© 1997 Merlyn Cox
© 1997 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
As I’ve grown older, my view of history has changed — not just my understanding, but my sense of what is truly old and ancient and what is recent. As a young child I tended to view anything longer than the present day as a long time past or a long time into the future. Gradually, my view of things lengthened, but it tended to settle in on my generation, my lifetime, as the measure of all things significant. Only in more recent years has it grown much beyond that. I now compress history intolarger chucks, where events of a thousand or even ten thousand years ago seem not that far away.
I occasionally pause to remind myself of this longer view of things when I consider the impact of The Urantia Book. I believe the typical scenario of a Urantia Book reader is something like this: We discover the book-often after a period of great skepticism and reticence to even explore it — but we “discover” it; we reach the time when the heart pounds with excitement, the limitations and boundaries of old views and paradigms begin to fall, and a new world of intelligence and grace and meaning so floods our lives that we are overcome with gratitude and joy.
We discover the book-often after a period of great skepticism and reticence to even explore it-but we “discover” it; we reach the time when the heart pounds with excitement, the limitations and boundaries of old views and paradigms begin to fall, and a new world of intelligence and grace and meaning so floods our lives that we are overcome with gratitude and joy.
The impulse to share it becomes paramount in our lives. This inconceivably good news has to be shared. But how? We quickly learn the difficulty of sharing it with others, and find their initial skepticism and fear greater than was our own. We long for ways to encourage them to just give it a try; but most return it with a look of polite puzzlement. On the one hand we understand their initial reaction; on the other hand we are amazed that so few have the courage and spiritual insight to recognize the truth of it.
Discouragement and frustration sets in. We may largely withdraw the effort, or at least become more cautious and selective in our efforts to share it. It is difficult not to wonder and speculate: How long, how long? When will the world finally come to embrace its insights and through it encounter the living presence and promises of Jesus of Nazareth?
Some may fall into millenialist thinking, trying to tie celestial events to man-made time tables, and look to our calendars for signs of coming events. This, I believe, is when we need to pause and consider the longer view of things. Time is not of the essence here. Eternity is the measure of time, not the other way around. “A thousand years is as a watch in the night…” applies here as well.
There is an apocryphal story related to the The Urantia Book that I think is both interesting and helpful. According to the story, those responsible for initiating the process that led to The Urantia Book initially petitioned higher authorities to begin this project around the end of the twelfth century, feeling the time was right for such an upstep in knowledge and understanding. It was denied. The time was not right. Only after 800 more years was permission given. In retrospect, we can see how many things needed to take place, especially the scientific and technological revolution, before we were ready for such a revelation. Those involved with receiving the papers were told that even then (the 1930-1950’s), it was primarily for generations still to come.
We don’t know how many generations will come and go before The Urantia Book is widely read and received as a revelation to our planet. We don’t need to. Combining our impulse to share with patience and wisdom, we can be assured that while "The act is ours, the consequences [are] God’s.” (UB 117:5.5)
Just as early Christians were impatient to see “the end of the world” and all things fulfilled in their lifetime, so we want to see results on a global scale on the immediate human horizon. We need the viewpoint of eternity in which to place our own time.
I’m convinced that someday people will look back with sadness and amazement at how few people in this generation were able or willing to receive the insights of The Urantia Book. But they may also wonder at the impatience of those who received the revelation. Just as early Christians were impatient to see “the end of the world” and all things fulfilled in their lifetime, so we want to see results on a global scale on the immediate human horizon. We need the viewpoint of eternity in which to place our own time.
Above all, we should never cease to give thanks that this revelation is here now, ours to know and celebrate and share.
The true church — the Jesus brotherhood-is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity… And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization. It may well utilize such social organizations, but it must not be supplanted by them. (UB 195:10.11)