This episode of Study Group is inspired by a metaphor that is employed several times by the authors of The Urantia Book. The idea of a hammer and anvil, and the positive transformation of the material that is struck with the force of a hammer while supported by a solid, immovable anvil, is a compelling reminder that even our most painful sufferings can be essential for shaping our growth.
The real purpose of this life, which prepares us for our adventure into eternity, is the development of “real” character that is “strong, noble, and experienced.” (23:2.12) There is no cosmic substitute for actual lived experience (109:1.3), and some of our most valuable experiences are the ones that challenge us to realize that we can cope with uncertainty, disappointment, defeat, and inexplicable difficulty, without losing courage, enthusiasm, and the faith that’s born from knowing that God is always with us as a loving companion, even through our darkest hours of affliction and tribulation. -CT ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLLVlvlGqwY
Realizing Our True Potential
“Realization” can refer to either a breakthrough in understanding or to making something real. In this episode of Study Group, we explore our potential for growth and achievement from a perspective that combines both of these meanings. Our participation in the flow of reality from potentials to actuals is an engagement that connects our inner life with tangible results in our personal growth and in the outer world.
“Every human decision not only actualizes a new reality in human experience but also opens up a new capacity for human growth.” (115:3.16) New actuals create new potentials, in both meaning and value. Lao-tse understood the cosmic significance of this growth process, and recognized that it is harmonized and unified by the “spirit of divinity.” (94:6.3) Because the I AM — the Original — is the source of both Potentials and Actuals, not only in the cosmos, but within ourselves, there can be no limit to our developmental progress. (115:3.16)
Our decisions and actions make all of this possible, and we learn how the smile of Jesus can inspire and uplift our hearts with “profound self-confidence and robust courage.” (171:7.6) This sort of encouragement is something we can also offer to each other, as we work to discover and create the unique contributions that we each have to offer. -CT
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Continuing in our series of history-focused podcasts, this episode tells the story of Andon and Fonta, the first two human beings. Their story — and our story — really begins with the initial Life Carrier implantation of life on this world. The breaking up of the singular continental land mass of those long-ago days provided the sheltered bays and shallow inland seas that were ideal for the early emergence of marine life. Life evolution over hundreds of millions of years finally culminated in a series of animal mutations that produced the tribe of primates wherein the first two humans, a pair of twins, were born about 1,000,000 years ago. Urantia was then registered as an inhabited world.
The story of Andon and Fonta is not only fascinating and truly remarkable, it is also highly endearing. From their early decisions to “live with and for each other” (62:5.8) and to flee from their animal ancestors, to their discovery of how to create fire and thereby survive in a northern climate, to their development of an early language and other creative adaptations, their courage, resilience, and love for each other were an exhibition of the highest traits of character that we associate with being human.
Their numerous offspring were the beginning of the Andonite race, which eventually dispersed and migrated to distant lands, both to the west and the east of their original homeland, which was located in a now-submerged region, west of India. A superior tribe in the east included the family that gave birth to the colored races, which occurred simultaneously with the arrival of Caligastia, Urantia’s Planetary Prince, about 500,000 years ago. We’ll pick up the story of the colored races and the fate of Caligastia in future episodes. -CT
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In this episode of Study Group we’ll be talking about what it means to “Walk in the Light.” Jesus tells us that he is the “light of the world,” and that this light is the “light of life.” He is calling us to follow him, which will bring us out of the spiritual darkness of a purely material existence and into the light of knowing God. How is spiritual light different from intellectual insight or physical light? How does our faith give us a “whole heart” as we explore new realms of spiritual reality and divine service? We’ll be discussing these and other related topics in this, our seventh in an ongoing series of studies of Jesus’ short sayings and watchwords.
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(64:6.26) Isolated in Africa, the indigo peoples, like the red man, received little or none of the race elevation which would have been derived from the infusion of the Adamic stock. Alone in Africa, the indigo race made little advancement until the days of Orvonon, when they experienced a great spiritual awakening. While they later almost entirely forgot the "God of Gods" proclaimed by Orvonon, they did not entirely lose the desire to worship the Unknown; at least they maintained a form of worship up to a few thousand years ago.
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