Lonely? Or Unique?

by Liz Engstrom
Eugene, Oregon

There is, deep within the core of all of us, a place that feels like loneliness. You know that place.

Some people are so afraid of looking at that place, or feeling its presence that they surround themselves by crowds of people all the time. They can't stand to be alone.

For other people, that feeling of loneliness is their only friend. They are so afraid of being inappropriate, that they hide in seclusion.

When our lives are in balance, that feeling of loneliness doesn't speak to us so loudly. But when our lives are out of balance, when our nutrition is out of whack, our exercise regimen has hit a rough patch, our careers are scary, or our love lives have taken a turn for the worse, then that core of what appears to be loneliness speaks to us very loudly. It tells us that nobody will ever understand us, that we are alone in the universe.

No matter how much we know we're not alone in the universe, we feel alone. Even in a crowd.

But that little place deep within isn't really loneliness. It is our individuality. And it's right when it says that we are unique in the cosmos, and that perhaps no other human will ever really understand us. How well do you understand another?

When we concentrate on that part, and call it loneliness, we give it power to separate us from our fellows, and that is the true path to loneliness.

But instead, if we recognize that part for what it is—uniqueness, then we can see it as God's gift to us.

When we feel a little bit lonely, we could spend a few moments in prayer and worship, then call a good friend, have a cup of coffee, and share our uniqueness with their uniqueness, let the God within each of us commune, and then it isn't loneliness.

It's an ingeniously designed tool for friendship.

—Read THE ART OF LIVING, beginning on page 1775, especially #3, The enthusiasm for living, and #4, The enhanced defense against all evil.

Notes from the Edge of Nebadon

by Stacey Harlan
Brookings, Oregon

Living in a rural area poses particular, and perhaps insurmountable problems for students of The URANTIA Book, who wish to participate in study groups.

As a resident of Brookings, Oregon (population approximately 4500) and a worker in Crescent City, California (population 8000), I have discovered just how difficult it can be to find enough interested readers willing to regularly attend a study group.

The situation is rendered still more difficult because, as a practicing psychotherapist, I am obliged due to professional ethical considerations not to participate in so-called "dual relationships" with my clients—seeing them as clients and virtually any other capacity, i.e., study group members.

While I was attempting to establish a study group, I discovered a number of clients who were also readers!

Having moved up to the Brookings/Crescent City area several years ago from Southern California, I did not appreciate the plethora of study groups "down south" allowing one to conveniently attend one per week and still more if one was willing to drive a bit.

Compounding the difficulty of establishing a URANTIA Book study group is not merely the quantitative aspect (population size of the community) but the qualitative dimension. Del Norte County, California (where Crescent City is located) is one of the poorest counties in all of California. Study of and interest in progressive spiritual paths does not fare well in economically deprived towns. As The URANTIA Book notes:

Frontier society develops the unskilled side of humanity; the fine arts and true scientific progress, together with spiritual culture, have thrived best in the larger centers of life... (p. 770)

Brookings, although somewhat better off financially than Crescent City, still bears the imprimatur of a relatively rural community.

The most significant economic growth event in this section of Nebadon is the building of Pelican Bay State Prison, with its notorious Security Housing Unit for the worst offenders.

Notwithstanding the difficulty of establishing a URANTIA Book study group here, it remains true that God-consciousness can flourish anywhere, and we may yet be able to respond positively to the question, as the people of an earlier generation were able to do, when asked a similar question... "Can any good thing come out of Crescent City/Brookings?"

Are You Sophistry Proof?

by Janet Nilsen
Lebanon, Oregon

We URANTIA Book readers and ascending mortals are asked to live and share the gospel of Jesus—the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.

It is a living personal religion of love and mercy. We are to be kind, understanding, wholehearted in our service. But that's not all. We are also requested by our Sovereign Michael to be sophistry proof. p 605

We earthling Urantians, with our sin-cursed history, should be able to spot a sophistry blindfolded. All right, so what exactly is a sophistry? I have found several definitions—none of them nice—a specious proposition or argument; a subtle falsehood designed to deceive; a plausible, but fallacious argument. Or my definition—an attractive line of B.S. in search of a dupe.

What else does our noble book have to say on the subject? Clyde Bedell's 3rd edition Concordex of The URANTIA Book cites one reference, 1489D—in regard to the twin sophistries of sovereignty and self-determination. I found a few more, especially when I included such types of sophistries as 'rebel theories', 'perversion of instruction', and 'wily stratagems' in my search.

Caligastia who in deliberation and malice aforethought, systematically perverted the instructions and poisoned the teachings in all the Urantia planetary schools. 576

Caligastia, the archrebel by a wily stratagem, outmaneuvered the Edenic pair and entrapped them into a violation of the covenant of their trusteeship as the visible rulers of your world. 583

Lucifer... surrendered to the sophistry of spurious personal liberty—rejection of universe allegiance and disregard of fraternal obligations, blindness to cosmic relationships. 601

Satan... when once converted to the rebel theories... became a bold and earnest advocate of 'self assertion and liberty'. 602

Gabriel conducted an unceasing exposure of the rebel sophistries 606

Throughout this period Caligastia was advocating the cause of Lucifer on Urantia. The Melchizedeks ably opposed the apostate Planetary Prince, but the sophistries of unbridled liberty and delusions of self-assertion had every opportunity for deceiving the primitive peoples of a young and undeveloped world. 607

Lucifer and Satan sought to corrupt these developing minds in mercy salvaged from evolutionary worlds. 608

Lucifer and Satan continued their deceptive and seductive efforts to confuse and mislead the minds of men and angels. 609

...the Jerusem citizens, who, by withstanding the sophistries of sin, placed themselves in line for becoming future Mighty Messengers...619

The URANTIA Book gives us actual quotes of the sophistries that Lucifer and company used to demoralize our planet and others. These lines have been also used with effect by countless dictators and con artists down through the ages. Here are a few quotes, 604-607:

Allegiance could be acknowledged only to Lucifer... 'friend of men and angels', 'God of liberty', self assertion, 'equality of the mind' and 'the brotherhood of intelligence', new head of 'the liberated worlds and systems'. And, 'majorities rule', 'mind is infallible', immortality was inherent,... resurrection... automatic,... to the 'liberty loving, free thinking, forward looking intelligences of the misruled, maladministered world of Satania.'

Other sophistries, and distortions of truth mentioned in The URANTIA Book:

Cano to Eve: ...men and women with good motives and true intentions could do no evil. 842

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 1527

Pilate to Jesus: What is truth? 1991

The distortion of Jesus' teachings in the New Testament was based on impatience of early believers for Jesus' return. 1860

Some earmarks of a sophist or sophistry:

1. Seeks to mix practice of good and evil. 842
2. Uses wrong way to attain even righteous ends. 847
3. Uses short cuts, promises vast improvements over the status quo.
4. Uses partial or incomplete disclosure of pertinent facts.
5. Appeals to emotions of target dupes—pride, ego, naivete, unfulfilled idealism. 758
6. Seeks to influence by use of dazzling personal charm and force of personality.
7. Encourages disloyalty to one's confiding friends. 754
8. Relies on makeshifts and compromises. 1494
9. Seeks possession of anything valuable or irreplaceable, such as an individual's trust and/or assets, the Tree of Life, the        Michael bestowal, The URANTIA Book text.
10. Seeks to delude and confuse. 761
11. Tries to intercede between individual and Thought Adjuster.
12. Ultimately seeks to limit or destroy the victim's freewill choice.
13. Is a betrayal of trust.
14. Tries to attach itself to target. Is usually unsolicited and persistent in efforts to entrap.
15. Presumes upon forbearance. Mistakes mercy for impotence.
16. Is unrepentant of unrighteous behavior.
17. Is the offspring of a knowing mind ruled by an unsubmissive will. 186

How do kind, earnest, wholehearted, idealists such as most URANTIA Book readers, make themselves sophistry-proof? This is crucial, because intelligence is no guard against sin, and sincerity is no guard against error. And there is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death. 757. How do we, well-meaning and sincere, become as wise as a serpent, meek as a dove? The unshakeable loyalty of Van was attained by spiritual insight, moral steadfastness and was the product of clear thinking, wise reasoning, experiential memory, disciplined character and UNQUESTIONED DEDICATION of his personality to doing the will of the Father in Paradise. 756. (My emphasis.)

Jesus, with magnificent assurance, replied to the many proposals and counter proposals of the emissaries of Lucifer, 'May the will of my Father in Paradise prevail...' 1493. To all the Lucifer-suggested compromises and makeshifts, to all such specious proposals about the incarnation bestowal, Jesus made only one reply, 'The will of my Father in Paradise be done.' 1494

Jesus placed his full trust and loyalty in the keeping of his Indwelling Spirit. Placing our full trust in the Paradise Father somehow allows his Fragment to bestow spiritual insight and discernment upon those who really wish to do God's will. It can help us to see who is really naughty or nice. Many sophists, after the first sympathetic wooing of their victims, can hardly conceal their arrogance behind a facade of concern. When engaged in close, confidential communion with one's Indwelling Spirit, the truth about any individual's motives can be sensed and known, despite the sophist's best efforts to conceal any deception.

We all, at one time or another, have been fooled into believing good things about bad people. There is no sin in these errors of judgment, but it does hurt to be burned, and eventually, we start to wise up. There is no sure way to avoid becoming a dupe, except to turn to all areas of doubt directly over to the Thought Adjuster. And, as my mother used to say, "Use the brains God gave you!"

Most of us wish to be of service in some way or other to further the spiritual brotherhood of Jesus, and the dissemination of The URANTIA Book. But if we are vulnerable to influence and suggestion, out trust can be relied upon only so far by our celestial supervisors. Little Red Ridinghood is not going to be given a position of great trust as long as she thinks the wolf looks like Grandma! Mighty Messengers are not chosen from the ranks of the gullible and naive. Keep your eyes open, for there are many sophistries floating around, even in the fellowship of readers of The URANTIA Book, just waiting to distract you from doing God's will. Go ahead, question, give any doubts the old acid test of Jesus—does it bring you closer to God and God closer to you? May the Spirit of Truth help us all in our efforts to be both wise and meek.

Simultaneous Seven

by Nigel Nunn
Australia

Jesus told us, and the Mithraic priest at Carthage, about the seven-dimensional version of reality he remembered, and about circular simultaneity. (p. 1439)

What if the cosmos we can view is but a slice of our Father's seven-dimensional creation, his transcendent eventuation? What implications does this hold for our beliefs? Cosmologists talk of missing mass, of open or closed universes, of great attractors. Philosophers talk of transcendent causation. Are we able to form some image of how things may be? Find an old LP record, and hold it at arm's length in the middle of your living room. Absonite people may see our three-dimensional cosmos as we see that little disk. Our rulers in Orvonton may see spacetime as a little nest for baby finaliters. So how can we begin to understand gravitational effects if most of the energy and mass of creation sits sideways from our spacetime? How can we discuss causation without first acknowledging that the vast absonite realms may impinge upon every moment, and upon every point, of our universe?

As we the readership struggle to invent the way forward, as we bring this revelation into the lives of our fellows, as we deal with the mechanics of establishing the fifth epochal revelation, let's not deny ourselves the refreshing perspective: The rulers of Orvonton have said hello, they look forward to our success, and the Father's creation amazes even them.

And it may be a seven-dimensional creation. This idea, if we are to believe it, opens spectacular vistas for speculation: Are our Thought Adjusters actually seven-dimensional? Can we assume that our other absolute component, our Personality, is seven-dimensional too? Can our Adjuster function at any point of its existence? Are we exposed to the possibility of feedback from our future finaliter self? And for the physicists among us: is everything in Orvonton moving with the velocity of light?

Somehow, the organisers of the superuniverse have set things up so that we humans get exposed to sequence. But notice that even when we sit absolutely still, we are racing through time. Allow that when seen from the absonite, this motion through time is real, and that our velocity through time is similar to the velocity of light through space. Picture the seven master spirits managing their superuniverse domains: they may be sweeping us across three-dimensional skins of their spinning four dimensional constructs.

So let's say we are constrained to always travel at lightspeed. If we were to redirect some of this constant (lightspeed) motion through time, to reorient a part of this momenergy (momentum and energy) by moving through space as well, we move a correspondingly less distance through time. This is the relativistic time dilation demonstrated daily at the particle scale, sidestepped by the starship Enterprise, and a possible reason for partitioning the master universe into space levels: when physical things move at different rates, their timeflow becomes unsynchronised. Although proof and understanding of such things may not lie within our grasp, we do have the capacity to notice the numinous, to be thankful, and to be struck with awe.

Are we not the universe's great Appreciators?

Said Jesus to the Mithraic priest: "Animals do not sense time as does man, and even to man, because of his sectional and circumscribed view, time appears as a succession of events; but as man ascends, as he progresses inward, the enlarging view of this event procession is such that it is discerned more and more in its wholeness. That which formerly appeared as a succession of events then will be viewed as a whole and perfectly related cycle; in this way will circular simultaneity increasingly displace the onetime consciousness of the linear sequence of events."

"There are seven different conceptions of space as it is conditioned by time. Space is measured by time, not time by space. The confusion of the scientist grows out of failure to recognize the reality of space. Space is not merely an intellectual concept of the variation in relatedness of universe objects. Space is not empty, and the only thing man knows which can even partially transcend space is mind."

"It must be apparent that universal reality has an expanding and always relative meaning on the ascending and perfecting levels of the cosmos. Ultimately, surviving mortals achieve identity in a seven-dimensional universe."
--The URANTIA Book, p.1439

(Reprinted from The Arena, ANZURA newsletter)

Letters ...

Worker Bee Coming Soon to a Flower Near You

I am writing to congratulate you on your latest newsletter: volume 2, issue 1. It came into my hands at our study group. I love to read newsletters, but some are better than others. I find that for myself and the way my mind processes information I like plain talk. I like talk from the heart to the heart. It goes direct that way. Your articles were readable and meaningful. They did not try to overawe us, the readers, with interpretive mishmash about The URANTIA Book. I'm coming close to 20 years of reading and studying this book. In places and parts this book is difficult to understand. But I am convinced that when someone desires to make sense of some of this material by writing an article for publication the writer must guard against academic discussions and discourse about it. The readers are simply going to go brain dead. Too much intellectualizing. I'm just a worker bee trying to go out and pollinate flowers. I'm looking for what is real. I'm inspired by what is real. And I'm touched by what is real. I know you are too.

So keep up the good work. I know it is going to be impossible for all of us to get all of the newsletters. Each one has a different flavor, and lots of them will spring up in time. I'm sending you a little donation to support your efforts. Maybe you could send me your next offering. Thanks.

—Meredith Van Woert
Vista, California

Down Under Newsletter Barter

We received your two copies of "Northwest Urantian". Thank you so much. It is good to read a newsletter from a fellow IUA group. I found both issues very interesting and enjoyable to read. There was something real and genuine about them.

We publish "The Arena" which is ANZURA's (Australian and New Zealand Urantia Association) publication. I will send you a few issues. I'm not sure if you would have seen a copy or not. We had some at Nashville. If you'd like to keep on receiving it we could do a barter system where we'll swap newsletters.

Our publication is somewhat different as it goes out to readers beyond ANZURA's membership. We have another publication called the "ANZURA Bulletin" which goes just to members and gives them info on what's been going inside the Association. "The Arena" is more of an articles newsletter and we only send to subscribers, although ANZURA members get one free as their membership levy covers "The Arena".

There are a couple of articles in your publication which I feel would be of interest to readers in this part of the world. Can we pinch a couple - namely "The Foundation is Solid" by Pat Murnin and "Faith Under Scrutiny" by Betsy Engstrom. Could you let me know your answer by email. Thanks.

If you'd like to reproduce any article you find in "The Arena" for your folks, feel free.

Once again thanks for thinking of us. Contact amongst readers is so good. IUA is really on track by making reader contact and UB study the primary functions of the Associations. All our love to you,

—Kathleen Swadling
Australia-New Zealand URANTIA Association

Idaho Memorial Weekend Study Conference

by Bert Cobb
President, Idaho URANTIA Association

Congratulations on your new Northwest URANTIA Association, as well as your clean and straight forward newsletter.

We thought you might be interested in the news that the Idaho URANTIA Association is sponsoring a small weekend study conference on Memorial Day weekend. (May 25-27)

It will be held at the "Monastery of Saint Gertrude" on Cotton Wood Butte near Grangeville, Idaho.

All URANTIA Book readers are invited on a first come basis, since the facilities are limited. For more information please contact the secretary of the Idaho URANTIA Association:

Randy Moser, Grangeville, Idaho
Phone: 208-983-0823

Super Something or Other

NUA Meeting, Sunday, January 28, 1996, at Pat Murnin’s house in Portland

by MC
NUA Secretary

PRESENT: Pat Murnin, Dennis Gray, Leonard Ablieter, Janet Nilsen, Mike D'Ambrosia, MC

Celeste, Dennis Gray's 9-year old daughter, and six members total, trickle in. A good turn out, considering Mother Nature dumped half a foot of snow the day before, and this being Super Bowl Sunday. Leonard flies into Seattle and drives down with a friend to do research work on the Portland micro-brewery scene. Bruce can not make it due to a work-related deadline. Faye and Mark cancel the trip down.

At Pat's dining room. A full spread map of some galaxy is tacked on the wall over the aquarium. Around the oval dining table the pilgrims are talking astronomy: the discovery of two new planets, God knows where, the old black holes in space, the location of planet Earth on the very edge of some universe. Do we belong anywhere? Where are we going?

The basic agenda for today is to get together and see what happens. Six people and no agenda, no structure... We have a trust in the moments? Sink or swim, we dive into the oval lake. After a while, the spiritual pilgrims resurface, discuss and decide on some issues, mostly about money:

Annual Dues. $40, cut in half to $20, or no dues for 1996? Keep it at $40 to meet heavy expenses in the future, such as a conference? No dues—levy dues for unforeseen expenses? We settle on $20 for ‘96.

Member Couples. $80, $60, or $40 annual dues? If a couple pays $40, would their vote count for one or two? Can one vote for an absent spouse? We should check with the IUA Coordinating Committee on this.

Loaner Book Fund. Janet's suggestion—to have books readily available for loaning out. Should the NUA finance this project, or members contribute the inexpensive editions? Is there a real need? Hold for next meeting.

Library Follow-up. Mike had called the URANTIA Foundation regarding the eight books the Multnomah County Library had been waiting for. There is a delay in Chicago due to the holidays backlog.

Donation. Since the NUA Treasury is flush—what shall we do with all this dough? Donate $50 or $100 to the URANTIA Foundation? $100 does it.

Newsletter. We sent copies to other IUAs, including Australia-New Zealand and Finland. Meredith Van Woert from Vista, California sent in a donation.

Number of Meetings. Move the January meeting to February? Due to a low turnout should we cancel the winter meetings and hold only three meetings a year, and instead of quarterly, publish just three newsletter issues? Stick with four by four for now.

We are voting away fast and furious. Then somebody asks, "Do we have a quorum?" We consult the IUA Charter and Bylaws. A quorum is "a third of the membership". We have 19 members total, a third is 6.33, there are six here. Oh, well.

There is no hurry. Even if we have a quorum, no decision is set in stone. We can change as we see fit. At least, we have the workings of an agenda for the next meeting. Leonard stresses the importance of the association being in place in the Northwest. Should the URANTIA Foundation need us or find a use for us, we're here. He says we have a big job especially since we are such a small outfit.

In the kitchen, I come upon a discussion about the regional conflicts in the Middle East and Ireland, where Pat Murnin's folks came from. Leonard, who grew up in Germany, says that Europe still has tremendous obstacles to overcome in its march toward unity and cooperation. Until we have a world government, true world peace will not come.

As we meet and get used to each other, perhaps we will learn to work as a team, solve our problems, undertake projects. This is not easy since most readers of The URANTIA Book tend to be individualistic and non-joiners.

At the end of the meeting, we call on Celeste, the NUA official photographer, to shoot us. We wake up. Did anything happen on Super Something or other? Did we lose? Was our time wasted? We are here for the long haul. Future members will take our place. For the time being, we’re it. Things will pick up.