© 2013 Urantia Foundation
¶ Reaching for Perfection
By Sandra Burga-Cisneros Pizarro, associate trustee, Zürich, Switzerland
When I think about perfection and the mandate: “Be you perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect,” I think about love, the pure and divine love our Father gives us, love in its most altruistic and selfless form, love as the path every human being can choose in order to be perfect as our Father is perfect.
I have learned that every human being has “a life to live.” We all experience this labyrinth of life and try to achieve happiness through our actions at work and with our families and friends, and with others. When I think about the moments of life that truly have fulfilled me, it is when I am motivated by love and activated by unselfish ministry that I feel a true connection with our Father.
Of course it is not easy, and I ask myself, "How can I feel that connection more often? I am reminded that:
If mortal man is wholeheartedly spiritually motivated, unreservedly consecrated to the doing of the Father’s will, then, since he is so certainly and so effectively spiritually endowed by the indwelling and divine Adjuster, there cannot fail to materialize in that individual’s experience the sublime consciousness of knowing God and the supernal assurance of surviving for the purpose of finding God by the progressive experience of becoming more and more like him. UB 5:1.6
Constantly I have to say to myself: “Be conscious of His spark of divinity within you!” Only by being in a daily connection with my Thought Adjuster, my heavenly helper, do I allow Him to teach and guide me. If I wander off the path or I become distracted, there comes a time when I must face the reality of the true purpose of my life. We all have to do so, for once we have tasted such a way of living we shall not be able to forget nor live in peace until we return to this path.
Jesus, during his life in the flesh, showed us this path. He taught us the way, and e is holding and supporting us until the moment we decide to walk the path with Him. Nevertheless, it is our decision to do so; the choice is ours to make. Our life purpose is to be like our Father and to love each other as He loves us. “Jesus revealed a God of love, and love is all-embracing of truth, beauty, and goodness.” UB 5:4.7
Every day we have to deal with the mundane, and sometimes it is difficult to have the reaching-for-perfection attitude when we are surrounded by complaining and negative-thinking brothers and sisters. But each of us has been blessed with an indwelling fragment of our Father, which means we have the blueprint of perfection inside. And those who have the privilege of being conscious of this truth have also the responsibility to show the way to those who are not thus minded.
Man is spiritually indwelt by a surviving Thought Adjuster. If such a human mind is sincerely and spiritually motivated, if such a human soul desires to know God and become like him, honestly wants to do the Father’s will, there exists no negative influence of mortal deprivation nor positive power of possible interference which can prevent such a divinely motivated soul from securely ascending to the portals of Paradise. UB 5:1.7
When I read The Urantia Book I feel myself in expansion, as a bird might feel when flying. Though the feeling is difficult to describe, I feel in connection with all of God’s creation. I suppose that all readers are similarly affected. As human beings, we are limited in understanding the love our Father feels for us. But even with our limitations, we can experience immense feelings of love, an ineffable connection with our Father.
Let us not allow such connection to disappear when performing our daily duties! Let it become a daily ritual, a part of us that we cannot live without! Let us fight against our limitations and bravely pass every test life gives us. Let us “learn to feast upon uncertainty, to fatten upon disappointment, to enthuse over apparent defeat, to invigorate in the presence of difficulties, to exhibit indomitable courage in the face of immensity, and to exercise unconquerable faith when confronted with the challenge of the inexplicable.” UB 26:5.3.
Let us not forget who we are and where are we going! Let us remember every day the commitment we have taken to search for truth. And with such a great revelation in our hands, let us put the teachings into practice, not just by believing them, but by living them motivated by love, activated by unselfish ministry, and with a true connection with our Father.
When I read The Urantia Book I feel myself in expansion, as a bird might feel when flying.