© 1979 Eugene Frazier, Charles Laurence Olivea, India Margaret Sperry, Linda Buselli
© 1979 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
Students of The URANTIA Book know well the many and varied forms of spiritual energy which the Father has provided so that someday we will come to know and be like him. One of the most inspiring points to this reader has been the description of those heroic mortals of Urantia who have dared to live as sons and daughters of the Father in faith.
One human who has been of personal interest from my first reading of The URANTIA Book is Ganid of India. This young man instantly impressed me with his genuine desire for truth without prejudice and his almost innocent sense of wonder at the things he and the Master discussed and accomplished. Also, I must admit, I get a bit jealous when I think of his experience being Jesus’ intimate friend for over a year and a half.
Ganid is introduced to us as a young man in search of answers. At first he was primarily interested in science and the arts; he had no discernible thought toward spiritual truths. But at Caesarea, only their second stop on the way to Rome, he became curious about his tutor’s ministry: “Why do you occupy yourself so continuously with these visits with strangers?” (UB 130:2.6) This question must have produced a smile when he remembered it in later life. It brought about a meeting which changed his life — a conference with Joshua the teacher in which he began to learn of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of all men.
— Eugene Frazier
Sacramento, California
While Ikhnaton was remarkable, Moses was matchless. “Despite the enticements of the culture of the Nile kingdom, Moses elected to cast his lot with the people of his father… No leader ever undertook to reform and uplift a more forlorn, downcast, dejected, and ignorant group of human beings,” (UB 96:3.2-3) This magnificent world teacher dreamed and realized an impossible dream. Moses chose the low road of forty years of watchful waiting that resulted in the glorious, dramatic rescue of an apparently hopeless people and in the savings of their priceless spiritual heritage, His life will forever serve as a demonstration of how the first will be last and the last will be first.
His life work was characterized by a high standard of excellence and a multi-faceted ability in problem-solving. A Melchizedek described him as being the single “… most important individual world teacher and leader between the times of Machiventa and Jesus,” (UB 96:5.1) A midwayer listed Moses as one of seven of the world’s most outstanding human teachers. He was a versatile and adaptable master of human behavior. He combined skills of military leadership, religious teaching, and social organization. This extraordinary set of talents resulted from his successful use of inherited traits. His parentage was an Egyptian-Semitic union, stemming from a highly mixed racial ancestry of good sources, “Had he not been of this mixed type, he would never have displayed that unusual versatility and adaptability which enabled him to manage the diversified horde which eventually became…” known as the people of Israel, (UB 96:3.1) Moses was a grand example of what is possible with a hybrid racial mixture based on sound, healthy, superior antecedent biological qualities.
— Charles Laurence Olivea
Watertown, Connecticut
URANTIA Book readers are aware of the outstanding performance of Van and Amadon during the seven crucial years immediately following the Caligastia betrayal of Urantia, One is deeply impressed with Amadon because of his sincere portrayal of total loyalty to his immediate associates and superiors who in turn remained loyal to Michael and our Universal Father. The out. standing leadership of Van and Amadon is attested to by their retention on Urantia for work after the translation of the thirty-nine remaining faithful members of the corporeal staff and fifty-five of their modified associates at the end of the seven years of uncertainty coincident with the arrival of the Melchizedek receivers.
Van and Amadon were to continue their labors here for about another 162,000 years or until shortly after the arrival of Adam and Eve, In their enterprises they were loyally assisted by a band of Andonites, originally eighty-eight in number who together with their descendants became known as Amadonites. Despite this name, a cultural-religious designation, they “… were essentially Andonites.” (UB 73:1.3) Beyond being informed of their presence in Dalamatia at the outbreak of rebellion, we know little of their level of education, intellectual, or religious development. We know they were totally mortal, hence by our present day concepts, relatively youthful, in all probability. We can assume they were quite primitive and short-lived.
If we compare them with the members of the corporeal staff of the prince and their original one hundred modified Andonite associates, startling differences appear.
— Anonymous
The Norana episode is a gem of a story and could be compared to a dramatic one-act play. Norana and Jesus are the stars with the others as supporting players.
Norana’s great love for her afflicted daughter could be compared to Jesus’ great love for mankind. Nor were the apostles without love. They loved Jesus and were trying to protect him from intrusion, but they did not yet share his love for mankind.
Norana upset them, She was as determined to see Jesus as they were to protect him. She did not show proper respect for the ecclesiastical authority, their racial superiority or even their masculine superiority. I wonder if they would have been as rude to a Gentile man? At any rate, she irked them. Yet she herself was not discouraged by their rudeness.
— India Margaret Sperry
Honaunau, Hawaii
We read of many admirable human beings in The URANTIA Book, but my favorite has always been the apostle Andrew. While I can respect his innate intelli- gence and administrative ability, I am most drawn to that quality of human understanding that he possessed; and I am convinced that this was his most outstanding character achievement.
Perhaps because he understood them so well, Andrew was an expert judge of men. In the most momentous decision of his life, he approached Jesus and offered to follow him, before Jesus even asked him. Immediately thereafter, he brought Simon Peter to Jesus and was responsible for keeping him with the apostolic corps, Andrew was the only apostle to suspect that there was a problem with Judas long before the actual betrayal. But “Andrew’s great service to the kingdom was in advising Peter, James, and John concerning the choice of the first missionaries… and also in counseling these early leaders about the organization of the administrative affairs of the kingdom.” (UB 139:1.8)
— Linda Buselli
Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania
How do you feel your seraphic guardian functions in your life? Can you think of any world activity or moment of history in which one of the twelve corps of master seraphim of planetary supervision might have taken special part? If you would like to contribute an article on the seraphim, particularly those angels dealing with the mortal phase of our existence, please let us know.
— The Editors
“The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day’s work — do it well. The act is ours; the consequences God’s.” (UB 48:7.13)