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Posts
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Mara wrote: Conscience. What is it?Here’s another bit about conscience:( 92:2:6) […] Conscience is not a divine voice speaking to the human soul. It is merely the sum total of the moral and ethical content of the mores of any current stage of existence; it simply represents the humanly conceived ideal of reaction in any given set of circumstances.Whereas moral consciousness is. . .(101:9:5) […] Moral consciousness is just a name applied to the human recognition and awareness of those ethical and emerging morontial values which duty demands that man shall abide by in the day-by-day control and guidance of conduct.But “true moral consciousness” is genuine spiritual faith.101:3:4 Through religious faith the soul of man reveals itself and demonstrates the potential divinity of its emerging nature by the characteristic manner in which it induces the mortal personality to react to certain trying intellectual and testing social situations. Genuine spiritual faith (true moral consciousness) is revealed in that it:.1. Causes ethics and morals to progress despite inherent and adverse animalistic tendencies..2. Produces a sublime trust in the goodness of God even in the face of bitter disappointment and crushing defeat..3. Generates profound courage and confidence despite natural adversity and physical calamity..4. Exhibits inexplicable poise and sustaining tranquillity notwithstanding baffling diseases and even acute physical suffering..5. Maintains a mysterious poise and composure of personality in the face of maltreatment and the rankest injustice..5. Maintains a mysterious poise and composure of personality in the face of maltreatment and the rankest injustice..7. Persists in the unswerving belief in God despite all contrary demonstrations of logic and successfully withstands all other intellectual sophistries..8. Continues to exhibit undaunted faith in the soul’s survival regardless of the deceptive teachings of false science and the persuasive delusions of unsound philosophy..9. Lives and triumphs irrespective of the crushing overload of the complex and partial civilizations of modern times..10. Contributes to the continued survival of altruism in spite of human selfishness, social antagonisms, industrial greeds, and political maladjustments..11. Steadfastly adheres to a sublime belief in universe unity and divine guidance regardless of the perplexing presence of evil and sin..12. Goes right on worshiping God in spite of anything and everything. Dares to declare, “Even though he slay me, yet will I serve him.”.(101:3:17) We know, then, by three phenomena, that man has a divine spirit or spirits dwelling within him: first, by personal experience–religious faith; second, by revelation–personal and racial; and third, by the amazing exhibition of such extraordinary and unnatural reactions to his material environment as are illustrated by the foregoing recital of twelve spiritlike performances in the presence of the actual and trying situations of real human existence. And there are still others..(101:3:17) And it is just such a vital and vigorous performance of faith in the domain of religion that entitles mortal man to affirm the personal possession and spiritual reality of that crowning endowment of human nature, religious experience..
Isn’t it marvelous to have true moral consciousness spelled out for us in the way? Faith in the domain of religion on a personal level causes, produces, generates, maintains, exhibits, persists, lives, triumphs, contributes, steadfastly adheres, in spite of anything and everything to worship God and declare what does it matter if all things earthly crash? I dedicate my soul to the indwelling spirit of the our eternal God.
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Meanwhile back at the ranch, ethical awakening is a big deal in advancement of social brotherhood. Jesus puts things in order for us.
(170:3:8) It therefore is evident that the true and inner religion of the kingdom unfailingly and increasingly tends to manifest itself in practical avenues of social service. Jesus taught a living religion that impelled its believers to engage in the doing of loving service. But Jesus did not put ethics in the place of religion. He taught religion as a cause and ethics as a result.
The most interesting thing about TUB is how it puts the life of Jesus in a much BIGGER context (and that is an understatement, no?).
So here is how Jesus (HIS religion in action) respected a SINCERE request to explore ethics by a Roman 2000 years ago – a down to earth and honest conversation about “wealth”, and I am sorry, but the disparity TODAY between the rich and everyone else is astronomical and is NOT honestly earned, so ANY social brotherhood will have to deal with it:
5. Counseling the Rich Man
132:5.1 (1462.2) A certain rich man, a Roman citizen and a Stoic, became greatly interested in Jesus’ teaching, having been introduced by Angamon. After many intimate conferences this wealthy citizen asked Jesus what he would do with wealth if he had it, and Jesus answered him: “I would bestow material wealth for the enhancement of material life, even as I would minister knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual service for the enrichment of the intellectual life, the ennoblement of the social life, and the advancement of the spiritual life. I would administer material wealth as a wise and effective trustee of the resources of one generation for the benefit and ennoblement of the next and succeeding generations.”
132:5.2 (1462.3) But the rich man was not fully satisfied with Jesus’ answer. He made bold to ask again: “But what do you think a man in my position should do with his wealth? Should I keep it, or should I give it away?” And when Jesus perceived that he really desired to know more of the truth about his loyalty to God and his duty to men, he further answered: “My good friend, I discern that you are a sincere seeker after wisdom and an honest lover of truth; therefore am I minded to lay before you my view of the solution of your problems having to do with the responsibilities of wealth. I do this because you have asked for my counsel, and in giving you this advice, I am not concerned with the wealth of any other rich man; I am offering advice only to you and for your personal guidance. If you honestly desire to regard your wealth as a trust, if you really wish to become a wise and efficient steward of your accumulated wealth, then would I counsel you to make the following analysis of the sources of your riches: Ask yourself, and do your best to find the honest answer, whence came this wealth? And as a help in the study of the sources of your great fortune, I would suggest that you bear in mind the following ten different methods of amassing material wealth:
132:5.3 (1462.4) “1. Inherited wealth — riches derived from parents and other ancestors.
132:5.4 (1462.5) “2. Discovered wealth — riches derived from the uncultivated resources of mother earth.
132:5.5 (1462.6) “3. Trade wealth — riches obtained as a fair profit in the exchange and barter of material goods.
132:5.6 (1462.7) “4. Unfair wealth — riches derived from the unfair exploitation or the enslavement of one’s fellows.
132:5.7 (1463.1) “5. Interest wealth — income derived from the fair and just earning possibilities of invested capital.
132:5.8 (1463.2) “6. Genius wealth — riches accruing from the rewards of the creative and inventive endowments of the human mind.
132:5.9 (1463.3) “7. Accidental wealth — riches derived from the generosity of one’s fellows or taking origin in the circumstances of life.
132:5.10 (1463.4) “8. Stolen wealth — riches secured by unfairness, dishonesty, theft, or fraud.
132:5.11 (1463.5) “9. Trust funds — wealth lodged in your hands by your fellows for some specific use, now or in the future.
132:5.12 (1463.6) “10. Earned wealth — riches derived directly from your own personal labor, the fair and just reward of your own daily efforts of mind and body.
132:5.13 (1463.7) “And so, my friend, if you would be a faithful and just steward of your large fortune, before God and in service to men, you must approximately divide your wealth into these ten grand divisions, and then proceed to administer each portion in accordance with the wise and honest interpretation of the laws of justice, equity, fairness, and true efficiency; albeit, the God of heaven would not condemn you if sometimes you erred, in doubtful situations, on the side of merciful and unselfish regard for the distress of the suffering victims of the unfortunate circumstances of mortal life. When in honest doubt about the equity and justice of material situations, let your decisions favor those who are in need, favor those who suffer the misfortune of undeserved hardships.”
132:5.14 (1463.8) After discussing these matters for several hours and in response to the rich man’s request for further and more detailed instruction, Jesus went on to amplify his advice, in substance saying: “While I offer further suggestions concerning your attitude toward wealth, I would admonish you to receive my counsel as given only to you and for your personal guidance. I speak only for myself and to you as an inquiring friend. I adjure you not to become a dictator as to how other rich men shall regard their wealth. I would advise you:
132:5.15 (1463.9) “1. As steward of inherited wealth you should consider its sources. You are under moral obligation to represent the past generation in the honest transmittal of legitimate wealth to succeeding generations after subtracting a fair toll for the benefit of the present generation. But you are not obligated to perpetuate any dishonesty or injustice involved in the unfair accumulation of wealth by your ancestors. Any portion of your inherited wealth which turns out to have been derived through fraud or unfairness, you may disburse in accordance with your convictions of justice, generosity, and restitution. The remainder of your legitimate inherited wealth you may use in equity and transmit in security as the trustee of one generation for another. Wise discrimination and sound judgment should dictate your decisions regarding the bequest of riches to your successors.
132:5.16 (1463.10) “2. Everyone who enjoys wealth as a result of discovery should remember that one individual can live on earth but a short season and should, therefore, make adequate provision for the sharing of these discoveries in helpful ways by the largest possible number of his fellow men. While the discoverer should not be denied all reward for efforts of discovery, neither should he selfishly presume to lay claim to all of the advantages and blessings to be derived from the uncovering of nature’s hoarded resources.
132:5.17 (1464.1) “3. As long as men choose to conduct the world’s business by trade and barter, they are entitled to a fair and legitimate profit. Every tradesman deserves wages for his services; the merchant is entitled to his hire. The fairness of trade and the honest treatment accorded one’s fellows in the organized business of the world create many different sorts of profit wealth, and all these sources of wealth must be judged by the highest principles of justice, honesty, and fairness. The honest trader should not hesitate to take the same profit which he would gladly accord his fellow trader in a similar transaction. While this sort of wealth is not identical with individually earned income when business dealings are conducted on a large scale, at the same time, such honestly accumulated wealth endows its possessor with a considerable equity as regards a voice in its subsequent distribution.
132:5.18 (1464.2) “4. No mortal who knows God and seeks to do the divine will can stoop to engage in the oppressions of wealth. No noble man will strive to accumulate riches and amass wealth-power by the enslavement or unfair exploitation of his brothers in the flesh. Riches are a moral curse and a spiritual stigma when they are derived from the sweat of oppressed mortal man. All such wealth should be restored to those who have thus been robbed or to their children and their children’s children. An enduring civilization cannot be built upon the practice of defrauding the laborer of his hire.
132:5.19 (1464.3) “5. Honest wealth is entitled to interest. As long as men borrow and lend, that which is fair interest may be collected provided the capital lent was legitimate wealth. First cleanse your capital before you lay claim to the interest. Do not become so small and grasping that you would stoop to the practice of usury. Never permit yourself to be so selfish as to employ money-power to gain unfair advantage over your struggling fellows. Yield not to the temptation to take usury from your brother in financial distress.
132:5.20 (1464.4) “6. If you chance to secure wealth by flights of genius, if your riches are derived from the rewards of inventive endowment, do not lay claim to an unfair portion of such rewards. The genius owes something to both his ancestors and his progeny; likewise is he under obligation to the race, nation, and circumstances of his inventive discoveries; he should also remember that it was as man among men that he labored and wrought out his inventions. It would be equally unjust to deprive the genius of all his increment of wealth. And it will ever be impossible for men to establish rules and regulations applicable equally to all these problems of the equitable distribution of wealth. You must first recognize man as your brother, and if you honestly desire to do by him as you would have him do by you, the commonplace dictates of justice, honesty, and fairness will guide you in the just and impartial settlement of every recurring problem of economic rewards and social justice.
132:5.21 (1464.5) “7. Except for the just and legitimate fees earned in administration, no man should lay personal claim to that wealth which time and chance may cause to fall into his hands. Accidental riches should be regarded somewhat in the light of a trust to be expended for the benefit of one’s social or economic group. The possessors of such wealth should be accorded the major voice in the determination of the wise and effective distribution of such unearned resources. Civilized man will not always look upon all that he controls as his personal and private possession.
132:5.22 (1465.1) “8. If any portion of your fortune has been knowingly derived from fraud; if aught of your wealth has been accumulated by dishonest practices or unfair methods; if your riches are the product of unjust dealings with your fellows, make haste to restore all these ill-gotten gains to the rightful owners. Make full amends and thus cleanse your fortune of all dishonest riches.
132:5.23 (1465.2) “9. The trusteeship of the wealth of one person for the benefit of others is a solemn and sacred responsibility. Do not hazard or jeopardize such a trust. Take for yourself of any trust only that which all honest men would allow.
132:5.24 (1465.3) “10. That part of your fortune which represents the earnings of your own mental and physical efforts — if your work has been done in fairness and equity — is truly your own. No man can gainsay your right to hold and use such wealth as you may see fit provided your exercise of this right does not work harm upon your fellows.”
Sabinatu wrote: . . .a SINCERE request. . .Yes, the individual you mention was sincere and sought wisdom about what he should do with his wealth. Jesus perceived that he really desired to know more of the truth about his loyalty to God and his duty to men. The man’s faith in God and his duty to men were very much on his mind and he prevailed upon Jesus to tell him more. Jesus did so and prefaced his remarks with the caveat that he, Jesus, was not concerned with the wealth of any other rich man, and, that he offered advice only to this man and for his personal guidance.( 132:5:0 ) “My good friend, I discern that you are a sincere seeker after wisdom and an honest lover of truth; therefore am I minded to lay before you my view of the solution of your problems having to do with the responsibilities of wealth. I do this because you have asked for my counsel, and in giving you this advice, I am not concerned with the wealth of any other rich man; I am offering advice only to you and for your personal guidance.“.Money cannot buy social brotherhood. Jesus said money cannot love. To Rebecca said something to the effect that no amount of money could take the place of his obligation personally to rear his father’s family, to “fulfill the most sacred of all human trusts — loyalty to one’s own flesh and blood.” (127:5:3).How many times did Jesus say, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and render to God the things that are God’s”? (174:2:2) If you and I render to God the things that are God’s, then day by day our families, the neighborhoods, communities, and so on will inch closer to the ethical awakening of which the revelators inform us is necessary to achieve social brotherhood on our world.Jesus obviously did not want the Roman to create an “ism” which does NOT happen when you have the IDEAL way to approach the problems that come with wealth accumulation – paragraph right above the one you cut and pasted, Mara:
Jesus answered him: “I would bestow material wealth for the enhancement of material life, even as I would minister knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual service for the enrichment of the intellectual life, the ennoblement of the social life, and the advancement of the spiritual life. I would administer material wealth as a wise and effective trustee of the resources of one generation for the benefit and ennoblement of the next and succeeding generations.”
Also, Jesus did not JUDGE, directly, because he used the positive method – listing ALL the different ways the Roman had access to wealth accumulation in the Roman Empire….
Sabinatu wrote: You must first recognize man as your brother…From recognition of your own sonship status, inevitably follows, recognition of this same status of our fellows, this is social brotherhood.We do live in a friendly universe and we can take great comfort in Jesus’ teaching that there is nothing to fear for those firm in their sonship status as he has confirmed we have every right to be.“…I have absolute confidence in my heavenly Father’s overcare; I am consecrated to doing the will of my Father in heaven. I do not believe that real harm can befall me; I do not believe that my lifework can really be jeopardized by anything my enemies might wish to visit upon me, and surely we have no violence to fear from our friends. I am absolutely assured that the entire universe is friendly to me — this all-powerful truth I insist on believing with a wholehearted trust in spite of all appearances to the contrary.” [Paper 133:1.4, page 1469:3]
Vern wrote: From recognition of your own sonship status, inevitably follows, recognition of this same status of our fellows, this is social brotherhood.This reminds me of these thought-provoking remarks.(156:5:14) Spiritual living mightily increases true self-respect. But self-respect is not self-admiration. Self-respect is always co-ordinate with the love and service of one’s fellows. It is not possible to respect yourself more than you love your neighbor; the one is the measure of the capacity for the other.@Vern – I do not know when it happened, maybe because it was a gradual progress, but my fear button is never activated by those who seek to activate it through basic psychological savagery that is akin to holding your child hostage at gunpoint – your child being a metaphor for the “future” in a philosophical sense. Did “faith” play a part in becoming fearless? If it did then I will default to the one-liner – “If you have faith, then keep it to yourself.” I own the faith I have. Caesar can’t foreclose on it
Self-respect? A habit long ago started and NURTURED by parents who really did dedicate their parenting towards “raising” me – spiritually. Realized the “spiritual” part at about 15 years old when the first major crisis appeared – the usual “bullying” stuff that happens in school. I agree with the TUB that says that people who choose one or the other, exclusively, God or Caesar, suffer less intellectual confusion, in general. If you can’t take it with you, the truth of what kind of life is led when it is all about giving to Caesar, then to quote the Bard in his play, “All the world’s a stage…” A game…. That philosophy of living never attracted me, where’s the love? Where’s the truth, beauty and goodness…?
Social brotherhoods are fluid and will always be more than the individual part that is held in common. The unifying belief, if you will.
Who is going to be offended if a deep study of TUB regarding a social brotherhood is frank and truthful? Attack the book if you must, don’t attack the reader with innuendo using cut and paste functions
ALL of problems in the NOW can be “raised” for a solution ala the Descenders meeting the Ascenders.
I wonder what happened to the “social brotherhood” of the church of my childhood because I miss their intellectual, moral and spiritual PROTECTION. It is a depressing story of what happens when “church” is not kept separate from “state”.
Truth seekers who seek the truth “for the greater good” have no protectors and are even told (channeled updates to TUB?!) that they have no RIGHT to defend against PREDATORS. So yes, I am interested where this fashionable “social brotherhood” is going to go – wh
God’s love does not love unreality. Now THAT is a deep study of TUB that is a unifying truth for a “social brotherhood” to embrace.
In the meantime, just want to find a social brotherhood of “Christians” who do not ask for a pledge of allegiance to the atonement doctrine to enter their secret club…yeah, good luck with that, right? I might find a bone-fide unicorn first…
To reiterate: To love your neighbor as yourself is the highest ethics. While Jesus has shown the way to the immediate attainment of spiritual brotherhood, the realization of social brotherhood on your world depends much on the achievement of the following personal transformations and planetary adjustments:
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(52:6:5) 3. Ethical awakening. Only ethical consciousness can unmask the immorality of human intolerance and the sinfulness of fratricidal strife. Only a moral conscience can condemn the evils of national envy and racial jealousy. Only moral beings will ever seek for that spiritual insight which is essential to living the golden rule. .
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It’s easy to roll the golden rule off the tongue, but look at these fascinating comments that add depth to what is considered the highest ethics, the rule of conduct satisfied only when we love our fellows as Jesus loves us all.
(180:5:5 ) The golden rule, when divested of the superhuman insight of the Spirit of Truth, becomes nothing more than a rule of high ethical conduct. The golden rule, when literally interpreted, may become the instrument of great offense to one’s fellows. Without a spiritual discernment of the golden rule of wisdom you might reason that, since you are desirous that all men speak the full and frank truth of their minds to you, you should therefore fully and frankly speak the full thought of your mind to your fellow beings. Such an unspiritual interpretation of the golden rule might result in untold unhappiness and no end of sorrow.
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( 180:5:6 ) Some persons discern and interpret the golden rule as a purely intellectual affirmation of human fraternity. Others experience this expression of human relationship as an emotional gratification of the tender feelings of the human personality. Another mortal recognizes this same golden rule as the yardstick for measuring all social relations, the standard of social conduct. Still others look upon it as being the positive injunction of a great moral teacher who embodied in this statement the highest concept of moral obligation as regards all fraternal relationships. In the lives of such moral beings the golden rule becomes the wise center and circumference of all their philosophy.
( 180:5:6 ) In the kingdom of the believing brotherhood of God-knowing truth lovers, this golden rule takes on living qualities of spiritual realization on those higher levels of interpretation which cause the mortal sons of God to view this injunction of the Master as requiring them so to relate themselves to their fellows that they will receive the highest possible good as a result of the believer’s contact with them. This is the essence of true religion: that you love your neighbor as yourself.
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(180:5:6 ) But the highest realization and the truest interpretation of the golden rule consists in the consciousness of the spirit of the truth of the enduring and living reality of such a divine declaration. The true cosmic meaning of this rule of universal relationship is revealed only in its spiritual realization, in the interpretation of the law of conduct by the spirit of the Son to the spirit of the Father that indwells the soul of mortal man. And when such spirit-led mortals realize the true meaning of this golden rule, they are filled to overflowing with the assurance of citizenship in a friendly universe, and their ideals of spirit reality are satisfied only when they love their fellows as Jesus loved us all, and that is the reality of the realization of the love of God.
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( 180:5:7 ) . . . injunction of the Master as requiring them so to relate themselves to their fellows that they will receive the highest possible good as a result of the believer’s contact with them. This is the essence of true religion: that you love your neighbor as yourself.
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Isn’t this public forum the place to accomplish the Master’s injunction? I think so. This injunction is what motivates me to post on this forum – that you, my fellow travelers, will receive the highest possible good as a result of your reading what I post. My goal is not to drag the conversations down, but rather to lift them up. I am a finite mortal person endowed with what you are endowed with: all the gifts given from God; a lot of potentials not yet actualized; a lot of help from our unseen friends; an inquiring mind; a desire to share. On ethics I would like to share these:
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(160:5:5) The social characteristics of a true religion consist in the fact that it invariably seeks to convert the individual and to transform the world. Religion implies the existence of undiscovered ideals which far transcend the known standards of ethics and morality embodied in even the highest social usages of the most mature institutions of civilization. Religion reaches out for undiscovered ideals, unexplored realities, superhuman values, divine wisdom, and true spirit attainment. True religion does all of this; all other beliefs are not worthy of the name. You cannot have a genuine spiritual religion without the supreme and supernal ideal of an eternal God. A religion without this God is an invention of man, a human institution of lifeless intellectual beliefs and meaningless emotional ceremonies. A religion might claim as the object of its devotion a great ideal. But such ideals of unreality are not attainable; such a concept is illusionary. The only ideals susceptible of human attainment are the divine realities of the infinite values resident in the spiritual fact of the eternal God.
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(27:3:1) The higher you ascend in the scale of life, the more attention must be paid to universe ethics. Ethical awareness is simply the recognition by any individual of the rights inherent in the existence of any and all other individuals. But spiritual ethics far transcends the mortal and even the morontia concept of personal and group relations.
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( 28:6:18) This is not an egocentric universe. The Gods have decreed, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and said your Master Son, “He who would be greatest among you let him be server of all.”
Here is the fourth in the list of areas of personal transformations and planetary adjustments necessary to achieve social brotherhood. Interesting to me the revelators highlight self-control and emotional maturity.
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4. Political wisdom. Emotional maturity is essential to self-control. Only emotional maturity will insure the substitution of international techniques of civilized adjudication for the barbarous arbitrament of war. Wise statesmen will sometime work for the welfare of humanity even while they strive to promote the interest of their national or racial groups. Selfish political sagacity is ultimately suicidal–destructive of all those enduring qualities which insure planetary group survival.
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A side-note about the self and maturity relative to wisdom.
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(118:1:5) In the maturity of the developing self, the past and future are brought together to illuminate the true meaning of the present. As the self matures, it reaches further and further back into the past for experience, while its wisdom forecasts seek to penetrate deeper and deeper into the unknown future. And as the conceiving self extends this reach ever further into both past and future, so does judgment become less and less dependent on the momentary present. In this way does decision-action begin to escape from the fetters of the moving present, while it begins to take on the aspects of past-future significance.
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(160:1:6) When men dare to forsake a life of natural craving for one of adventurous art and uncertain logic, they must expect to suffer the consequent hazards of emotional casualties–conflicts, unhappiness, and uncertainties–at least until the time of their attainment of some degree of intellectual and emotional maturity. Discouragement, worry, and indolence are positive evidence of moral immaturity. Human society is confronted with two problems: attainment of the maturity of the individual and attainment of the maturity of the race. The mature human being soon begins to look upon all other mortals with feelings of tenderness and with emotions of tolerance. Mature men view immature folks with the love and consideration that parents bear their children.
I selected this reference to draw attention to an explanation of both personal and of group and national difficulties.
( 111:4:10 ) Ideas may take origin in the stimuli of the outer world, but ideals are born only in the creative realms of the inner world. Today the nations of the world are directed by men who have a superabundance of ideas, but they are poverty-stricken in ideals. That is the explanation of poverty, divorce, war, and racial hatreds.
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Wise statesmen will sometime work for the welfare of humanity, among other things. Do we expect our statesmen to be religionists? I don’t like religious promotions and religious propaganda promulgated by statesmen, but I do look for crumbs of faith-conviction to assure me the individual is a religionist.
(99:2:3) Religionists must function in society, in industry, and in politics as individuals, not as groups, parties, or institutions. A religious group which presumes to function as such, apart from religious activities, immediately becomes a political party, an economic organization, or a social institution. Religious collectivism must confine its efforts to the furtherance of religious causes.
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Jesus counseled James Zebedee.
( 181:2:15) […] You and your brother John will go different ways, and one of you may sit down with me in the eternal kingdom long before the other. It would help you much if you would learn that true wisdom embraces discretion as well as courage. You should learn sagacity to go along with your aggressiveness.
There are no “chosen people”.
That is an experiential and collective wisdom that allows for global progress towards peace.
Mara wrote: (111:4:10 ) […] Today the nations of the world are directed by men who have a superabundance of ideas, but they are poverty-stricken in ideals.Poverty-stricken in ideals. That’s a very strong statement as an explanation of poverty, divorce, war, and racial hatreds. Social brotherhood is an ideal and I think it is inevitable on our world. I want to share with you a series of references pertaining to “ideals”. One of the first ones that come to my mind is this one that pertains to both you and me..( 156:5:16 ) Are your ideals sufficiently high to insure your eternal salvation while your ideas are so practical as to render you a useful citizen to function on earth in association with your mortal fellows? In the spirit, your citizenship is in heaven; in the flesh, you are still citizens of the earth kingdoms. Render to the Caesars the things which are material and to God those which are spiritual..Next, in the least material of society’s achievements (and what do you suppose those are?) is resident the driving-power of even the most material aspects of cultural civilization. The one uplifts the other..81:6:27 Ideals elevate the source of the social stream. And no stream will rise any higher than its source no matter what technique of pressure or directional control may be employed. The driving power of even the most material aspects of a cultural civilization is resident in the least material of society’s achievements. Intelligence may control the mechanism of civilization, wisdom may direct it, but spiritual idealism is the energy which really uplifts and advances human culture from one level of attainment to another..Again, the cultural movement of a race or nation will go forward or backward by the quality of the ideals of any given generation. The character trend of a succeeding generation, they tell us, is evident in the homes, churches and schools of the current generation.The ideals of one generation carve out the channels of destiny for immediate posterity. The quality of the social torchbearers will determine whether civilization goes forward or backward. The homes, churches, and schools of one generation predetermine the character trend of the succeeding generation. The moral and spiritual momentum of a race or a nation largely determines the cultural velocity of that civilization..Urantia has made a beginning..(81:6:40) Man should be unafraid to experiment with the mechanisms of society. But always should these adventures in cultural adjustment be controlled by those who are fully conversant with the history of social evolution; and always should these innovators be counseled by the wisdom of those who have had practical experience in the domains of contemplated social or economic experiment. No great social or economic change should be attempted suddenly. Time is essential to all types of human adjustment — physical, social, or economic. Only moral and spiritual adjustments can be made on the spur of the moment, and even these require the passing of time for the full outworking of their material and social repercussions. The ideals of the race are the chief support and assurance during the critical times when civilization is in transit from one level to another..(71:8:15) . . . civilized races have made a beginning–mankind is on the march toward higher evolutionary destinies..The social ship is on the high seas of evolutionary destiny.(99:1:3) Urantia society can never hope to settle down as in past ages. The social ship has steamed out of the sheltered bays of established tradition and has begun its cruise upon the high seas of evolutionary destiny; and the soul of man, as never before in the world’s history, needs carefully to scrutinize its charts of morality and painstakingly to observe the compass of religious guidance. The paramount mission of religion as a social influence is to stabilize the ideals of mankind during these dangerous times of transition from one phase of civilization to another, from one level of culture to another..Take heart, Jesus said, “I will pour out this same spirit upon all flesh. The fruits of the spirit, your sincere and loving service, are the mighty social lever to uplift the races of darkness, and this Spirit of Truth will become your power-multiplying fulcrum.” (178:1:6) He did and the SoT does.Paper 99 – “…..The paramount mission of religion as a social influence is to stabilize the ideals of mankind during these dangerous times of transition from one phase of civilization to another, from one level of culture to another….”
The mechanistic insiders gallivanting in the PHYSICAL archives of millennia preserved by “church” have decided to go “delusional” to the crisis instead – what IS this endless NOISE…?
http://www.rt.com/news/313565-jesus-married-science-history/
“brainiacs”….? how about just “nutz”?
Mara wrote: (52:6:6) […] Wise statesmen will sometime work for the welfare of humanity even while they strive to promote the interest of their national or racial groups.
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Regarding wisdom I always recall what Proverbs reports King Solomon said, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
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Political wisdom pertains to those men and women – statesmen – who by their own inclinations, talent and choice have aimed for and have achieved, regardless of the method, the privilege of working in arenas of decision-making of states and nations. These are people who have positions of political leadership in high places. Those who have political leadership in low places are developing their political worth in public affairs. Until I read the UB I had no idea the maximum of able leadership in a population is limited.
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( 81:6:42 ) Leadership is vital to progress. Wisdom, insight, and foresight are indispensable to the endurance of nations. Civilization is never really jeopardized until able leadership begins to vanish. And the quantity of such wise leadership has never exceeded one per cent of the population.
( ) . Effective and wise leadership. In civilization much, very much, depends on an enthusiastic and effective load-pulling spirit. Ten men are of little more value than one in lifting a great load unless they lift together–all at the same moment. And such teamwork–social co-operation–is dependent on leadership. The cultural civilizations of the past and the present have been based upon the intelligent co-operation of the citizenry with wise and progressive leaders; and until man evolves to higher levels, civilization will continue to be dependent on wise and vigorous leadership.
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Much ado has been made by some UB readers about the reserve corps of destiny, because some readers flatter themselves to think they are members of this corps. Such ideas amaze me. But I often wonder whether some individuals who rise to positions of political leadership and statesmanship in my country and other countries as well are reservist liaisons to the superhuman administration of world affairs.
( 114:7:1) The reserve corps of destiny consists of living men and women who have been admitted to the special service of the superhuman administration of world affairs. This corps is made up of the men and women of each generation who are chosen by the spirit directors of the realm to assist in the conduct of the ministry of mercy and wisdom to the children of time on the evolutionary worlds. It is the general practice in the conduct of the affairs of the ascension plans to begin this liaison utilization of mortal will creatures immediately they are competent and trustworthy to assume such responsibilities. Accordingly, as soon as men and women appear on the stage of temporal action with sufficient mental capacity, adequate moral status, and requisite spirituality, they are quickly assigned to the appropriate celestial group of planetary personalities as human liaisons, mortal assistants.
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Do you think reservists know they are reservists?
When human beings are chosen as protectors of planetary destiny, when they become pivotal individuals in the plans which the world administrators are prosecuting, at that time the planetary chief of seraphim confirms their temporal attachment to the seraphic corps and appoints personal destiny guardians to serve with these mortal reservists. All reservists have self-conscious Adjusters, and most of them function in the higher cosmic circles of intellectual achievement and spiritual attainment.
Mortals of the realm are chosen for service in the reserve corps of destiny on the inhabited worlds because of:
1. Special capacity for being secretly rehearsed for numerous possible emergency missions in the conduct of various activities of world affairs.
2. Wholehearted dedication to some special social, economic, political, spiritual, or other cause, coupled with willingness to serve without human recognition and rewards.
3. The possession of a Thought Adjuster of extraordinary versatility and probable pre-Urantia experience in coping with planetary difficulties and contending with impending world emergency situations.
Each division of planetary celestial service is entitled to a liaison corps of these mortals of destiny standing. The average inhabited world employs seventy separate corps of destiny, which are intimately connected with the superhuman current conduct of world affairs. On Urantia there are twelve reserve corps of destiny, one for each of the planetary groups of seraphic supervision.
The twelve groups of Urantia destiny reservists are composed of mortal inhabitants of the sphere who have been rehearsed for numerous crucial positions on earth and are held in readiness to act in possible planetary emergencies. This combined corps now consists of 962 persons. The smallest corps numbers 41 and the largest 172. With the exception of less than a score of contact personalities, the members of this unique group are wholly unconscious of their preparation for possible function in certain planetary crises. These mortal reservists are chosen by the corps to which they are respectively attached and are likewise trained and rehearsed in the deep mind by the combined technique of Thought Adjuster and seraphic guardian ministry. Many times numerous other celestial personalities participate in this unconscious training, and in all this special preparation the midwayers perform valuable and indispensable services.
On many worlds the better adapted secondary midway creatures are able to attain varying degrees of contact with the Thought Adjusters of certain favorably constituted mortals through the skillful penetration of the minds of the latters’ indwelling. (And it was by just such a fortuitous combination of cosmic adjustments that these revelations were materialized in the English language on Urantia.) Such potential contact mortals of the evolutionary worlds are mobilized in the numerous reserve corps, and it is, to a certain extent, through these small groups of forward-looking personalities that spiritual civilization is advanced and the Most Highs are able to rule in the kingdoms of men. The men and women of these reserve corps of destiny thus have various degrees of contact with their Adjusters through the intervening ministry of the midway creatures; but these same mortals are little known to their fellows except in those rare social emergencies and spiritual exigencies wherein these reserve personalities function for the prevention of the breakdown of evolutionary culture or the extinction of the light of living truth. On Urantia these reservists of destiny have seldom been emblazoned on the pages of human history
The reservists unconsciously act as conservators of essential planetary information. Many times, upon the death of a reservist, a transfer of certain vital data from the mind of the dying reservist to a younger successor is made by a liaison of the two Thought Adjusters. The Adjusters undoubtedly function in many other ways unknown to us, in connection with these reserve corps.
On Urantia the reserve corps of destiny, though having no permanent head, does have its own permanent councils which constitute its governing organization. These embrace the judiciary council, the historicity council, the council on political sovereignty, and many others. From time to time, in accordance with the corps organization, titular (mortal) heads of the whole reserve corps have been commissioned by these permanent councils for specific function. The tenure of such reservist chiefs is usually a matter of a few hours’ duration, being limited to the accomplishment of some specific task at hand.
The Urantia reserve corps had its largest membership in the days of the Adamites and Andites, steadily declining with the dilution of the violet blood and reaching its low point around the time of Pentecost, since which time reserve corps membership has steadily increased.
(The cosmic reserve corps of universe-conscious citizens on Urantia now numbers over one thousand mortals whose insight of cosmic citizenship far transcends the sphere of their terrestrial abode, but I am forbidden to reveal the real nature of the function of this unique group of living human beings.)
Urantia mortals should not allow the comparative spiritual isolation of their world from certain of the local universe circuits to produce a feeling of cosmic desertion or planetary orphanage. There is operative on the planet a very definite and effective superhuman supervision of world affairs and human destinies.
But it is true that you can have, at best, only a meager idea of an ideal planetary government. Since the early times of the Planetary Prince, Urantia has suffered from the miscarriage of the divine plan of world growth and racial development. The loyal inhabited worlds of Satania are not governed as is Urantia. Nevertheless, compared with the other isolated worlds, your planetary governments have not been so inferior; only one or two worlds may be said to be worse, and a few may be slightly better, but the majority are on a plane of equality with you.
No one in the local universe seems to know when the unsettled status of the planetary administration will terminate. The Nebadon Melchizedeks are inclined to the opinion that little change will occur in the planetary government and administration until Michael’s second personal arrival on Urantia. Undoubtedly at this time, if not before, sweeping changes will be effected in planetary management. But as to the nature of such modifications of world administration, no one seems to be able even to conjecture. There is no precedent for such an episode in all the history of the inhabited worlds of the universe of Nebadon. Among the many things difficult to understand concerning the future government of Urantia, a prominent one is the location on the planet of a circuit and divisional headquarters of the archangels.
Your isolated world is not forgotten in the counsels of the universe. Urantia is not a cosmic orphan stigmatized by sin and shut away from divine watchcare by rebellion. From Uversa to Salvington and on down to Jerusem, even in Havona and on Paradise, they all know we are here; and you mortals now dwelling on Urantia are just as lovingly cherished and just as faithfully watched over as if the sphere had never been betrayed by a faithless Planetary Prince, even more so. It is eternally true, “the Father himself loves you.”
[Presented by the Chief of Seraphim stationed on Urantia.]
Paper 81 – “….And the quantity of such wise leadership has never exceeded one per cent of the population….”
Too bad it doesn’t CLEARLY state that women are included in the word “population”
@Mara – Well, when you look at the mortal life of The Son of Man, and chew over the fact that that was the only epochal revelation that did not fail, and now add in TUB to put that history (Jesus) in the context of cosmic “reality”, it stands to reason that “reservists” are being added. It also stands to reason that it could become confusing who is and isn’t one. And even if you are a “reservist”, you might only be one for a specific mission and not a long term “wise leadership” person….“…..The tenure of such reservist chiefs is usually a matter of a few hours’ duration, being limited to the accomplishment of some specific task at hand….”
What I am sure about is that there are 1%ers (Caesars) who do decide who is a threat to their kingdom and send out hit squads. That being the case means they are definitely reading along on “religion” discussion boards to figure out who is the “reservist”. So far Caesar does not seem to be taking any of the self-proclaimed “reservists” seriously….everyone has to make a living somehow, right?
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