motives, it is easier to understand and love. When we see other people as children of the Universal Father, and love them as people, we can forgive them even if we disagree with their behavior.
However, forgiveness does not free a person from responsibility for his or her actions. In an imperfect world, love is both an unconditional recognition of the individual and a wise and orderly response to the individual’s behavior. Mercy and justice must both be considered. Robust love is not simple, but it always heals and helps. The most loving response to evil and antisocial behavior is the action that has the greatest likelihood of stimulating personal and spiritual growth in the individual, as well as goodness in society. The Spirit of Truth always guides us to increasingly wise and effective expressions of love. The realization of love must be redefined on successive levels of spiritual growth as our material knowledge and perception of truth improve.
The effects of the leaven of love are surprising and at the same time paradoxical revelations. When people know they are loved, things happen that we could not foresee or believe. Love is the atmosphere in which the fruits of the spirit flourish; it delivers us from the need to defend ourselves and the protective veneer of affectation. The Indwelling Spirit of God only asks to lead us away from primitive worship born of fear, to the mature spiritual experience of love. Human greatness consists in a life marked and dominated by love and motivated by a desire to live the truth of God’s will. Such a person will confront injustice with positive action, meet the threats of violence with patience and love, and strive to overcome evil with good.
Faith, courage and love are the dominant emotions of self-realizing spiritual psychology. Faith is a dynamic spiritual attitude supporting life. Belief is a static intellectual position devoid of spiritual power. Faith brings spiritual assurance and frees us from fear, anxiety and paralyzing conflict. Courage is a trust in the universe and self-affirmation that relates to all growth and knowledge. Love encompasses every spiritual attitude acting as a synergistic catalyst for the realization of the emotions as well as the motivations of the human personality. It is our closest approach to God-like behavior and the most powerful spiritual force in the universe. Spiritual psychology lives in these emotional stimulants of spiritual growth.
In life there is no substitute for experience; nothing can replace a first-hand relationship with reality. While the parameters of human potentials are largely determined by biological inheritance, the level and quality of actual achievements are determined by our response to the vicissitudes of life. Experience is the continuum of the reality of mortal existence. We are confronted here with the determinants of destiny. Although we are immersed in the physical constraints of life, our awareness of spiritual realities is the most significant formator in the mortal adventure. God is the greatest of all human experiences. We are children of the Universal Father who has decreed that our spiritual growth shall be the product of the divine-human partnership. Through our perception of truth, beauty, goodness, and through our will-decision, we participate in the co-creation of ourselves. Experience is the cosmic cocoon of soul realization.
We can learn much from the history and experience of others; nevertheless, the master teacher is personal experience. We learn by involvement with physical, mental, and spiritual realities. First-hand knowledge and wisdom are gained through interaction with our environment, our fellow humans, and God. We grow by living and doing. The dynamism of growth is the law of experience. When apathy is overcome in any field of scholarship or development, growth accrues through past accomplishments, and continual growth is increasingly spontaneous. As we struggle to overcome our selfish tendencies, we become increasingly concerned for the welfare of others and feel a strong urge to love them. This seriousness of behavior applies to all forms of experience, including our decadence. As moral deterioration sets in in accordance with the motivation of evil and sin, it becomes increasingly easy to continue this downward slide into self-destruction.
Living relationships of reality should not be confused with intellectualization, imagination and fantasy. Authentic experience is an involvement in physical and spiritual reality. It is a first-hand association with the concrete aspects of the material world and a personal noetic relationship with the values of spiritual reality. When mental activity loses contact with these associations of reality, it can easily be perverted, by distortions and illusions. Those whose lives are governed by fact and truth, must always distinguish between the actual and the theoretical, between action and dream, between reality and illusion. Living is quite different from philosophizing about life. Faith that is established in spiritual reality, can be distinguished from fantasy that is the product of cognitive imagination, for faith stimulates action and growth; whereas fantasy is a psychological escape mechanism that leads us to live in a dream world. Living in the present is an orientation toward the real; Dwelling on the past or daydreaming about future anticipations, although sometimes useful and refreshing, is an invitation to escape from reality.
The preservation of truth and spiritual growth are related to the intensity and frequency of experience. Successive experiences are a sure path to the assimilation of knowledge and an ideal preparation for the recognition of truth. While stress and involvement in crises foster insight, growth is most fruitful in the supportive atmosphere of love and freedom. Spiritual growth cannot be imposed or coerced; it must come from deep within ourselves. When we hunger for truth, justice, or loving relationships, we open ourselves to the potentials of spiritual growth.
Religion originates and is based on personal values in experience. It is the total response of the individual, integrated into ritual behavior and lifestyle and understanding of ultimate values. The social ramifications of religious experience and the institutionalization of religion are second-order manifestations of personal experience. When an entire population is stimulated by a first-hand relationship with God, that society is irresistibly creative. Genuine religion inspires action; living faith must do something when it comes to spiritual imperatives. In a society where the vast majority of people live with second-hand religion, public welfare stagnates and gradually deteriorates.
True religious experience is dynamic and transformative. The intellectualization of religion into creeds, theology, and dogmas transforms spiritual truth and living faith into static human knowledge with all the deficiencies and restrictions of the material level of reality. This is why prophets who call people to a new relationship with God have advanced spiritual growth; while theologians who intellectualize religion, accompanied by priests who symbolize and ritualize faith, have arrested religious development.
Therefore religious experience should always supplant and dominate theology; for God can be known only through the realities of experience and not by teaching the mind. Theology can greatly enhance the experience of faith when it is used as a humble servant of religion and not as a proud, zealous, and orthodox judge and authority. Moreover, material symbols and rituals should not be substituted for the living experience of the spiritual realities of the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, they can make these relationships with God more real and facilitate worship when they are not equated or confused with these spiritual realities.
The supreme condition of religion is to experience spiritual values and not to think about theological concepts or philosophical theories. Intellectual talent, while very useful in solving worldly problems and aiding spiritual growth, is a second-rate virtue when compared to spiritual values. The pride of intellectualism frequently blinds the academic world to the limits of formal education. A loving mother can give her children the best of care so that they can grow and develop in an ideal manner, and yet completely fail an examination in child psychology. On the other hand, the most learned child psychologist can be a failure as a mother. Spiritual growth allows us to keep facts and truths in perspective.
The spiritual purpose of religion is soul-building, salvation. This is accomplished by establishing a living relationship, a partnership with God. In its vertical nature, the kingdom of God is an individual, loving, personal relationship with God; in its horizontal nature, it is loving service to our fellow human beings. When the intent of religion is distorted into the service of religious institutions or any other form of religious totalitarianism, religious humanism and socialism have taken the place of the spiritual kingdom of God.
Spiritual growth requires a special quality of religious experience. It requires evolutionary persistence. Human beings begin life as helpless infants with an animal heritage far removed from the imperatives of spiritual growth. Difficulty, pain and suffering therefore play a significant motivating role in our maturation, since we do not achieve optimal development in an easy environment. Growth of character and soul involves many aspects of solving difficult problems. Not only are successive decision-making and hard work necessary for achievement, but the harsh educational episodes of frustration, disappointment and failure are also indispensable contributions to the development of integrity and vigor.
Those who are spiritually mature are not upset or discouraged by opposition to their spiritual intentions and goals. Such problems challenge them to greater efforts and prompt them to develop more effective strategies in the struggle. The Supreme triumphs in our lives and in the universe through endless evolutionary progression. Perseverance, more perseverance and Supreme perseverance is the way to material, personal and spiritual realization.
Spiritual psychology is rooted in personal relationships with reality; there is no substitute for experience. Experience is the means and catalyst of all human realization and the cosmic cocoon of that same soul realization. We must always distinguish between the reality of life and the reality of philosophizing about life, between action and theory, doing rather than daydreaming. Spiritual growth requires evolutionary perseverance. Character is the product of hard struggle, painful conflict, unyielding determination, unwavering faith, and progressive action.
(to be continued)
Meredith J. Sprunger