The Cosmic Citizen

This week we explore Paper 194 - Bestowal of the Spirit of Truth. The Paper describes what happened at Pentecost as many original believers in Jesus gathered in Jerusalem. As they prayed together they became filled with a new consciousness of spiritual joy and power, followed by an urge to publicly proclaim Jesus' gospel message. The Spirit of Truth, the promised new teacher, had indeed arrived. The apostles emerged from forty days in hiding and began to preach their new message in the temple. Peter delivered an appeal which won more than two thousand souls to the Kingdom. The Jewish leaders were astounded at the apostles' boldness. Jesus' followers quickly discovered that the story of his resurrection held great allure. The gospel of the Fatherhood of God quickly changed into the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The apostles proclaimed the facts of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and the fervent hope of his imminent return. Pentecost was a call to spiritual unity among believers. Jesus' Spirit of Truth girds believers with unfailing forgiveness, matchless goodwill, and boundless love and set them free from discrimination based on sex, race, culture, and social status. The life and death of Jesus eternally prove that goodness and faith will always prevail over evil and doubt. Jesus revealed God to mankind and the Spirit of Truth reveals Jesus to mankind. The mission of the Spirit is to foster and personalize truth and to destroy mortal feelings of orphanhood. The Spirit of Truth purifies the human heart and leads us to commit to the will of God and the welfare of humankind. The joy of this Spirit is a tonic for health, a stimulus for mind, and an unfailing energy for the soul. The Spirit of Truth brings a restatement of the message of Jesus to every new generation of believers, providing personal enlightenment and guidance for the spiritual difficulties of mortal life. Please join us!

WORSHIP AND PRAYER ARE KEY FEATURES OF PERSONAL RELIGION.  Jesus’ frequent sessions of personal prayer, meditation, and worship are eloquent evidence that personal religion includes worship and prayer. He analyzed these practices in considerable depth: Worship — contemplation of the spiritual — must alternate with service, contact with material reality. Work should alternate with play; religion should be balanced by humor. Profound philosophy should be relieved by rhythmic poetry. The strain of living — the time tension of personality — should be relaxed by the restfulness of worship.  … Prayer is self-reminding — sublime thinking; worship is self-forgetting — superthinking. Worship is effortless attention, true and ideal soul rest, a form of restful spiritual exertion.  [The Midwayer Commission, 1616:5,9 / 143:7.3,7] Since a Melchizedek tells us that religion "never leads to social isolation" [a Melchizedek, 1100:7 / 100:6.5], it is entirely reasonable to believe that personal religion can include group prayer, group worship, or both. Participants will discuss the circumstances in which this is helpful and appropriate. Log onto Cosmic Citizen for the Special Edition on Sunday the 11th of March, starting at 3:00 PM in Colorado (Mountain Time). This will be the eighth and final broadcast of a series of stimulating and perhaps intriguing programs during which experienced readers have been exchanging ideas and insights on topic 7 of Revelation Revealed, “The extended transition from institutional to personal religion.” Listeners who do not have Revelation Revealed on hand should download it from http://www.globalendeavor.net.

Barb Maier of Urantian Communities Northwest (UCNOW) will be our guest this week and she is excited to announce that that UCNOW is hosting a regional conference next summer in Oregon. UCNOW is a 'super-regional’ non-affiliated organization that was formed to better serve and support The Urantia Book readership of Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Although their community focus is within that region, they are pleased to invite everyone to join in a deepening of relationships. The gathering will be at a retreat center in the remote northeastern corner of Oregon — beautifully situated at the base of the Wallowa Mountains, where all will explore this natural wonderland while growing and deepening eternal relationships with each other. Save this date - September 6-9, 2018 Title: 2018 Gathering at Wallowa Lake   Theme: Growing Relationships: Human + Divine   Location: Wallowa Lake Camp ~ Joseph, Oregon Many attendees plan to extend this experience by camping at the nearby Wallowa State Park after the conference. Hiking, horseback riding, and water activities are abundantly available. Also, Susan Cook & Tom Choquette will join us to talk about a spiritual retreat they are sponsoring: Personal Spiritual Growth: Connecting deeper with God. There is nothing more important in our earthly career than growing spiritually and closer to God. While here, we get an incredible amount of help if we will accept it. You are invited to our gathering over Memorial Day weekend to delve in and explore deeply how to grow closer to our Mother and Father and grow more spiritually attuned. Please tune in to learn about these two wonderful upcoming events!

PERSONAL RELIGION IS A LIVING LOVE, A LIFE OF SERVICE REFLECTING UNITY OF EXPERIENCE.  Personal religion does not mean that an individual is setting himself or herself apart from others. To the contrary, a Melchizedek tells us: "[T]rue religion is a living love, a life of service" [a Melchizedek, 1100:7 / 100:6.5]. Further, Jesus assures us: "[T]he religion of the spirit grows into the increasing joy and liberty of ennobling deeds of loving service and merciful ministration" [the Midwayer Commission, 1732:2 / 155:6.9]. In addition, he states: "When you once begin to find God in your soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men’s souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a mighty universe" [the Midwayer Commission, 1733:1 / 155:6.13]. After all, personal religion is not aimed at  "uniformity in belief" or "uniformity of viewpoint and outlook"; instead, we are seeking "unity of experience — uniformity of destiny" [the Midwayer Commission, 1732:2 / 155:6.9]. Even so, these achievements of personal religion do not enter the mind or soul as a theory or abstraction. Instead, they require active personal effort that includes "thoughtful contemplation," on the understanding that "While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto" [the Midwayer Commission, 1733:1 / 155:6.13].

In the last few weeks we've explored Jesus' ressurection appearances and especially the amazing and poignant words of admonition, comfort and encouragement he had for his faith followers. All in all, Jesus made 19 appearances to believers after his death and before he ascended. This week we'll be discussing his ascension, the end of Paper 193, and then we'll move to his all-important bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, Paper 194 of The Urantia Book. We'll share insights and cross references that can enhance the significance of this vital event in human history, commonly known as Pentecost. Consider Jesus' own words about the Spirit of Truth he was to bestow: "My little children, I am going away, going back to my Father. In a little while you will not see me as you do here, as flesh and blood. In a very short time I am going to send you my spirit, just like me except for this material body. This new teacher is the Spirit of Truth who will live with each one of you, in your hearts, and so will all the children of light be made one and be drawn toward one another. And in this very manner will my Father and I be able to live in the souls of each one of you and also in the hearts of all other men who love us and make that love real in their experiences by loving one another, even as I am now loving you." Also, "The spirit which my Father and I shall send into the world is not only the Spirit of Truth but also the spirit of idealistic beauty." As Jesus "leaves the world, he sends in his place his Spirit of Truth, who is designed to live in man and, for each new generation, to restate the Jesus message so that every new group of mortals to appear upon the face of the earth shall have a new and up-to-date version of the gospel, just such personal enlightenment and group guidance as will prove to be an effective solvent for man's ever-new and varied spiritual difficulties." Please tune in!

JESUS ADVOCATED PERSONAL RELIGION, BUT INSTITUTIONAL RELIGION REMAINS DOMINANT.  The spiritual government of our planet cannot simply flip a switch that would instantaneously transform all inhabitants of our planet Urantia. To the contrary, the transition from institutional to personal religion still seems likely to be long and complex, even though more than 2,000 years have elapsed since Christ Michael of Nebadon advocated and promoted personal religion while living his bestowal life in the human form of Jesus of Nazareth. Participants will endeavor to imagine the era when "the human race progresses to the level of a higher and more general recognition of the realities of spiritual experience" [the Midwayer Commission, 1729:3 / 155:5.8].  Jesus seems to associate this momentous advance in human consciousness with a widespread ability to engage in "the supernal experience of finding God for yourself, in yourself, and of yourself, and of doing all this as a fact in your own personal experience" [the Midwayer Commission, 1731:1 / 155:6.3].  How many generations and centuries will elapse before these inspiring realities become the dominant approach to religion among human beings living on our planet?

In the last few weeks, we've explored the final words and admonitions of the resurrected Jesus, made to his apostles, disciples and other believers. He reiterated many times that his teachings were to be shared with all people, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, male and female, free and bond, even to the little children. He bade them go out into the world and freely share of the many blessings of the truths he revealed about God, the Heavenly Father of all, and the peace and love he bestowed on every human he ever met. He asked them to be Ambassadors. He said, " Now that you are ambassadors of my Father's kingdom, you have thereby become a class of men separate and distinct from all other men on earth. You are not now as men among men but as the enlightened citizens of another and heavenly country among the ignorant creatures of this dark world. It is not enough that you live as you were before this hour, but henceforth must you live as those who have tasted the glories of a better life and have been sent back to earth as ambassadors of the Sovereign of that new and better world." In other words, he commanded them to live all that he had taught them. This week we will finish this story of his resurrection appearances with a section on the downfall of Judas. It's a remarkable look at what happens when someone, even someone devoted to high teachings, can't love and trust his fellows and isolates himself from others. Here, for example, is one of the reasons that the authors of the book give us for Judas' downfall: He disliked to discuss his personal problems with his immediate associates; he refused to talk over his difficulties with his real friends and those who truly loved him. In all the years of their association he never once went to the Master with a purely personal problem. We hope you will join us for another lively show with our special guests as we share and discuss these remarkable teachings.

JESUS EMPHASIZES PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE WILL OF GOD AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD.  In Jesus’ discourses on religion (sections 5 and 6 of Paper 155), he called for each individual believer to acquire direct personal experience by attuning to the will of God and the presence of God. Participants will seek to explain and interpret these realities, while grappling with the fact that Jesus appears to have been addressing many different audiences, not just persons living on Urantia in his own day or now. Further, there seems to be good reason to wonder how much of these discourses on religion stemmed from the divine mind of Michael of Nebadon, although blended with knowledge and awareness residing in the human mind of Jesus of Nazareth. The Midwayer Commission states:  "It appears to us that from his baptism until the crucifixion it was entirely optional with Jesus whether to depend only on the human mind or to utilize the knowledge of both the human and the divine minds.  …  We are utterly at a loss to differentiate between his practice of self-limiting his divine consciousness and his technique of concealing his preknowledge and thought discernment from his human associates" [the Midwayer Commission, 1787:3,5 / 161:3.1,3].

Jesus made 19 appearances to his apostles and other devoted believers before he ascended to his place as sovereign of a universe. Last week we discussed the prime section of Paper 192, in which Jesus walked along the shore of Galilee and visited with his apostles two and two. We had a splendid discussion about his pointed words of instruction, faith, and courage. This week we'll start on Paper 193 - Final Appearances and Ascension. At this time he invokes a powerful prayer, as the one he made when he first ordained them as ambassadors of the Heavenly Kingdom. What were his finals blessings, words and admonitions? Consider these great words: "And if man is your brother, he is even more than your neighbor, whom the Father requires you to love as yourself. Your brother, being of your own family, you will not only love with a family affection, but you will also serve as you would serve yourself. And you will thus love and serve your brother because you, being my brethren, have been thus loved and served by me." "When, by living faith, you become divinely God-conscious, you are then born of the spirit as children of light and life, even the eternal life wherewith you shall ascend the universe of universes and attain the experience of finding God the Father on Paradise." "Therefore, go you now into all the world preaching this gospel of the kingdom of heaven to all men. Love all men as I have loved you; serve your fellow mortals as I have served you. Freely you have received, freely give." "The resurrection appearances and words of Jesus are so remarkable and significant. If you could say one thing before you left this world, to the people you love the most, what would it be? We hope you will join us to further explore what Jesus said." Please join the Cosmic Crew, along with our great regular callers, for another wonderful study from The Urantia Book.

JESUS PROCLAIMS THE RELIGION OF THE SPIRIT.  The experienced readers participating in this week’s discussion will zero in on Jesus’ first and second discourses of religion (sections 5 and 6 of Paper 155), instructions and exhortations that he directed to his apostles, but also implicitly to us. Therefore participants will analyze and comment on inspiring passages like those that follow:  "You have dared to protest against the grueling bondage of institutional religion and to reject the authority of the traditions of record which are now regarded as the word of God.  …  I have called upon you to be born again, to be born of the spirit. I have called you out of the darkness of authority and the lethargy of tradition into the transcendent light of the realization of the possibility of making for yourselves the greatest discovery possible for the human soul to make — the supernal experience of finding God for yourself, in yourself, and of yourself, and of doing all this as a fact in your own personal experience."  [The Midwayer Commission, 1730:6-1731:1 / 155:6.2-3] Log onto Cosmic Citizen for the Special Edition on Sunday the 11th, starting at 3:00 PM in Colorado (Mountain Time). This is the fourth of a series of stimulating and intriguing programs during which experienced readers are exchanging ideas and insights on topic 7 of Revelation Revealed, "The extended transition from institutional to personal religion." Listeners who do not have Revelation Revealed on hand should download it from http://www.globalendeavor.net (website of the Committee for the Global Endeavor).