Planet Urantia

The Harmony of Truth, Beauty and Goodness

Where does the hunger for goodness, the search for beauty and the thirst for truth come from? Is it the revelation of God and the instillation of divine reality? Or is it simply the evolution of the mind, desiring to have for itself some sense of pleasure, peace and comfort as a reward for simply being born?

Let's consider truth, beauty and goodness to see if they are born out of human will or whether they are the gift of God, seeking to be revealed from the heart of the human being.

Goodness: What is the standard of perfection? Is it to be found in the churches, synagogues, mosques, or other religious institutions? Is it something you can learn or does it occur naturally? Certainly we can learn the difference between right and wrong or good and evil; but who sets the standard? What if the standard of goodness is truth? How would you test this idea? Experience – having an experience of goodness in your own personal life leads to a revelation of truth.

Truth: What is truth, how do we know it's true? What if we only know part of the story? Is it still true? Or is it only true insofar as your personal experience has revealed? If your definition of truth is based on what your mind sees, what happens if you have new information? Is the old truth still true, or might we now say truth is relevant, relevant to personal experience? Perhaps truth is flexible, allowing for the evolution (or gradual development) of our unique personalities with the unique personal experiences, thus giving us the opportunity to thrive in a particular situation at any given time and place; leaving room for adjustment. Where does this beautiful grace come from? Is it possible you would not survive without this flexibility? Uniform and universal truth is divine truth.

Beauty: Why is something truly beautiful? Beauty is spiritually true and good. Beauty is the recognition of harmony and unification. Beauty is the activity of service upon the recognition of need, beauty is the rhythm of human experience.

The harmony of truth, beauty and goodness:

Truth is the basis of science and philosophy, presenting the intellectual foundation of religion. Beauty sponsors art, music, and the meaningful rhythms of all human experience. Goodness embraces the sense of ethics, morality, and religion -- experiential perfection-hunger.

The existence of beauty implies the presence of appreciative creature mind just as certainly as the fact of progressive evolution indicates the dominance of the Supreme Mind. Beauty is the intellectual recognition of the harmonious time-space synthesis of the far-flung diversification of phenomenal reality, all of which stems from pre-existent and eternal oneness.

Goodness is the mental recognition of the relative values of the diverse levels of divine perfection. The recognition of goodness implies a mind of moral status, a personal mind with ability to discriminate between good and evil. But the possession of goodness, greatness, is the measure of real divinity attainment.

Urantia Paper 56:10.10-12

Urantia Book

Why it's OK if our Religious Practices Change from Time to Time

Religious living is devoted living, and devoted living is creative living, original and spontaneous. New religious insights arise out of conflicts which initiate the choosing of new and better reaction habits in the place of older and inferior reaction patterns. New meanings only emerge amid conflict; and conflict persists only in the face of refusal to espouse the higher values connoted in superior meanings.

Urantia Book - Paper 100:4.1

What God Does For and With Us

The great God makes direct contact with mortal man and gives a part of his infinite and eternal and incomprehensible self to live and dwell within him. God has embarked upon the eternal adventure with man. If you yield to the leadings of the spiritual forces in you and around you, you cannot fail to attain the high destiny established by a loving God as the universe goal of his ascendant creatures from the evolutionary worlds of space.

Urantia Book, Paper 5:1.12

Urantia Books

Planet Urantia

50 Reasons Why You Should Read The Urantia Book

50 Reasons Why You Should Read the Urantia Book

Urantia Book
 * Religion * Spirituality * Philosophy * Science *

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This post seeks to answer the question: 
Why should I read the Urantia Book? 

Ah, let us count the ways...

The Urantia Book...

1. is one of those rare books that can actually transform your thinking and your life
2. provides new information about God
3. provides new information about the life of Jesus (the Bible provides details for only 28 days)
4. answers the question 'Who was Jesus?'
5. gives us an unprecedented account of Jesus' resurrection
6. will be a blessing in your life
7. is believed to be a new revelation for our time - it's like an update for every religion
8. helps you understand the world better
9. provides spiritual truth and inspiration that resonates with the soul
10. defines personality, soul and spirit
11. defines love, abundance and joy
12. defines ministry and loving service to others
13. teaches respect, honor and integrity
14. may cause creationists to believe in intelligently designed evolution
15. may cause happiness
16. deepens and strengthens your faith
17. defines the supreme purpose of life:  the development of a majestic and well-balanced personality
    
18. increases desire to be loving, generous and kind
19. provides an even greater peace that passeth all understanding
20. answers philosophical questions about life
21. shows us 'there are more things in heaven and earth' (said Hamlet to Horatio)
22. increases tolerance and understanding
23. answers questions about the formation of the universe
24. answers questions about the formation of our galaxy
25. answers questions about the formation of our planet
26. answers questions about the formation of everything on the planet
27. answers the question "Is there life out there?"
28. fills in missing links from history, theology, philosophy and science
29. teaches that there is no hell and that eternal life is yours to accept or reject
30. promotes living in truth, beauty and goodness
31. makes the Good News even better than previously imagined
32. establishes the possibility for us a closer connection with God and Humankind
33. will expand your consciousness
34. increase our awareness of cosmic consciousness
35. increases our ability to understand the cosmic context of our actions
36. through continuous study deepens and enriches our understanding of our role in the universe
37. through continuous study enriches our experiences, our lives, our loving, and our service
38. optimizes our opportunities
39. strengthens the desire to search for  truth in every experience
40. does not replace your current religion
41. enhances even the best religions
42. allows the skeptic, the agnostic, and even the scientific atheist to join believers
43. may have been introduced to you for a reason
44. found you at the right place and the right time in your life
45. provides eternal assurance, peace, and joy
46. provides knowledge and insight about God and his vast and magnificent creation
47. tells you what to do with your money
48. answers more questions than you ever thought to ask
49. will give you brain pain, but it's worth it
50. affirms the truth that God still speaks

These 50 reasons are a compilation of my own answers and the answers of other Urantia Book Readers to the question "Why Should I Read the Urantia Book?"

Note:  In case anyone was wondering how I would have answered the question - see answers 1, 9, 12, 14 & 17 (biggies), 18, 20, 29 (another biggie), 49, and 50.

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From UrantiaBook.org: Why You Need to Know About The Urantia Book:

Making good life decisions—the exercise of true wisdom—requires insight into the context in which the decision or choice is being made. 

The Urantia Book provides a comprehensive overview of the context in which we live our daily lives -- historical, social, personal, intellectual, spiritual, and material. It provides important background information that will deepen, enrich, and strengthen your relationship with God, empower you to prevail in your struggles with the difficulties of daily life, and enable you to participate creatively in the much-needed spiritual transformation of our world. 

By integrating science, philosophy, and religion into a coherent world view, the Urantia Book enhances the meanings we derive from our life experience, equipping us to live our lives relative to positive, creative spiritual values in the midst of difficulty, chaos, and uncertainty.

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Resources & Links for the Urantia Book: 

Urantia Book - read online text

Urantia Book - listen to online audio

UrantiaBook.org
Urantia.org
Truthbook.com
PlanetUrantia.com

Purchase the Urantia Book on Amazon

Making Decisions is Part of the Purpose of Life

I think our purpose is progress - you know, like evolution.  The gradual development of the human mind into something majestic, something true, beautiful and good. 

It is difficult to stand on one's own two feet, and avoid copying others.  There is a saying (slightly modified by this female):

    A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise woman learns from the mistakes of others.

We look to history to see what we should be doing and how we should be doing it, we try not to repeat past mistakes; but we are not recycled robots, we are dynamic, evolving personalities.  Being able to make our own decisions is progress. 

   

Even secular education could help in this great spiritual renaissance if it would pay more attention to  the work of teaching youth how to engage in life planning and character progression. The purpose of    all education should be to foster and further the supreme purpose of life, the development of a     majestic and well-balanced personality. There is great need for the teaching of moral discipline in the place of so much self-gratification. Upon such a foundation religion may contribute its spiritual incentive to the enlargement and enrichment of mortal life, even to the security and enhancement of life eternal.

Urantia Book - Paper 195.10:17

Do Something! A Call to Ministry

Selected excerpts from an article entitled The Call to Ministry, by Meredith J. Sprunger:

    Anyone who has experienced a dynamic personal relationship with God and has dedicated himself or herself to the demands of this relationship must do something about it. Genuine religion always motivates action and changes lives.

    Service to others can take many forms, and each of us must discover which function or channel we find creative. We can serve God in every vocation of society and through all of the arts and sciences. Jesus directs us to seek the Father’s guidance and direction for our lives. All of us are not called to the same ministry. Courageously keep step with the music you hear; and so will the Father’s symphony of service benefit all people.

    There are three basic forms of service in which each of us is challenged to participate. First, we should strive to live the inspiring truths given to us. This is elemental.  Second, we ought to engage in various types of material service. We should aid the needy, work for social, economic, and legal justice, and foster the actualization of human well-being. Finally, and most importantly, we are called to participate in a spiritual ministry to the minds and souls of our fellows. This sharing and proclamation of the good news has, historically, effected the greatest transformation of human life of all of the forms of service. And today there is a great need for the restructuring of the spiritual foundations of society along with a growing hunger in the world for a larger understanding of the universe and God.

.........real the entire article here - PDF Document - scroll down to page 9 for the article:

- A Call to Ministry - Spiritual Fellowship Journal - Volume 15, Number 2 - Spring/Summer 2006

Urantia Book iPhone & iPod Touch App - Download Urantia Book

NEW!  Download the entire Urantia Book onto your iPhone or iPod Touch with this new FREE iTunes application:

Instructions:  Free Urantia Book iPod Touch & iPhone App

Cosmic Citizen Radio Show: Introducing the Urantia Book to Children

Cosmic Citizen is a Urantia based radio program that airs Saturday mornings on Blog Talk Radio.  If you miss a show - you can listen to it later. 

Saturday, 3/20/2009:  This week's Cosmic Citizen Radio Show guest is Jennifer Siegel, a long time Urantia Book reader, her topic is:  Introducing Children to the Urantia Book.

Jennifer has been running a study group for children for many years and has a lot to say about how to share Urantia Book concepts with little ones and young people.  Hosts will be Christilyn Biek, sitting in for Paula Thompson, and Andre Traversa. 

Listen to the program using the embedded Blog Talk Radio widget above - if the correct program is not playing properly, please check the archives for this particular show on the main site:  Cosmic Citizen Radio Show

Beyond Urantia, Beyond our Galaxy

These images reveal thousands upon thousands of galaxies and trillions upon trillions of stars.  Images from Nasa.gov and HubbleSite.org.