Recognizing the Father’s matchless personality, one task at a time
Let’s see how two truths can enrich each other.
First, we are told that worship arises “as a natural and spontaneous reaction to the recognition of the Father’s matchless personality and because of his lovable nature and adorable attributes.” (5:3.3/65.5). Our first hour together today focuses on this truth.
The second hour focuses more on the second quote.
Jesus possessed the ability effectively to mobilize all his powers of mind, soul, and body on the task immediately in hand. He could concentrate his deep-thinking mind on the one problem which he wished to solve, and this, in connection with his untiring patience, enabled him serenely to endure the trials of a difficult mortal existence—to live as if he were “seeing Him who is invisible.” (127:3.15/1400.7)
To apply this workshop to your life, please select a task to work on—a project, relationship, situation, or growth need. There will be times for sharing, but there is no pressure to reveal personal details.
Next, let’s warm up with a question. What inspires you to worship? Take a minute to think and write. Then we’ll take a few minutes to share broad categories like nature or music.
As we conclude our introduction, please take a few minutes for worship as we enjoy the simplicity and relaxing restfulness portrayed in this quote.
Worship—contemplation of the spiritual . . . . The strain of living—the time tension of personality—should be relaxed by the restfulness of worship. (143:7.3/1616.5)
Exercise 1: In relaxing restfulness please read about our Father’s matchless personality, lovable nature, and adorable attributes. If time remains (no rush) jot down notes about how these quotes relate to worship or the task you have chosen. (10 minutes)
The matchless personality
Introduction. The Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center of all things and beings.
Human beings “can know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return.” (1:0.2)
The Father’s name. There is nothing which man can give to God except this choosing to abide by the Father’s will, and such decisions, effected by the intelligent will creatures of the universes, constitute the reality of that true worship which is so satisfying to the love-dominated nature of the Creator Father. (1:1.2/22.5)
1:1.3 (22.6) After you really discover the majestic Creator and begin to experience the realization of the indwelling presence of the divine controller, then . . . you will find a name . . . . for the Universal Father which will be adequately expressive of your concept of the First Great Source and Center.
Reality of God. The presence of this divine Adjuster in the human mind is disclosed by three experiential phenomena:
- The intellectual capacity for knowing God—God-consciousness.
- The spiritual urge to find God—God-seeking.
- The personality craving to be like God—the wholehearted desire to do the Father’s will. (1:2.3/24.1)
“God is spirit” . . . “the sovereign, eternal, immortal, invisible, and only true God.” (1:3/25)
Mystery. We are constantly confronted with this mystery of God; we are nonplused by the increasing unfolding of the endless panorama of the truth of his infinite goodness, endless mercy, matchless wisdom, and superb character. (1:4.4./26.6)
Personality of the Universal Father. God is “a person who can know and be known,” who can “love and be loved,” and one who can befriend us . . . . (1:5.8/28.5)
1:5.13 (29.3) Personality is not simply an attribute of God; it rather stands for the totality of the co-ordinated infinite nature and the unified divine will which is exhibited in eternity and universality of perfect expression. Personality, in the supreme sense, is the revelation of God to the universe of universes.
Personality in the universe. 1:6.1 (29.7) Human personality is the time-space image-shadow cast by the divine Creator personality. And no actuality can ever be adequately comprehended by an examination of its shadow. Shadows should be interpreted in terms of the true substance.
Spiritual value of the personality concept. Even to approach the knowing of a divine personality, all of man’s personality endowments must be wholly consecrated to the effort; half-hearted, partial devotion will be unavailing. (1:6.5/30.4)
Man attains divine union by progressive reciprocal spiritual communion, by personality intercourse with the personal God, by increasingly attaining the divine nature through wholehearted and intelligent conformity to the divine will.” (1:7.2/31.2)
The lovable nature
Introduction. 2:0.2 (33.2) The most enlightening and spiritually edifying of all revelations of the divine nature is to be found in the comprehension of the religious life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Infinity. 2:1.1 (33.4) “Touching the Infinite, we cannot find him out. The divine footsteps are not known.” “How pure and beautiful, how deep and unfathomable is the supernal Ancestor of all things!”
Eternal perfection. 2:2.5 (36.3) The whole scheme of living existences on the worlds of space is centered in the divine purpose of elevating all will creatures to the high destiny of the experience of sharing the Father’s Paradise perfection.
Justice and righteousness. 2:3.1 (36.6) God is righteous; therefore is he just. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways.”
Mercy. 2:4.1 (38.1) Mercy is simply justice tempered by that wisdom which grows out of perfection of knowledge and the full recognition of the natural weaknesses and environmental handicaps of finite creatures.
Love. 2:5.10 (40.2) The love of God is an intelligent and farseeing parental affection.
Goodness. 2:6.9 (42.1) The goodness of God rests at the bottom of the divine free-willness—the universal tendency to love, show mercy, manifest patience, and minister forgiveness.
Divine truth and beauty. 2:7.6 (42.7) Divine truth is best known by its spiritual flavor.
2:7.8 (43.1) 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.
The adorable attributes
Introduction. 3:0.3 (44.3) Creatorship is hardly an attribute of God; it is rather the aggregate of his acting nature. And this universal function of creatorship is eternally manifested as it is conditioned and controlled by all the co-ordinated attributes of the infinite and divine reality of the First Source and Center. We sincerely doubt whether any one characteristic of the divine nature can be regarded as being antecedent to the others, but if such were the case, then the creatorship nature of Deity would take precedence over all other natures, activities, and attributes. And the creatorship of Deity culminates in the universal truth of the Fatherhood of God.
Everywhereness. 3:1.2 (44.5) “‘I am a God at hand as well as afar off,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’” The Universal Father is all the time present in all parts and in all hearts of his far-flung creation. He is “the fullness of him who fills all and in all,” and “who works all in all” . . . .
Infinite power. 3:2.2 (46.6) The long-drawn-out evolutionary processes of peoples, planets, and universes are under the perfect control of the universe creators and administrators and unfold in accordance with the eternal purpose of the Universal Father, proceeding in harmony and order and in keeping with the all-wise plan of God.
Universal knowledge. 3:3.2 (49.1) All the worlds of every universe are constantly within the consciousness of God. He also says: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people, I have heard their cry, and I know their sorrows.” . . . Every creature child may truly say: “He knows the way I take, and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Limitlessness. 3:4.1 (49.5) The successive bestowal of himself upon the universes as they are brought into being in no wise lessens the potential of power or the store of wisdom as they continue to reside and repose in the central personality of Deity.
Supreme rule. 3:5.3 (51.2) In the affairs of men’s hearts the Universal Father may not always have his way; but in the conduct and destiny of a planet the divine plan prevails; the eternal purpose of wisdom and love triumphs.
Primacy. 3:6.2 (52.5) The sovereignty of God is unlimited; it is the fundamental fact of all creation. . . .
Share in pairs for 10 minutes. If you tend to be long-winded, please invite the other person to go first. Then questions and comments. Questions first—I’ll take notes and reply to some later. (10 minutes)
Ten-minute break (we start again on time)
SECOND HOUR. Exercise 2: What are the powers of mind, soul, and body that Jesus could mobilize on the task in hand? Take 15 minutes to read the quotes on the powers thoughtfully. And then, as time remains, jot down some notes about how the powers relate to your particular task . . . and general lessons that you can share in our group discussion.
Powers of mind
The cosmic mind has powers in the realms of causation, duty, and worship (16:6/192). Our local universe Mother Spirit ministers these powers as the adjutant mind-spirits (36:5/402).
- The spirit of intuition—quick perception, the primitive physical and inherent reflex instincts, the directional and other self-preservative endowments of all mind creations . . .
- The spirit of understanding—the impulse of co-ordination, the spontaneous and apparently automatic association of ideas. This is the gift of the co-ordination of acquired knowledge, the phenomenon of quick reasoning, rapid judgment, and prompt decision.
- The spirit of courage—the fidelity endowment—in personal beings, the basis of character acquirement and the intellectual root of moral stamina and spiritual bravery. When enlightened by facts and inspired by truth, this becomes the secret of the urge of evolutionary ascension by the channels of intelligent and conscientious self-direction.
- The spirit of knowledge—the curiosity-mother of adventure and discovery, the scientific spirit; the guide and faithful associate of the spirits of courage and counsel; the urge to direct the endowments of courage into useful and progressive paths of growth.
- The spirit of counsel—the social urge, the endowment of species co-operation; the ability of will creatures to harmonize with their fellows; the origin of the gregarious instinct among the more lowly creatures.
- The spirit of worship—the religious impulse. (The lack of description of this adjutant leads us back to the description of this power of cosmic mind.) Worship—the spiritual domain of the reality of religious experience, the personal realization of divine fellowship, the recognition of spirit values, the assurance of eternal survival, the ascent from the status of servants of God to the joy and liberty of the sons of God. (16:6/192)
- The spirit of wisdom—the inherent tendency of all moral creatures towards orderly and progressive evolutionary advancement. This is the highest of the adjutants, the spirit co-ordinator and articulator of the work of all the others. . . .
Powers of soul
In the discourse on the soul, Jesus gave a list of soul powers that was not intended to be complete, but it lays a foundation for our understanding and further inquiry.
133:6.5 (1478.4) “The soul is the self-reflective, truth-discerning, and spirit-perceiving part of man.
Powers of body
Our powers of body include “energy systems”; “the basic energies, the master tissues, and the master chemical overcontrol”; and “the mind of perfect poise” needs to be “housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function.” (2:7.11/43.4; 112:2.14/1229.1; 110:6.4/1209.4) (And remember special gifts and skills.)
Exercise 3—done as a group. What connections do you see between worship and tasks?
- 3 more quotes presented (about 5 minutes)
- Q&A and lessons learned (30 minutes)
- Worship (10 minutes)
5:3.5 (66.1) When you deal with the practical affairs of your daily life, you are in the hands of the spirit personalities having origin in the Third Source and Center; you are co-operating with the agencies of the Conjoint Actor. . . . You work out the details of your earthly sojourn in connection with the intelligences of the Infinite Spirit operating on your world and throughout your universe.
34:6.2 (380.3) Although Divinity may be plural in manifestation, in human experience Deity is singular, always one. Neither is spiritual ministry plural in human experience. Regardless of plurality of origin, all spirit influences are one in function.
27:7.1 (303.5) Worship is the conscious and joyous act of recognizing and acknowledging the truth and fact of the intimate and personal relationships of the Creators with their creatures.
- True Worship (selections that may be useful during the workshop)
5:3.1 (65.3) In the highest sense, we worship the Universal Father and him only. True, we can and do worship the Father as he is manifested in his Creator Sons, but it is the Father, directly or indirectly, who is worshiped and adored.
5:3.3 (65.5) Worship is for its own sake; prayer embodies a self- or creature-interest element; that is the great difference between worship and prayer. There is absolutely no self-request or other element of personal interest in true worship; we simply worship God for what we comprehend him to be. Worship asks nothing and expects nothing for the worshiper. We do not worship the Father because of anything we may derive from such veneration; we render such devotion and engage in such worship as a natural and spontaneous reaction to the recognition of the Father’s matchless personality and because of his lovable nature and adorable attributes.
5:3.5 (66.1) When you deal with the practical affairs of your daily life, you are in the hands of the spirit personalities having origin in the Third Source and Center; you are co-operating with the agencies of the Conjoint Actor. And so it is: You worship God; pray to, and commune with, the Son; and work out the details of your earthly sojourn in connection with the intelligences of the Infinite Spirit operating on your world and throughout your universe.
5:3.7 (66.3) Sincere worship connotes the mobilization of all the powers of the human personality under the dominance of the evolving soul and subject to the divine directionization of the associated Thought Adjuster. The mind of material limitations can never become highly conscious of the real significance of true worship. Man’s realization of the reality of the worship experience is chiefly determined by the developmental status of his evolving immortal soul. The spiritual growth of the soul takes place wholly independently of the intellectual self-consciousness.
5:3.8 (66.4) The worship experience consists in the sublime attempt of the betrothed Adjuster to communicate to the divine Father the inexpressible longings and the unutterable aspirations of the human soul—the conjoint creation of the God-seeking mortal mind and the God-revealing immortal Adjuster. Worship is, therefore, the act of the material mind’s assenting to the attempt of its spiritualizing self, under the guidance of the associated spirit, to communicate with God as a faith son of the Universal Father. The mortal mind consents to worship; the immortal soul craves and initiates worship; the divine Adjuster presence conducts such worship in behalf of the mortal mind and the evolving immortal soul. True worship, in the last analysis, becomes an experience realized on four cosmic levels: the intellectual, the morontial, the spiritual, and the personal—the consciousness of mind, soul, and spirit, and their unification in personality.
