THE ETERNAL AND DIVINE PURPOSE

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There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. We are all part of an immense plan, a gigantic enterprise, and it is the vastness of the undertaking that renders it impossible to see very much of it at any one time and during any one life. We are all a part of an eternal project which the Gods are supervising and outworking. The whole marvelous and universal mechanism moves on majestically through space to the music of the meter of the infinite thought and the eternal purpose of the First Great Source and Center.

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The eternal purpose of the eternal God is a high spiritual ideal. The events of time and the struggles of material existence are but the transient scaffolding which bridges over to the other side, to the promised land of spiritual reality and supernal existence. Of course, you mortals find it difficult to grasp the idea of an eternal purpose; you are virtually unable to comprehend the thought of eternity, something never beginning and never ending. Everything familiar to you has an end.

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 As regards an individual life, the duration of a realm, or the chronology of any connected series of events, it would seem that we are dealing with an isolated stretch of time; everything seems to have a beginning and an end. And it would appear that a series of such experiences, lives, ages, or epochs, when successively arranged, constitutes a straightaway drive, an isolated event of time flashing momentarily across the infinite face of eternity. But when we look at all this from behind the scenes, a more comprehensive view and a more complete understanding suggest that such an explanation is inadequate, disconnected, and wholly unsuited properly to account for, and otherwise to correlate, the transactions of time with the underlying purposes and basic reactions of eternity.

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 To me it seems more fitting, for purposes of explanation to the mortal mind, to conceive of eternity as a cycle and the eternal purpose as an endless circle, a cycle of eternity in some way synchronized with the transient material cycles of time. As regards the sectors of time connected with, and forming a part of, the cycle of eternity, we are forced to recognize that such temporary epochs are born, live, and die just as the temporary beings of time are born, live, and die. Most human beings die because, having failed to achieve the spirit level of Adjuster fusion, the metamorphosis of death constitutes the only possible procedure whereby they may escape the fetters of time and the bonds of material creation, thereby being enabled to strike spiritual step with the progressive procession of eternity. Having survived the trial life of time and material existence, it becomes possible for you to continue on in touch with, even as a part of, eternity, swinging on forever with the worlds of space around the circle of the eternal ages.

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 The sectors of time are like the flashes of personality in temporal form; they appear for a season, and then they are lost to human sight, only to reappear as new actors and continuing factors in the higher life of the endless swing around the eternal circle. Eternity can hardly be conceived as a straightaway drive, in view of our belief in a delimited universe moving over a vast, elongated circle around the central dwelling place of the Universal Father.

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 Frankly, eternity is incomprehensible to the finite mind of time. You simply cannot grasp it; you cannot comprehend it. I do not completely visualize it, and even if I did, it would be impossible for me to convey my concept to the human mind. Nevertheless, I have done my best to portray something of our viewpoint, to tell you somewhat of our understanding of things eternal. I am endeavoring to aid you in the crystallization of your thoughts about these values which are of infinite nature

 and eternal import.

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 There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. And the infinite treasures of such a matchless career are yours for the striving!

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 The goal of eternity is ahead! The adventure of divinity attainment lies before you! The race for perfection is on! whosoever will may enter, and certain victory will crown the efforts of every human being who will run the race of faith and trust, depending every step of the way on the leading of the indwelling Adjuster and on the guidance of that good spirit of the Universe Son, which so freely has been poured out

 upon all flesh.

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ADVICE TO THE APOSTLES

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“Be willing, then, to take up your responsibilities and follow me.

 Do your good deeds in secret; when you give alms, let not the left hand know what the right hand does.

 And when you pray, go apart by yourselves and use not vain repetitions and meaningless phrases. Always remember that the Father knows what you need even before you ask him. And be not given to fasting with a sad countenance to be seen by men. As my chosen apostles, now set apart for the service of the kingdom, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but by your unselfish service lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasures are,

 there will your hearts be also.

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“The lamp of the body is the eye; if, therefore, your eye is generous, your whole body will be full of light.

 But if your eye is selfish, the whole body will be filled with darkness.

 If the very light which is in you is turned to darkness,

 how great is that darkness!”

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The text above is from THE URANTIA BOOK,
Part IV, 140, 6, THE EVENING OF THE ORDINATION,
and is just a very small part of what is a richly detailed
description of events, including a great deal of what was said
by Christ at this momentous occasion.  It's a good read.
The link below will take you to the complete text of
PAPER 140 - THE ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE.
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http://www.urantia.org/en/urantia-book-standardized/paper-140-ordination-twelve

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CERTAIN THOUGHTS ARE PRAYERS

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Certain thoughts are prayers.

There are moments when,

whatever be the attitude of the body,

the soul is on its knees.

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Victor Hugo

THE ADJUSTER AND THE SOUL

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The presence of the divine Adjuster in the human mind

makes it forever impossible for either science or

philosophy to attain a satisfactory comprehension

of the evolving soul of the human personality.
The morontia soul is the child of the universe

and may be really known only through cosmic insight

and spiritual discovery.

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The concept of a soul and of an indwelling spirit

is not new to Urantia; it has frequently appeared

in the various systems of planetary beliefs.

Many of the Oriental as well as some
of the Occidental faiths have perceived that
man is divine in heritage as well

human in inheritance.
The feeling of the inner presence in addition to the
external omnipresence of Deity has long formed
a part of many Urantian religions.
Men have long believed that there is

something growing within the human nature,

something vital that is destined to endure

beyond the short span of temporal life.

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Before man realized that his evolving soul

was fathered by a divine spirit,

it was thought to reside in different

physical organs—the eye, liver, kidney, heart,
and later, the brain.
The savage associated the soul with

blood, breath, shadows, and with

reflections of the self in water.

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In the conception of the atman

the Hindu teachers really approximated

an appreciation of the nature and presence

of the Adjuster,
but they failed to distinguish the copresence

of the evolving and potentially immortal soul.

The Chinese, however, recognized two aspects

of a human being, the yang and the yin,

the soul and the spirit.
The Egyptians and many African tribes

also believed in two factors, the ka and the ba;

the soul was not usually believed to be pre-existent,

only the spirit.

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The inhabitants of the Nile valley believed that

each favored individual had bestowed upon him

at birth, or soon thereafter, a protecting spirit

which they called the ka.

They taught that this guardian spirit remained with the

mortal subject throughout life and passed before him

into the future estate. On the walls of a temple at Luxor,

where is depicted the birth of Amenhotep III,

the little prince is pictured on the arm of the Nile god,

and near him is another child, in appearance identical

with the prince, which is a symbol of that entity which

the Egyptians called the ka.

This sculpture was completed in the
fifteenth century before Christ.

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The ka was thought to be a superior spirit genius

which desired to guide the associated mortal soul

into the better paths of temporal living

but more especially to influence the fortunes

of the human subject in the hereafter.

When an Egyptian of this period died,

it was expected that his ka would be waiting

for him on the other side of the Great River.

At first, only kings were supposed to have kas,

but presently all righteous men were believed

to possess them.
One Egyptian ruler, speaking of the ka

within his heart, said:
"I did not disregard its speech;

I feared to transgress its guidance.

I prospered thereby greatly;

I was thus successful by

reason of that which it caused me to do;

I was distinguished by its guidance."

Many believed that the ka was

"an oracle from God in everybody."
Many believed that they were to

"spend eternity in gladness of heart in the favor

of the God that is in you."

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Every race of evolving Urantia mortals has

a word equivalent to the concept of soul.

Many primitive peoples believed the soul

looked out upon the world through human eyes;

therefore did they so cravenly fear

the malevolence of the evil eye.
They have long believed that

"the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord."
The Rig-Veda says: "My mind speaks to my heart."

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From THE URANTIA BOOK

Part III, Paper 111

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