You can say that again Bradly. “Thank you UB.” What confounds me though, of all the people who’ve discovered the Urantia Book, poked around in it, even reading it in its entirety, very few of them actually take it for what it is. Take it serious.
Keryn: Really? How do you know? Have you identified “all the people who’ve discovered the Urantia Book” and assessed the degree to which each of them takes it seriously? What an odd statement!
Enno: I’ve been talking with more than a few people online who know of the UB. All of them tell me the UB isn’t their cup of tea, to put it mildly. About two dozen. That’s just in one place. It’s just one sample. Then I add in all the friends and family members I’ve introduced the Urantia Book to. That’s what I think is odd. That so many dismiss it. But I know why.
Keryn: Sure, but plenty of folks come across the book on their own and are very private about their serious study of a book that many would assume is a rather strange publication by mainstream society standards. Very few people know that I have read the TUB several times and that I believe wholeheartedly in what it teaches. I am very private about it. I think there are others like me. In fact, I would venture to say that TUB appeals to folks who are disinclined to showboat or evangelize or march around with a big sign saying “URANTIA BOOK READER”.
(Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if that’s what people feel called to do.)
Enno: The hard thing to do is to present Jesus’s teachings about true religion to someone without making references to the Urantia Book. I don’t think we’re supposed to keep this knowledge to ourselves.
I would agree with Keryn in multiple ways here. I am sorry for your suffering Enno. It is unfortunate…and offers no help, guidance, or value to those you seem so concerned about. The Master taught it is the fruit of the spirit that we may offer in service to others, not our knowledge. He also taught we are not to correct or remove anything from the minds of others but to add to and do so in ways that show forth our own inner light….or so I recall.
I would suggest it is futile, and potentially damaging, to frequent debunkers and non-believers, especially in the hopes of their enlightenment, ‘facilitated’ by your own beliefs and faith. You may not save any other from their own experience and choices. And over the decades Enno, and still today, I have met many hundreds of devoted readers who embrace the teachings of the UB, many of whom have or have had a greater understanding and knowledge of its contents than I. Lazy people abandon the UB…it’s a tough and long read the first 2-3 times, or at least some parts are and they come early in the text. People gripped by prejudice and preconception abandon the UB too. The world is filled with ‘truth-butterflies’ who cannot stay with any particular study long enough except to pick up a misconception here and another there, seeking confirmations of prejudice…..NOT truth. Get used to it. Not your responsibility.
It might be more helpful to your own experience to share the inner life with others without expectations of agreement. Each mind has its own religious experience and response to the Adjutants, God Fragment, and the Spirit of Truth and this is true no matter what knowledge or beliefs or lack of knowledge and inaccurate beliefs one might have.
This is the glorious good news presented in the UB. God knows the heart…and forgives all ignorance, confusions, immaturities, uncertainties, and error…and provides the Mansion Worlds for our remedial corrections in time, enjoying full mercy and patience.
I grew up being taught it was my responsibility to ‘save’ sinners from eternal damnation and suffering. Such anxiety and falsehood is far more damaging to one’s mind than anything any other might or might not know or believe.
The fact is, and Jesus proved and exemplified it well enough, there is no religionist that you cannot present the Gospel to in their own scriptures, teachings, creeds, and doctrines. It is foolish to require the UB to minister the truth to others…and a little lazy and sanctimonious….IMO….and I don’t mean to be harsh….your beliefs here are common enough….if still counterproductive. The 4th Revelation is obvious, real, and central to Christianity….use it! I convert Christians all the time….and argue against the heresies of the OT, Paul, and the book of Revelation very effectively. I convert them into Jesusonians….not UB readers. Do you know the Jesusonian Gospel as presented in the Bible? Can you differentiate it from Paulinian doctrine? And if a true Christian finds a doctrine which contradicts Jesus Gospel…have you seen the pause of consideration and bewilderment that occurs? I have. It’s a wonderful thing to see a light bulb blink on…even if it causes some confusion in its consideration. Good enough! Simply help someone to think and consider that which they already embrace in some form. What did Jesus teach? Teach that….and forget about the UB as some miracle of knowledge that others must accept to know love and find faith and attach to the branch and bring forth the fruits of the spirit.
Mind poisons deliver suffering. Anxiety and doubts are such poisons. Have you faith? Then have it to yourself. There’s a quote for that.
I hope Enno that you take this in the spirit of care and hope in which it has been written. Find peace Enno. Share that. It’ll be okay.
(1661.5) 148:5.3 “But, my son, you should know that the Father does not purposely afflict his children. Man brings down upon himself unnecessary affliction as a result of his persistent refusal to walk in the better ways of the divine will. Affliction is potential in evil, but much of it has been produced by sin and iniquity. Many unusual events have transpired on this world, and it is not strange that all thinking men should be perplexed by the scenes of suffering and affliction which they witness. But of one thing you may be sure: The Father does not send affliction as an arbitrary punishment for wrongdoing. The imperfections and handicaps of evil are inherent; the penalties of sin are inevitable; the destroying consequences of iniquity are inexorable. Man should not blame God for those afflictions which are the natural result of the life which he chooses to live; neither should man complain of those experiences which are a part of life as it is lived on this world. It is the Father’s will that mortal man should work persistently and consistently toward the betterment of his estate on earth. Intelligent application would enable man to overcome much of his earthly misery.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
