© 2018 Suzanne Kelly
© 2018 International Urantia Association (IUA)
Greetings, fellow Urantia Book readers. In our May edition, we have several essays that focus on the personal spiritual experience between man and God that The Urantia Book so eloquently tries to convey. Seek and you shall find, and as you read these incredibly introspective epiphanies perhaps you might feel what the authors felt as they wrote their reflections down, leaving the energy there for us all to find and absorb.
Our first essay is A Jesusonian Calling by Dr. Bruce Jackson. It is difficult to encapsulate just one phrase of this undertaking as it is much more than just an essay, it is a mission. It is a spiritual, physical, earthly and visionary mission. Dr. Jackson has accepted the mission and if anyone else is so divinely inspired his vision goes from possible to reality. “First and foremost, any Urantia Book based educational institution should be Christ-centered and spirit-led God’s-will focused organization. For readers of The Urantia Book that means a sincere focus on the following:
- Seek first the will of God, the First Source and Center,
- Commit fully to the leadership of our sovereign Michael,
- Actively seek the deep guiding presence of the Spirit of Truth,
- Request the support of our unseen planetary helpers and leaders,
- Empower and cooperate with the efforts of our beloved angelic friends,
- Request the engagement of all Thought Adjusters to be deeply involved together, and
- Pursue and support the wholehearted dedication of the will of each individual to seek a union of souls embracing spiritual unity in an effort to be a Jesusonian in the best sense of the word.
Dr. Jackson has gone the first mile, laid down the path to the second and made the third mile possible. He says, “The Urantia Book clearly calls Jesusonians to this task. The fifth epochal revelation has not been entrusted to us to hide under a bushel for our own spiritual enlightenment or private enjoyment. Consider the following quote, and instead of ‘Christianity,’ insert ‘Jesusonians’”:
Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world. [UB 195:9.4]
Doing the will of God by Bob Ghen, Sr. falls nicely into place as the next essay in the personal experience genre. Bob light-heartedly takes us on a personal journey to “find the will of God” in his colorful daily existence. He says, “Yet for a time, I continued to falsely believe that doing the will of God was somehow about figuring it out at each and every turn, every fork in the road. After all, aren’t we also taught that we advance spiritually, decision by decision? But uh-oh, what if I make the wrong one? Sheesh! But after taking a closer look at the quote:
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]
Bob was able to succinctly examine just what that meant. By asking, “But do what exactly, and how? And establishing a habitual spiritual pulse with intelligent prayer and sincere worship.” This was the beginning of the plan that brought him to an enlightened and uplifting epiphany, “Doing the will of God has led me to my overarching spiritual beacon, the Jesusonian ideal of ‘unbroken communion.’” His erudite conclusion will speak to your will as well.
The next contribution is a tribute to the “seek and you shall find” personal experience of truth that The Urantia Book has given to everyone who has studied its pages. Susan Lyon has assembled some heart-warming encounters with truth seeking souls who have found God within its pages and their hearts, in her retrospective Inspiration & Healing from The Urantia Book. She says, “One common thread among those people who praised The Urantia Book was the effort they had put into searching for the truth for many years, or that they had experienced bitter disappointments in life, or in general felt they were lost. They perhaps didn’t even know what they sought until they had found the peace and comfort of faith. One thing was sure; for them, discovering the book seemed much sweeter because of the valleys they had walked through in their lives, and the dead ends that they had encountered in their search. One person spoke of their journey in this way:
“I am a new student of The Urantia Book and already, after a couple of years, my life has been transformed tremendously. This book will challenge you to examine what you think you know about the world, spirituality, God and all of Creation… Being a student of The Urantia Book has caused God to bloom in my spirit and love to guide my life. This book will change everything and answer many deep questions if you let it.”
The final essay is another compelling article adapted from a presentation given by Gaetan Charland, titled The Urantia Book and Us. Gaetan expresses what every new reader feels upon feeling the first moment of spiritual freedom: “When people find The Urantia Book, they experience new enthusiasm upon discovering something bigger and truer than anything they had ever known. Very often, a first reaction is to share this same enthusiasm with all those surrounding us. To our dismay, we readers quickly find people are not interested in our discovery or our experience.” But the spirituality in each of us was alive and the transformation had begun. “Without personal spiritual transformation, the task ahead would be practically impossible; at most, we would be impostors. Learning what can help transform us is not that complicated. Learning efforts might seem arduous and impossible if we try to do it all alone. Have we heard it is not well for man to be alone? What better way to start this work than by joining a group seeking personal and world improvement while helping prepare for the opening of the next spiritual era!”
Gaetan has trodden the trail each new reader took and expressed confidently, “We found The Urantia Book because we were searching for the truth it contains. The responsibility for sharing truth now rests with us. We must make this truth live in our hearts as we team together in unselfish service, helping inaugurate this next era of liberty.” If we sincerely desire to improve the world in which we live, each of us must put our grain of salt in it.
You are the salt of the earth, salt with a saving savor. But if this salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. [UB 140:4.2]