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Posts
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What is Treatise?
what has it in common with this Document thing.
sorry but I’m a bit lost. Probably for lack of interest in the revelations various organizations.
it seems to me that some people continue to be influenced as their will takes a back seat.
Bradly wrote: . . . it does take courage to admit to wrong choices, but also to less than perfect ones too.I think it’s more than courage, really. Doesn’t it also require humility? Tadpoleness? We can only recognize our wrong and less than perfect decisions if we’re actively growing, and growth requires humility, far as I can tell.
100:1.5 The soil essential for religious growth presupposes a progressive life of self-realization, the co-ordination of natural propensities, the exercise of curiosity and the enjoyment of reasonable adventure, the experiencing of feelings of satisfaction, the functioning of the fear stimulus of attention and awareness, the wonder-lure, and a normal consciousness of smallness, humility. Growth is also predicated on the discovery of selfhood accompanied by self-criticism – conscience, for conscience is really the criticism of oneself by one’s own value-habits, personal ideals.
Is there not unity and organization and government and authority and responsibility and dedication to fathers will in the realms from Morontia to Paradise?
The way I understand it (or the way I’m trying to understand it) is that whenever personality is bestowed in whatever strata or realm of God’s creation personality is found from the inhabited planets to Paradise, free will choice is bestowed. It’s part and parcel of personality (112:0.10). Mortals on our planet are at the bottom rung so to speak and God has provided sooooo much help to us and for us to achieve the actual doing of God’s will. The potential is there for each one of us. We have free will in the matter, so one’s destiny is always up to the individual (5:6.8) (112:5.5) (118:6.4) (118:7.7). Man’s ability to choose good or evil is a universe reality, and this is true of even angels and Lanonandek Sons, among other personalities.
54:3.1 The moral will creatures of the evolutionary worlds are always bothered with the unthinking question as to why the all-wise Creators permit evil and sin. They fail to comprehend that both are inevitable if the creature is to be truly free. The free will of evolving man or exquisite angel is not a mere philosophic concept, a symbolic ideal. Man’s ability to choose good or evil is a universe reality. This liberty to choose for oneself is an endowment of the Supreme Rulers, and they will not permit any being or group of beings to deprive a single personality in the wide universe of this divinely bestowed liberty — not even to satisfy such misguided and ignorant beings in the enjoyment of this misnamed personal liberty.To me it boils down to individual choice out here in Urantialand (and on the mansion worlds too). As for groups of individuals I recall the remark about how important teamwork is, as is the load-pulling spirit (81:6.37). Things go awry when groups aren’t working together and when they seem to work at odds with a similar group (for example the Fellowship continuing to publish its version of the UB in competition with the Foundation version). I agree with your point Gene about how the universe is organized and administered. I think these Urantialander organizations are trying to do the right thing. Time will tell. I think our planetary supervisors will make the best of what they have to work with. I think a Thought Adjuster does something similar by fostering the best it has to work with (the choices the individual makes over a lifetime) within such an individual, along with other TA work.
117:4.14 God’s gifts — his bestowal of reality — are not divorcements from himself; he does not alienate creation from himself, but he has set up tensions in the creations circling Paradise. God first loves man and confers upon him the potential of immortality — eternal reality. And as man loves God, so does man become eternal in actuality. And here is mystery: The more closely man approaches God through love, the greater the reality — actuality — of that man. The more man withdraws from God, the more nearly he approaches nonreality — cessation of existence. When man consecrates his will to the doing of the Father’s will, when man gives God all that he has, then does God make that man more than he is.. . .66:8.6 […] The free will of man is supreme in moral affairs; even the indwelling Thought Adjuster refuses to compel man to think a single thought or to perform a single act against the choosing of man’s own will.This quote kind of takes it to the top:
7:4.7 The Eternal Son is the personal trustee, the divine custodian, of the Father’s universal plan of creature ascension. Having promulgated the universal mandate, “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect,” the Father intrusted the execution of this tremendous undertaking to the Eternal Son; and the Eternal Son shares the fostering of this supernal enterprise with his divine co-ordinate, the Infinite Spirit. Thus do the Deities effectively co-operate in the work of creation, control, evolution, revelation, and ministration—and if required, in restoration and re- habilitation.
i take it that “ministration” can also easily be interpreted as administration? If not then maybe “control” is more suitable? And “re-Hab,” well maybe this is the norm on urantialand eh?
In either case if I misread this quote, humans have an urge to organize, make government, control, unify, have agreed upon goals, etc etc
where do you think this urge comes from? I believe it is part of personal revelation. Getting it right is a journey in effort and failure and rehab.
This, coming from someone who avoids this sort of stuff.
Gene wrote: In either case if I misread this quote, humans have an urge to organize, make government, control, unify, have agreed upon goals, etc etc where do you think this urge comes from?Mind always strives for unity, in fact, it is unity.
111:2.1 Throughout the mind functions of cosmic intelligence, the totality of mind is dominant over the parts of intellectual function. Mind, in its essence, is functional unity; therefore does mind never fail to manifest this constitutive unity, even when hampered and hindered by the unwise actions and choices of a misguided self. And this unity of mind invariably seeks for spirit co-ordination on all levels of its association with selves of will dignity and ascension prerogatives.
And personal mind is indwelt by the source of Unity itself which provides the focus of mind-spirit coordination.
133:7.7 Ideas are not simply a record of sensations; ideas are sensations plus the reflective interpretations of the personal self; and the self is more than the sum of one’s sensations. There begins to be something of an approach to unity in an evolving selfhood, and that unity is derived from the indwelling presence of a part of absolute unity which spiritually activates such a self-conscious animal-origin mind.
Dear Bonita,
Your reply to this topic landed in the spam folder yesterday. I found it there and moved it here today. Sorry about the glitch.
Moderator-1
I find this reference, indicating the unpredictability of mind, somewhat revealing to me of the fact of free will choice enjoyed even by the citizens of Havona. I bring it forward to compare this to our own free will and to point to the unpredictability of human mind and personality volition we’re endowed with.
14:2.9[Part I]Havona is a spiritually perfect and physically stable universe. The control and balanced stability of the central universe appear to be perfect. Everything physical or spiritual is perfectly predictable, but mind phenomena and personality volition are not. We do infer that sin can be reckoned as impossible of occurrence, but we do this on the ground that the native freewill creatures of Havona have never been guilty of transgressing the will of Deity. Through all eternity these supernal beings have been consistently loyal to the Eternals of Days. Neither has sin appeared in any creature who has entered Havona as a pilgrim. There has never been an instance of misconduct by any creature of any group of personalities ever created in, or admitted to, the central Havona universe. So perfect and so divine are the methods and means of selection in the universes of time that never in the records of Havona has an error occurred; no mistakes have ever been made; no ascendant soul has ever been prematurely admitted to the central universe..We are not predictable in how we use our prerogatives of choice, even we who are Urantialanders.
118:7.7 Subpersonal living things indicate mind activating energy-matter, first as physical controllers, and then as adjutant mind-spirits. Personality endowment comes from the Father and imparts unique prerogatives of choice to the living system. But if personality has the prerogative of exercising volitional choice of reality identification, and if this is a true and free choice, then must evolving personality also have the possible choice of becoming self-confusing, self-disrupting, and self-destroying. The possibility of cosmic self-destruction cannot be avoided if the evolving personality is to be truly free in the exercise of finite will.
I interpret the remarks of the person or persons who wrote the document referred to in this topic as not credible for the reason that those remarks incite fear. Those remarks are completely goofball in my opinion, but those people have the gift of free will choice and personality volition, and I cannot think of any human way to prevent anyone from saying or writing anything they want relative the the UB. I do think people will say and write all kinds of fanciful things about the book. Free will in action.
Hi Folks,
I’m a little late to join this discussion, but I only just today received a copy of the “Document” claimed to be authored by the Midwayer Commission and sent out by Nick Scalzo about a year ago. It proposes a solution to the disunity which has been going on between the three major Urantia organizations: Urantia Foundation, Urantia Book Fellowship, and Urantia Association International. That solution (simply paraphrased by me) is that the Foundation could reinstate the Urantia Brotherhood and both the Fellowship and the UAI could merge into the Brotherhood so that there would once again be one social organization of Urantia Book enthusiasts.
Regardless of what I believe about the authenticity of authorship of this document, I do love this “solution,” and I hope that someday we can have a united brotherhood of Urantia Book readers in one organization, just as our primary and secondary cousins joined together into the United Midwayers of Urantia. I remember the Urantia Brotherhood from the “good old days,” and while it had its problems, I think it was a wonderful organization. It grieves me to see my dear Urantia brothers and sisters divided into two groups, and I can’t help but feel deep within that Jesus would prefer us to all get along and work together as one and in one social organization, as the Urantia Brotherhood was originally devised. I hope that we’ll be able to catch the news about Urantia’s continuing evolution when we are on the Mansion Worlds, because I know UB readers are going to have to come together in unity sooner or later…it just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in my lifetime, I’m sad to say.
However, the reason I am writing at this late date is because I didn’t know if those of you interested in this topic have seen Carolyn Kendall’s article which she wrote back in the mid-1990s, when the fighting was at its worse. I tried to attach it here…hope it worked. She quotes some of the apocryphal statements that Dr. Sadler and his son had read to Forum members back before the book was published, and so you will see where so many ideas in the Nick Scalzo document really come from the early plans, thinking, and supposed revelatory statements made back in Dr. Sadler’s time.
By the way, I have known Nick personally for many years and he is not involved with the Teaching Mission nor, to my knowledge, has he ever been. Whether his personal experiences are truly spiritual or just psychological, I can’t say, but I can tell you that I love him as a brother and I respect him as a person who truly loves God and sincerely wants to do His will.
Thank you Joy, for sharing with us Carolyn Kendall’s writing. Posting it led me to print it out as well as the other “Document” posted originally which I must confess I didn’t print out and read in its entirety before.
Now that I’ve read both, many things have come to light. I see much better what the purpose of the Urantia Book is, better than I’ve ever imagined in fact. How there’s a great distinction between what the revelators intend for the individual “personally” and all mankind “institutionally” the Urantia movement institutions that don’t exist that is, but should, as intended and planned by the revelators.
It also has helped me to understand and “see” what’s going on in these forums and why.
Thanks again.
Enno
Hi Van and thanks for your reply. I really don’t know what to make of all this apochraphal stuff associated with the Urantia Book. Especially it was surprising to me to read in Carolyn Kendall’s paper that supposedly there had been continuous contact with higher spiritual beings up until the 80’s (which I assume means up until Christy died). It is my understanding that all of that “how to run a revelation” information that had been printed up and read to the forum members by Dr. Sadler and his son was supposed to be burned, and Carolyn even mentions this in her paper, and that Christy burned a bunch of it before she died. I also went to Chicago and spoke to some old forum folks when there were still a few who were alive, and at least two of them told me that the contact had been cut off back in the 1940s. The statement was, “You’re on your own.”
And personally, I believe that indeed, we are on our own in terms of the human activities associated with the Urantia Book. Just like humans were left to work out the details of spreading the fourth epochal revelation after Jesus left, so also I believe we are to work out the details of spreading this fifth epochal revelation. I just wish we could all get together and do this as a united effort, in one social organization, and quit the bickering. But alas, it appears that we are still so darn human, with our suspicions of each other, our upsets, blaming, and self-righteous feelings. Oh well. It’s a long road to Paradise and sooner or later we’ll all start loving and respecting each other and learning how to work together — even among fellow Urantia Book lovers.
I just wish we could all get together and do this as a united effort, in one social organization, and quit the bickering. But alas, it appears that we are still so darn human, with our suspicions of each other, our upsets, blaming, and self-righteous feelings. Oh well. It’s a long road to Paradise and sooner or later we’ll all start loving and respecting each other and learning how to work together — even among fellow Urantia Book lovers.
A Urantia church is what you are suggesting?
Ouch!
Hi Nelsong, and thanks for your reply.
No, I’m not much of a church person, and it’s my belief that the Urantia Book is here to uplift all religions, not simply be another church. However, I would very much like to see the UAI and the Urantia Book Fellowship join together once again in one organization. That is what I was referring to.
Greetings Joy!!
Welcome. I hope you will join other discussions here and bring your voice and perspective to the Forum.
As to the document, I pretty well exhausted my own view of it and its earlier version/precursor known as The One More Mile compilation which Nick authored over several years. Only with the latest version did Nick begin his claims of celestial authorship and authority to deliver the demands, deadlines, and threats now credited to or blamed on celestials. Funny metamorphosis that whole thing. Spiritual pride is a difficult entanglement that no one is immune to or so it seems.
Anyway, as to your hopes for a united and invigorated readership organization, you are certainly not alone. A reading of this entire thread might encourage you in your aspirations as there has been a steadily growing cooperation between the Fellowship and Association and there are many ideals and objectives shared in common. Evolutionary, experiential, and patient progress is likely to continue over time. Resentments most often die with those who cling to them….if not before!
Anyway, now happens to be the most exciting time in the movement’s history in my humble opinion. Lots going on around the world and lots to do for those with a shoulder to put to the wheel and willing to do so. Truly amazing!
Best wishes to you on the pilgrim’s path to Paradise!
Bradly = )
The main thing is that we become in time, a living example of brotherhood and friendship, of men and women, filled with the fruits of the spirit and that it becomes contagious for the whole world. (Especially for youth)
Are we the result of our actions?
Jesus did more in a few years of ministry than his disciples in more than two thousand years.
May Jesus be the unifying model for the realization of the era of light and life on earth.
In Unicity.
Samuel
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In French:
Le principal est que nous devenions dans le temps, un exemple vivant de fraternité et d’amitié, d’hommes et de femmes, remplie des fruits de l’esprit et que cela devienne contagieux pour le monde entier. (Surtout pour la jeunesse)
Sommes-nous le résultat de nos actions ?
Jésus à fait plus en quelques années de ministère que ses disciples en plus de deux mille ans.
C’est pour cela que ; Puisse Jésus être le modèle unificateur pour la concrétisation de l’ère de lumière et de vie sur terre.
En Unicité.
Samuel
Friendship enhances joys, glorifies the triumphs of life and fidelity is a treasure of the soul.
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