© 1980 David Schlundt, George Park, Eileen Laurence
© 1980 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
The following speech was given by David Schlundt at the URANTIA Brotherhood Workshops in Lake Forest, Illinois on August 4, 1980.
They lay in the meadow
between the city and the sea
nearly every one of them
staring at the sun,
all lying in its incredible warmth
some lulled into quiet ecstasy
others dancing in the brightness —
heads raised in adoration
voices calling others to look up
and stare the sun
until all would join their dazzling darkness!
Some called to me,
“Why do you look aside?”…
“at candles and caldrons
beacons and beach fires.
They cannot light the sun!
Stare steady with us.”
— K. David Schlundt
Urbana, Indiana
“The manner in which the Universal Father sojourns with the creatures of time is the most profound of all universe mysteries; the divine presence in the mind of man is the mystery of mysteries.” (UB 1:4.1) The technique whereby the Thought Adjuster is able to make his eternal presence known to the material mind is a mystery. The method in which the spirit registers the reality of etornity in the material mind as an experience of “the everlasting now” is a philosophic miracle beyond our understanding. (UB 118:1.1) However, the technique used by the material mind in its reach upward and inward for the experience of the presence of God, the psychological behavior of the human mind in fostering its own spiritualization, is not completely beyond our grasp.
Without intention of intruding upon the supremely personal and sacred domain of spiritual experience, this essay will attempt to outline the psychological evolution of religious experience as it is revealed in the progressive development of prayer and worship with a special regard for the role of the creative imagination in the spiritualization of the mind of man. Philosophical discussion and description of spiritual experience reduces such living experience to the levels of psychology with the intention of enlightening thought and with the hope that this enlightenment will contribute to the further growth of spiritual character. “While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.” (UB 155:6.13)
— George L. Park
Hampton, Connecticut
The URANTIA Book says that, “Harmony is the keynote of the central universe, and detectable order prevails on Paradise.” (UB 27:4.2) The word harmony is taken from the Greek word “harmos,” meaning a fitting, a joining. Interestingly, a synonym for harmony is “unison,” As a musician, I have often pondered this association between harmony and unity and have spent much time dealing with the creative experience that leads toward these ideals,
For example, it’s intriguing to note the similar patterns existing between the development of civilization on our planet and the evolution of music from around the 6th century to the present. When Andon and Fonta were rearing their family, they “… evinced a very marked clannish spirit; they hunted in groups and never strayed very far from the homesite. They seemed to realize that they were an isolated and unique group of living beings and should therefore avoid becoming separated.” (UB 63:3.3) The words clannish, isolated, and unique remind me of the monks living and working in the monasteries of medieval Europe. Listening to the Gregorian chants composed and sung then, I imagine a life of simplicity, plainness, a gentle flow of communication between the singer and the listener, the creator and the created. So it is between the newborn infant and his parents, a pure sharing, a sympathetic unity, a harmony. Food and shelter are necessary for physical sustenance, but in order for the soul to flower — love, guidance, and support must always be present. These elements fit together, harmonize, very efficiently as long as there is cooperation; cooperation between parents and children, between families, between God and man.
— Eileen Laurence
Armonk, New York
“The perfected grand universe of those future days will be vastly different from what it is at present. Gone will be the thrilling adventures of the organization of the galaxies of space, the planting of life on the uncertain worlds of time, and the evolving of harmony out of chaos, beauty out of potentials, truth out of meanings, and goodness out of values. The time universes will have achieved the fulfillment of finite destiny.” (UB 117:7.17)