© 2021 Michelle Heulot
© 2021 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
Michelle Heulot
We are all pilgrims on the path of life and truth. Mine was illuminated when I found The Urantia Book or rather when it found me! I was then in the midst of religious and spiritual upheaval, my scientific, archaeological and historical research had shaken my convictions based on a literal interpretation of the Bible.
I had placed blind trust, for decades, in a religious institution, the sole holder of “the truth” but which distorts it by adding rules and interpretative dogmas. These progressive discoveries provoked painful states of consciousness in me: bitterness, indignation, shame, sadness, discouragement, depression…
At the height of my dismay, when I prayed, the words of Christ kept coming back: “I am the way, the truth and the life” to touch my heart and challenge my soul. And these words stirred my energy to begin research!
Among the spiritual sites consulted, that of the Urantia International School caught my attention with a course on the true religion. My first Ubis experience, in September 2016, followed by many others, triggered a determined quest for research that gradually came to answer my questions with coherence and logic.
I understood that true religion is a personal spiritual experience, not subject to human interpretations. That I had to free myself from this straitjacket to find God for myself, as Jesus recommended, and know him in my own soul!
And when this life of spiritual rule is freely and intelligently accepted, then there develops in the human mind a positive consciousness of divine contact and an assurance of spirit communion. Sooner or later, “the Spirit bears witness with your spirit (the Adjuster) that you are a child of God.” Your own Thought Adjuster has already indicated to you your relationship with God, and the Scriptures confirm that the Spirit bears witness “with your spirit” and not to your spirit.
However, on this path of discovery, I advanced with prudence and discernment, exercising a critical and analytical mind concerning these new religious insights and it is thus that the staff which supported my pilgrim’s journey became more and more reassuring, powerfully energized by “the eternal fact of the paternity of God and the brotherhood of men”.
The plan of God that I discovered exercised an extraordinary fascination in my mind: this universal Father, omnipotent, omnipresent and omnificient delegating all his powers to coordinates and subordinates who want to put in place aids and hubs so that creators and created personalities can live and progress eternally! The more I penetrated the mysteries of God, the greater was my religious hunger and the more my spirit loved them and incited me to deepen them.
It is literally true that “one must know human things in order to love them, but one must love divine things in order to know them.”
For decades I had prayed to a formidable and all-powerful God, with fear and respect, as the Scriptures recommended. What an inner upheaval when I clearly perceived, thanks to the booklets on thought adjusters, that God is not outside but inside me!
By faithfully practicing adoring meditation, I experienced an intimate and precious communication with this divine fragment, this monitor of mystery who inspired me and enlivened my faith! Thus He gradually prepared me for a broader expression of God. This living faith gave me the courage and strength to overcome paralyzing fears: fear of the unknown, fear of being ostracized, fear of losing my bearings, fear of being rejected!
Gradually I freed myself from material, spiritual and intellectual constraints and with the Spirit of God acting, I elevated my spiritual “self”.
I gradually understood that the Urantia Book expands and clarifies the many difficult-to-understand teachings and concepts of the Bible; that the apparent conflicts between the Bible and science arise from the various theological doctrines and interpretations. I became aware of the precious contribution of the Bible to the progressive awakening of humanity so that it can welcome and appreciate the revelations offered by spiritual personalities. And above all, I received the conclusion of the book as a lesson in humility in realizing that Christianity, religions and sects combined, have struggled and still struggle to make known the message of Christ to the best of their ability. What was my joy to learn that the truths of the gospel will persist gloriously thanks to new educators who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings to devote themselves to the spiritual regeneration of humanity!
For five years that I have been walking on this path of experiences dedicated to doing the will of God with all my heart, a new awareness of strength and spiritual joy accompanies me each day, a living and growing faith, in a benevolent and friendly spiritual world which is an answer to my demanding and sincere quest for God! and I have discovered by seeking and finding my own truths, by nourishing my personal relationship with the Spirit of God, “a dynamic and sublime peace, this peace which surpasses all human understanding, this cosmic balance which denotes the absence of all doubt and all agitation.” UB 100:6.6
This strength, this peace, this balance, I cherish them and I share them with pilgrims seeking truth like me, by leading courses within the framework of the ubis, by participating in spiritual meetings and discussions, by visiting elderly and isolated people, by serving and by loving!
Strengthened, reconciled, soothed by these spiritual experiences, I now let myself be guided with confidence and determination by all the divine Spirits (the Spirit of the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth), by sharing my spiritual life with that of my companions and by living as if I were in the presence of God since he dwells in the heart of my heart! The final destination and the transcendent goal of this journey are so exhilarating! to find the Eternal God! to express the divine nature! to recognize and love the universal Father!
This confidence and assurance in eternal and universal realities constantly nourish my grateful soul which has only a burning desire to express praises of gratitude to the Creator, my heavenly Father and to engage in his universal plan.
A flight towards spiritual freedom and a total commitment to universal love without borders or prejudices, this is what the Urantia Book means to me, with this injunction from our Master Christ Jesus imprinted in my soul:
“Dedicate your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” UB 192:2.1