Reading The Urantia Book always amazes me. No matter how many times I read the same paragraph, I often find new meaning—a new revelation and then wonder how I hadn’t seen those meanings and values in my previous readings.
It confirms to me that a revelation can only be perceived when one is ready to see or feel it. Perhaps we are not ready to understand or perceive certain things until we have had certain experiences—ones that enable us to comprehend a message with the intended value no matter how many times the message previously crossed our eyes, our ears and our brain. The “evolutionary” construction of the book is also evident in our day-to-day lives with the many different issues we deal with on a daily basis and the understandings we reach in any given moment.
Indeed, a revelation implies that it is a subject we learn because someone revealed it to us, it is something that we wouldn’t be able to find out by ourselves simply because it is a matter that we can’t calculate, prove, or discover through our normal senses once it includes a reality beyond the reality we perceive. However, simply having someone tell us about it does not necessarily mean that we will capture it since we may not be ready yet to understand it at that moment. The conditions aren’t right yet for us to grasp their true meaning. But, once the right conditions are there, we can feel it, it is logical, it makes sense. For that reason, it will only impact us if we immediately perceive a value or a meaning in it.
Sometimes I catch myself thinking about how I would explain, for instance, to a Roman soldier, the features of a smart mobile phone. How much credibility would that soldier give me, and how much interest would I inspire to enable him to perceive the value of that fantastic revelation?
It also comes to my mind that perhaps this explains why service is so important for disseminating the Urantia Book teachings. It’s certainly difficult to start up a dissemination conversation about the Supreme Being, for instance. It may have the same impact on the audience as my cell phone would have on a Roman soldier. However, I guess anyone can understand and may be receptive to my willingness to serve, to be cooperative. Properly done it can bring comfort, trust and confidence, feelings that may give us the chance to approach the teachings from a receptive point of interest and grow from there.
I hope this reflection is inspiring and identifies opportunities to perform our mission of disseminating the Urantia Book teachings around the world through our dedicated services.