© 1979 Jim McNelly, Paul Knott, Bob Bruyn, Robert Walker, Ethel Zanoni, C. L. Van Sant
© 1979 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
This speech was given by Jim McNelly, president of the Rocky Mt. URANTIA Society of Denver, at this new Society’s installation on February 16 , 1980.
To some it may seem pretentious for us material and transient mortals to gather in spiritual fellowship, but it is within the organization of men that the destiny of our spiritual brotherhood rests. The Son of Man, our Christ Jesus, is the Planetary Prince as a man among men. Our Vicegerent Prince, Machiventa Melchizedek, lived as a man, ate food among us, slept as a man, and knows us as we are. Every one hundred years a former man or woman serves as our resident Governor General. Of the Four and Twenty Counselors only 1-2-3 the First is not an ascended human, though he is a son of man.
— Jim McNelly
Denver, Colorado
The URANTIA Book often discusses the importance of the family in human society. For example, we find such statements as, “The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement…” and “As are the families of the race or nation, so is its society. If the families are good, the society is likewise good.” (UB 84:6.8; UB 84:7.1)
It is clear, however, that in most modern Urantia societies, the family as an institution is experiencing difficult times. In the United States, for example, the divorce rate continues to soar, engendering such statistics as the recent projection by the Census Bureau that one-half of all children born this year in the U.S. will spend a substantial portion of their childhood in a home with a single parent. The more one delves into current data on the state of the family, the more negative the overall picture becomes.
— Paul Knott, PhD
Arvada, Colorado
What did American Astronaut Edgar Mitchell experience during his Apollo 14 trip and moon walk that prompted a personal crusade for worldwide “community spirit”? Mitchell told an audience in 1971, shortly after his return, “I want to convince people of the necessity of viewing our world as a small community, much like you have right here in the state of Kansas, and work to solve problems in the same spirit of togetherness, worldwide, as opposed to community wide.” Photographs and posters of the tiny, blue planet, Earth, suspended in space by invisible threads of gravity provided Americans and people everywhere a chance to share Mitchell’s new perspective — seeing Earth from its moon. With this perspective, the contrasts of diverse races and national boundaries were unified in the minds of many sensitive mortals into an awareness of the interrelatedness of all of this planet’s inhabitants — the brotherhood of man. Certainly a giant step for mankind had been taken in our evolving consciousness.
— Bob Bruyn
Kansas City, Missouri
As I read The URANTIA Book, there is great indication that the Father enjoys and desires unique individuals who think for themselves. Diversity of opinion and creative thinking are often what lead to higher truths. Hence, conformity to the will of the Father and conformity to blind thinking are recognized as distinctly different.
When one considers the existentiality of the Universal Father, one is told that the nature of his infinitude is beyond the circumscribed minds of the finite mortal, However, it is also pointed out that the universe, while infinite, has limits. While man, being created by the Universal Father, does not have the potential to accomplish what the Father can, it is significant that The URANTIA Book reveals that the universe has limits because it suggests that man may also learn more of the Father’s infinite nature as well. Whereas the human mind may not fully comprehend the concept of dimensions outside of his experiences and abilities, he should not feel that he cannot ever bridge the gap to a higher awareness of the existential nature of the Father’s attributes. While the power centers occasionally incur difficulty in keeping the Norlatiadek constellation stable from neighboring forces, such a problem would never be within man’s concerns; although, such a revelation gives man an awareness of the workings of the universe, The word “infinite” has to be considered in its relative sense-for example, when a dimension approaches a magnitude so far outside of man’s experience and ability, it is labelled “infinite” from man’s perspective. However, such a dimension could be spoken of in practical terms that lead to a fuller, though still partial, understanding. This knowledge in no way changes the nature of man or the universe, it simply permits him to converse more logically.
— Robert Walker
Rio del Mar, California
Glorious and ever-present is the light of my heavenly Father, God. The light is around me and through me. In it there exists that from which all things have come or can ever come. The warmth of its glow spreads the comfort and protection of love, Constituting intelligence, understanding, and the infinite perception of wisdom, it guides and directs me, as I choose to perceive its emanation. Justice radiates surely from the brilliance of its pure principle. Provision is made for me by its all encompassing abundance; life-giving vitality strengthens, and its energy vivifies me.
—Ethel Zanoni
Palo Alto, California
“The worship experience consists in the sublime attempt of the betrothed Adjuster to communicate to the divine Father the inexpressible longings and the unutterable aspirations of the human soul…” (UB 5:3.8)
There is no human love as satisfying as that of the human child for the human parent, particularly the God-knowing child for the God-knowing parent. There is something in the manner-something in the eyes-in the face-in the voice.
If we become as a little child and if we are capable of that kind of unconditional love for our heavenly Father, the expression of that love is worship, which, we are told, is so satisfying to the love-dominated nature of the Universal Father,
— C. L. Van Sant
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
“Throughout this glorious age the chief pursuit of the ever-advancing mortals is the quest for a better understanding and a fuller realization of the comprehensible elements of Deity — truth, beauty, and goodness. This represents man’s effort to discern God in mind, matter, and spirit.” (UB 56:10.2)