COMPILED BY: Certain members of the General Council of Urantia Brotherhood.
FOR: The files of the Executive Committee of the Urantia Brotherhood.
PRESENTED: 2 May, 1955
For a third time it seems appropriate to present to the Executive Committee certain wise comments and advices which have been gathered over a period of time and which pertain to the future problems of the Urantia Book and the Urantia Brotherhood. We submit the following:
In the past, we and our associates underwent the testing of delay . Not all stood the test well. Those who did not found their places filled with later arrivals. We have survived this season of lessened interest--this preliminary testing of delay.
Jesus followers passed through this experience in Samaria before he was openly published to the world. Many of them lost interest. Nothing of unusual import happened. Almost one half of them quietly dropped out. We have survived similar losses. We feel that all of this was a necessary part of the Providence selection of those who could be depended upon to bear sustained responsibilities with respect to the Book and the Brotherhood.
So did we survive the preliminary test of patience. And then we encountered the next test. If our first test was the endurance of delay, the second test was that of unity . We are still undergoing this test. We see and feel so many things differently, and yet we are proving our ability to pursue a steadfast and unrelenting program for the organization of the Brotherhood and the dissemination of the Book. Such effectiveness on the part of such diverse human beings could be secured only by the adoption of a plan. Group activities are effective only when they are organized or constitutionalized. We have been taught that we live in a universe run by law and regulated in accordance with the plans of the eternal purpose of the Gods.
Our particular mission is to function effectively through this transitional period which is witnessing the materialization of the book and which will lead to those future times when the social activities of Urantia believers will begin to function in the more formal organization of the Brotherhood. To do this effectively we must meet the test of trust and confidence. We must avoid suspicion as we would shun a deadly spiritual poison. We must make and practice of nipping suspicion in the bud. We must make sure that all short circuits of doubt and suspicion are avoided. In this manner may we keep our group intact.
Soon we are to encounter the test of trustworthiness . Do we have confidential capacity? Can we carry secrets, if necessary, to our graves? Again and again, when special experiences occurred in the work of Jesus and the twelve, he solemnly enjoined them, See that you tell no man. This pertains especially to the question of origin of the book.
We are a pioneer group; we are trail blazers. We are the first of our kind. The experience which awaits us is unprecedented, therefore it is unpredictable.
It is high time that we begin the rehearsal of our attitude as it is to be manifested at the time of the publication of the book. We as individuals and as a group are concerned only with the teachings of the book. The origin of the book is the concern of others. We have been instructed to remain silent concerning aught we may chance to know about the origin of the Urantia Book throughout the remainder of our lives.
We have been called to do a great work and ours is the transcendent privilege of presenting these papers to the people of our strife-torn world.
Supercilious scientists will ridicule us and some may even charge us with collusion and fraud. Well-meaning religionists will condemn us as enemies of the Christian religion and will accuse us of defaming Christ himself. Thousands of spiritually hungry souls will bless us for the message of the book, and thousands of others will condemn us for disturbing their theologic complacence.
Are we really ready for the baptism of joys and sorrows which will certainly attend upon the early distribution of The Urantia Book ?
Many strange isms and queer groups will seek to attach themselves to the Urantia Book and its far-flung influence. Our most trying experiences may well be with such groups who will so loudly acclaim their belief in the teachings of the book and who will so persistently seek to attach themselves to the movement. Great wisdom will be required to protect the newly forming Brotherhood from the distracting and distorting individuals, some well-intentioned and some sinister, who will strive to become a part of the authentic constituency of the Urantia Brotherhood.
We can really forecast very little about the reaction of the present generation to the teaching of the Urantia Book. But on the negative side, we can greatly lessen our persecution and ridicule by a reasonable exercise of foresight and wisdom. Our troubles will be greatly lessened if we avoid all discussion of the origin of the book. We should be determined to know but one thing--the soul-saving message of the book.
On the positive side, our responsibility consists in becoming so saturated with the fragrant truth of these teachings that all persons coming into contact with us will feel that we are truth lovers and spiritual explorers, that we are cosmic citizens engaged in the fascinating adventure of searching for God, and dedicated to the supreme passion of doing his divine will.