Week Three. A Friendly Universe Cosmology
This week is devoted to a spiritual truth of cosmic power.
111:7.3 (1223.5) Why do you not aid the Adjuster in the task of showing you the spiritual counterpart of all these strenuous material efforts? Why do you not allow the Adjuster to strengthen you with the spiritual truths of cosmic power while you wrestle with the temporal difficulties of creature existence?
In the realm of fact, Jesus was a realist. For example, at the end of his life, he bluntly warned the apostles of the hatred they would face, “the enmity of the world.” He also revealed to Ganid a higher perspective. This is the Stop and Ponder quote for the week.
133:1.4 (1469.3) “Ganid, I have absolute confidence in my heavenly Father’s overcare; I am consecrated to doing the will of my Father in heaven. I do not believe that real harm can befall me; I do not believe that my lifework can really be jeopardized by anything my enemies might wish to visit upon me, and surely we have no violence to fear from our friends. I am absolutely assured that the entire universe is friendly to me to me — this all-powerful truth I insist on believing with a wholehearted trust in spite of all appearances to the contrary.”
Appearances to the contrary will be a major theme for us this week as we exercise our growing concept of the friendly universe.
It is vastly easier to work with the concept of the friendly universe if we know God as our friend. Jesus said:
159:3.9 (1766.5) In preaching the gospel of the kingdom, you are simply teaching friendship with God. And this fellowship will appeal alike to men and women in that both will find that which most truly satisfies their characteristic longings and ideals.
During the coming week we shall nourish our concept of the friendly universe by bringing to mind and taking time to savor the aspects of life which we easily feel to be friendly (see the quote below on the science of positive emotion). And we shall strengthen our concept of the friendly universe by enhancing our perspective on phenomena to which we sometimes react to as if they did not represent a friendly universe—with special, but not exclusive, attention to our chosen project.
Progressive cosmic attitudes
Appearances to the contrary usually have one or more of the following challenges to progressive cosmic attitudes.
26:5.3 (291.3) Long before reaching Havona, these ascendant children of time have learned
to feast upon uncertainty,
to fatten upon disappointment,
to enthuse over apparent defeat,
to invigorate in the presence of difficulties,
to exhibit indomitable courage in the face of immensity,
and to exercise unconquerable faith when confronted with the challenge of the inexplicable.
Long since, the battle cry of these pilgrims became: “In liaison with God, nothing — absolutely nothing — is impossible.”
Here is an exercise (it made a very successful workshop) to help you cultivate these attitudes (which, in truth, are not products of self-cultivation but divine gifts): https://sites.google.com/site/ubquestionsandstudies/studies-in-philosophy-and-religion/dynamic-attitudes-exercise
By the Way, What Is Cosmology? Three definitions
Our inquiry into scientific living as a dimension of truth-coordinated living, on the way to the beautiful wholeness of righteousness, takes us into the most all-embracing of sciences, cosmology. But scientific cosmology has ambitions today that tend to bring it into conflict with religion, because scientific cosmology aspires to piece together an account of the origin, history, and destiny of the cosmos, with no reference to a Creator. By contrast, philosophical cosmology, if it opts for religious philosophy, opens the door to a concept of a friendly universe.
Read pages 14–18 in Living in Truth, Beauty, and Goodness beginning with the expanded concept of evolution and continuing through the discussion of cosmology (available in the Supplemental Materials area of this wiki).
In The Urantia Book, cosmology is variously defined. (1) Sometimes the scope of the term “cosmology” emphasizes a physics-plus-astronomy account of the origin, nature, history, and destiny of the physical creation. (2) Sometimes the term encompasses all the natural sciences. And (3) sometimes the term embraces all the dimensions of matter, mind, and spirit.
The first definition seems to find some support in the following passage.
101:4.1 (1109.2) Because your world is generally ignorant of origins, even of physical origins, it has appeared to be wise from time to time to provide instruction in cosmology. And always has this made trouble for the future. The laws of revelation hamper us greatly by their proscription of the impartation of unearned or premature knowledge. Any cosmology presented as a part of revealed religion is destined to be outgrown in a very short time. Accordingly, future students of such a revelation are tempted to discard any element of genuine religious truth it may contain because they discover errors on the face of the associated cosmologies therein presented.
A second definition of cosmology seems to be implied in some passages in The Urantia Book: cosmology embraces the natural sciences generally.
55:5.6 (630.3) The provisions for competitive play, humor, and other phases of personal and group achievement are ample and appropriate. A special feature of the competitive activities on such a highly cultured world concerns the efforts of individuals and groups to excel in the sciences and philosophies of cosmology.
12:9.3 (141.4) The entire science of mathematics, the whole domain of philosophy, the highest physics or chemistry, could not predict or know that the union of two gaseous hydrogen atoms with one gaseous oxygen atom would result in a new and qualitatively superadditive substance — liquid water. The understanding knowledge of this one physiochemical phenomenon should have prevented the development of materialistic philosophy and mechanistic cosmology.
101:4.2 (1109.3) Mankind should understand that we who participate in the revelation of truth are very rigorously limited by the instructions of our superiors. We are not at liberty to anticipate the scientific discoveries of a thousand years. Revelators must act in accordance with the instructions which form a part of the revelation mandate. We see no way of overcoming this difficulty, either now or at any future time. We full well know that, while the historic facts and religious truths of this series of revelatory presentations will stand on the records of the ages to come, within a few short years many of our statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and new discoveries. These new developments we even now foresee, but we are forbidden to include such humanly undiscovered facts in the revelatory records. Let it be made clear that revelations are not necessarily inspired. The cosmology of these revelations is not inspired.
Universal beauty embraces the harmonious relations and rhythms of the cosmic creation; this is more distinctly the intellectual appeal and leads towards unified and synchronous comprehension of the material universe. (647.8) 56:10
A third definition is the broadest of all: cosmology is a holistic account of the beautifully evolving integration of all dimensions of reality. This definition represents the option of religious philosophy in what I call philosophical cosmology.
94:11.6 (1039.5) True cosmic self-realization results from identification with cosmic reality and with the finite cosmos of energy, mind, and spirit, bounded by space and conditioned by time.
56:10.3 (646.4) The pursuit of beauty — cosmology — you all too often limit to the study of man’s crude artistic endeavors. Beauty, art, is largely a matter of the unification of contrasts. Variety is essential to the concept of beauty. The supreme beauty, the height of finite art, is the drama of the unification of the vastness of the cosmic extremes of Creator and creature. Man finding God and God finding man — the creature becoming perfect as is the Creator — that is the supernal achievement of the supremely beautiful, the attainment of the apex of cosmic art.
Hence materialism, atheism, is the maximation of ugliness, the climax of the finite antithesis of the beautiful. Highest beauty consists in the panorama of the unification of the variations which have been born of pre-existent harmonious reality.
The attainment of cosmologic levels of thought includes:
- Curiosity.Hunger for harmony and thirst for beauty. Persistent attempts to discover new levels of harmonious cosmic relationships.
- Aesthetic appreciation.Love of the beautiful and ever-advancing appreciation of the artistic touch of all creative manifestations on all levels of reality.
- Ethic sensitivity.Through the realization of truth the appreciation of beauty leads to the sense of the eternal fitness of those things which impinge upon the recognition of divine goodness in Deity relations with all beings; and thus even cosmology leads to the pursuit of divine reality values — to God-consciousness.
Some uses of the term “cosmic” support this broadest interpretation of the concept of cosmology.
65:7.8 (739.4) Always should the domains of the physical (electrochemical) and the mental response to environmental stimuli be differentiated, and in turn must they all be recognized as phenomena apart from spiritual activities. The domains of physical, mental, and spiritual gravity are distinct realms of cosmic reality, notwithstanding their intimate interrelations.
101:7.5 (1114.3) The acid test for any religious philosophy consists in whether or not it distinguishes between the realities of the material and the spiritual worlds while at the same moment recognizing their unification in intellectual striving and in social serving.
The Larger Philosophical Context for Truth-Coordinated Living
Now we are ready for the larger context for our discussion of truth-coordinated living. When Jesus exhorted the 24 to learn truth-coordinated living and the beautiful wholeness of righteousness, he did not burden his apostles with the fullness implied in these themes. He did not make explicit the essential coordinating role of philosophy; nor did he mention the beauties of nature and art, despite the fact that he himself was proficient in all these areas. Without these additional dimensions, it is unthinkable that we could have the beautiful wholeness of life.
2:7.9 (43.2) The great mistake of the Hebrew religion was its failure to associate the goodness of God with the factual truths of science and the appealing beauty of art. As civilization progressed, and since religion continued to pursue the same unwise course of overemphasizing the goodness of God to the relative exclusion of truth and neglect of beauty, there developed an increasing tendency for certain types of men to turn away from the abstract and dissociated concept of isolated goodness. The overstressed and isolated morality of modern religion, which fails to hold the devotion and loyalty of many twentieth-century men, would rehabilitate itself if, in addition to its moral mandates, it would give equal consideration to the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience, and to the beauties of the physical creation, the charm of intellectual art, and the grandeur of genuine character achievement.
The religious challenge of this age is to those farseeing and forward-looking men and women of spiritual insight who will dare to construct a new and appealing philosophy of living out of the enlarged and exquisitely integrated modern concepts of cosmic truth, universe beauty, and divine goodness. Such a new and righteous vision of morality will attract all that is good in the mind of man and challenge that which is best in the human soul. Truth, beauty, and goodness are divine realities, and as man ascends the scale of spiritual living, these supreme qualities of the Eternal become increasingly co-ordinated and unified in God, who is love.
All truth—material, philosophic, or spiritual—is both beautiful and good. All real beauty—material art or spiritual symmetry—is both true and good. All genuine goodness—whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry—is equally true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems.
Truth is coherent, beauty attractive, goodness stabilizing. And when these values of that which is real are co-ordinated in personality experience, the result is a high order of love conditioned by wisdom and qualified by loyalty. The real purpose of all universe education is to effect the better co-ordination of the isolated child of the worlds with the larger realities of his expanding experience. Reality is finite on the human level, infinite and eternal on the higher and divine levels. (43.2-5) 2:7.9-12
A Walk in Cosmic Beauty
The beauties of the physical creation are among the widely appreciated friendly universe phenomena. We will take a leisurely and observant stroll through some passages selected to enhance our savoring this week.
The Supreme is the beauty of physical harmony, the truth of intellectual meaning, and the goodness of spiritual value. (1268.5) 117:1.1
To get more from this lesson on beauty, begin by engaging keen perception as you notice a physical contrast; next make the intellectual discovery of the harmony of this contrast (not every contrast is harmonious, so you may need to find another example); then soulfully contemplate the beauty of that harmony; and finally, appreciate the spiritual revelation that the Supreme is that beauty.
To complement the beauty of physical harmony, we have this.
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. (1732.4) 155:6.11
We may well imagine that idealistic beauty also involves harmonies of contrasts.
The discernment of supreme beauty is the discovery and integration of reality: The discernment of the divine goodness in the eternal truth, that is ultimate beauty. Even the charm of human art consists in the harmony of its unity. (2:7.8/43.1)
Notice the multi-dimensioned scope implicit in supreme beauty. And observe that divine goodness (for example, the beautiful wholeness of righteousness) can be found in eternal truth (which conduces to truth-coordinated living).
We may wonder what capacity of mind enables us to discover the beauty of physical harmony. The three basic intuitions of cosmic mind (16:6/192) do not quite include what we are looking for. Where then can it be? Take a closer look.
The cosmic-mind-endowed, Adjuster-indwelt, personal creature possesses innate recognition-realization of energy reality, mind reality, and spirit reality. The will creature is thus equipped to discern the fact, the law, and the love of God. Aside from these three inalienables of human consciousness, all human experience is really subjective except that intuitive realization of validity attaches to the unification of these three universe reality responses of cosmic recognition. (195.7) 16:9.1
Beauty, a harmony of contrasts, emerges as system property, a structural alignment. The highest example is the pattern that pervades the grand universe.
116:5.15 (1274.5) The spirit struggles of time and space have to do with the evolution of spirit dominance over matter by the mediation of (personal) mind; the physical (nonpersonal) evolution of the universes has to do with bringing cosmic energy into harmony with the equilibrium concepts of mind subject to the overcontrol of spirit. The total evolution of the entire grand universe is a matter of the personality unification of the energy-controlling mind with the spirit-co-ordinated intellect and will be revealed in the full appearance of the almighty power of the Supreme.
116:6.1 (1275.1) In the evolutionary superuniverses energy-matter is dominant except in personality, where spirit through the mediation of mind is struggling for the mastery. The goal of the evolutionary universes is the subjugation of energy-matter by mind, the co-ordination of mind with spirit, and all of this by virtue of the creative and unifying presence of personality. Thus, in relation to personality, do physical systems become subordinate; mind systems, co-ordinate; and spirit systems, directive.
Back down to earth with Jesus.
Much of his spare time — when his mother did not require his help about the house — was spent studying the flowers and plants by day and the stars by night. He evinced a troublesome penchant for lying on his back and gazing wonderingly up into the starry heavens long after his usual bedtime in this well-ordered Nazareth household. (1360.5) 123:3.10
When they did not climb the heights to view the distant landscape, they strolled through the countryside and studied nature in her various moods in accordance with the seasons. Jesus’ earliest training, aside from that of the home hearth, had to do with a reverent and sympathetic contact with nature. (123:5.14/1364.2)
This year Jesus made arrangements to exchange dairy products for lessons on the harp. He had an unusual liking for everything musical. Later on he did much to promote an interest in vocal music among his youthful associates. By the time he was eleven years of age, he was a skillful harpist and greatly enjoyed entertaining both family and friends with his extraordinary interpretations and able improvisations. (123:6.5/1364.8)
The road now led immediately down into the tropical Jordan valley, and soon Jesus was to have exposed to his wondering gaze the crooked and ever-winding Jordan with its glistening and rippling waters as it flowed down toward the Dead Sea. They laid aside their outer garments as they journeyed south in this tropical valley, enjoying the luxurious fields of grain and the beautiful oleanders laden with their pink blossoms, while massive snow-capped Mount Hermon stood far to the north, in majesty looking down on the historic valley. A little over three hours’ travel from opposite Scythopolis they came upon a bubbling spring, and here they camped for the night, out under the starlit heavens. (124:6, 1374.5)
“My friend, arise! Stand up like a man! You may be surrounded with small enemies and be retarded by many obstacles, but the big things and the real things of this world and the universe are on your side. The sun rises every morning to salute you just as it does the most powerful and prosperous man on earth. Look—you have a strong body and powerful muscles–your physical equipment is better than the average. (130:6, 1437.3)
The expressiveness that we feel in nature expresses a higher truth of creation.
Now, rather, are the sons of God enlisted together in fighting the battle of reality’s triumph over the partial shadows of existence. At last all creatures become conscious of the fact that God and all the divine hosts of a well-nigh limitless universe are on their side in the supernal struggle to attain eternity of life and divinity of status. Such faith-liberated sons have certainly enlisted in the struggles of time on the side of the supreme forces and divine personalities of eternity; even the stars in their courses are now doing battle for them; at last they gaze upon the universe from within, from God’s viewpoint, and all is transformed from the uncertainties of material isolation to the sureties of eternal spiritual progression. Even time itself becomes but the shadow of eternity cast by Paradise realities upon the moving panoply of space. (101:10, 1117.3)
“Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is cut down and cast into the fire, how much more shall he clothe you, the ambassadors of the heavenly kingdom.” (1823.3) 165:5.3
It was also at Jericho, in connection with the discussion of the early religious training of children in habits of divine worship, that Jesus impressed upon his apostles the great value of beauty as an influence leading to the urge to worship, especially with children. The Master by precept and example taught the value of worshiping the Creator in the midst of the natural surroundings of creation. He preferred to commune with the heavenly Father amidst the trees and among the lowly creatures of the natural world. He rejoiced to contemplate the Father through the inspiring spectacle of the starry realms of the Creator Sons.
When it is not possible to worship God in the tabernacles of nature, men should do their best to provide houses of beauty, sanctuaries of appealing simplicity and artistic embellishment, so that the highest of human emotions may be aroused in association with the intellectual approach to spiritual communion with God. Truth, beauty, and holiness are powerful and effective aids to true worship. But spirit communion is not promoted by mere massive ornateness and overmuch embellishment with man’s elaborate and ostentatious art. Beauty is most religious when it is most simple and naturelike. How unfortunate that little children should have their first introduction to concepts of public worship in cold and barren rooms so devoid of the beauty appeal and so empty of all suggestion of good cheer and inspiring holiness! The child should be introduced to worship in nature’s outdoors and later accompany his parents to public houses of religious assembly which are at least as materially attractive and artistically beautiful as the home in which he is daily domiciled. (1840.5) 167:6.5-6
What Rodan recommended we see Jesus practicing.
Train your memory to hold in sacred trust the strength-giving and worth-while episodes of life, which you can recall at will for your pleasure and edification. Thus build up for yourself and in yourself reserve galleries of beauty, goodness, and artistic grandeur. (160:4, 1779.4)
In this great sorrow his mind went back to the days of his childhood in Nazareth and to his early work in Galilee. At the time of this great trial there came up in his mind many of those pleasant scenes of his earthly ministry. And it was from these old memories of Nazareth, Capernaum, Mount Hermon, and of the sunrise and sunset on the shimmering Sea of Galilee, that he soothed himself as he made his human heart strong and ready to encounter the traitor who should so soon betray him. (182:3, 1969.5)
Science and the Fullness of Positive Emotion
Finally, let’s bring in science to enhance our life of feeling. This quote comes from the beginning of Part II of Living in Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, Walking in Beauty.
Lessons on feeling from psychology
When beauty touches us, it awakens our aesthetic response, ranging from calmness, contentment, and satisfaction to delight, rejoicing, and awe: these experiences register our recognition of universal beauty. Responses to beauty—present, remembered, or anticipated—are implicit in the most common positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride (paired with humility), amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. As long as positive emotions arise from perceptions that are in tune with reality or from actions that are good, the emotions not only feel good at the moment but also are essential for our well-being. There is a common tendency to cut short our own positive emotions before they have a chance to fulfill their mission in us. Instead, we need to allow them to blossom fully: when positive emotions begin to dawn, we can take the time to allow them to come forth abundantly, to permeate, uplift, open, and strengthen us.[1]
Learning exercise #1
Please respond to the learning exercises by Wednesday so that I can read your responses in time for the webinar Zoom session on Thursday. Go to your homeroom, then to the class plan for week 3, and then click to respond to the following learning exercises.
First think about your responses to two factual questions.
What encourages your belief in a friendly universe? Note the types of facts, things, situations, events, processes, phenomena . . . that you find particularly friendly.
When Jesus affirms the all-powerful truth of the friendly universe, he also acknowledges “appearances to the contrary” and elsewhere refers to “the enmity of the world.” What appearances to the contrary do you find particularly challenging?
Second, write two paragraphs to share with us in which you tell us something of these two broad types of phenomena.
Learning exercise #2
First, for one or more items from the second list that you created in the first learning exercise (the list of “appearances to the contrary”), write down a few considerations that re-frame the phenomenon and help you to strengthen your hold on the truth of the friendly universe.
During this week, responding to some “appearance to the contrary,” how were you able to activate a progressive cosmic attitude and savor a positive emotion? (The attitude does not have to fit obviously in this week’s basket of quotes.)
How did this week’s work help you with your project?
Learning Exercise #3
The number one foundation for friendly universe cosmology, and the number one hope in our adventures in personal growth, is the Universal Father. Stop and ponder the introduction to the Father and our first lesson on thinking.
The Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center of all things and beings. First think of God as a creator, then as a controller, and lastly as an infinite upholder. (1:0.1/21.1)
Please write a paragraph about how it feels to think of the Universal Father as the First Source and Center of all things (including phenomena that seem to contradict the idea of the friendly universe) and all beings (including individuals and groups of persons who are not easy to love)?
Regarding the lesson on thinking, please write a paragraph or two on the significance of the sequence of these ideas of the Universal Father. Why does the concept of controller follow the concept of creator? And why is the characterization of God as controller followed by the characterization of God as infinite upholder?
[1] This list of positive emotions and the lessons about their function and flourishing come from a popular book by a leading psychologist: Fredrickson, Positivity. I regard her discovery about the need to allow positive emotions to blossom fully as one of the most important aids to worshipful living. This book describes a “tipping-point”: in order to achieve a life that has an overall positive emotional quality to it, we need to attain at least a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative emotion (taking duration and intensity into account). Fredrickson uses the word “emotion” to cover the entire spectrum of relevant experiences, although, as a scientist, she does not explore differences between (1) secular material and social emotions and (2) feelings of soul. Presumably, a positive emotion that begins in a simple, everyday way, if given the chance to blossom fully, could encompass the range from material to spiritual.
