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Sequence: An eternal key to evolutionary wisdom
Why does evolution take so long? Because on Paradise headquarters, sequence is reckoned, but not time. Certain conditions must be fulfilled; a certain basis must be established before the next phase can go ahead. The study of sequences leads to an understanding more complex than is portrayed in a plenary address. But these slightly revised excerpts (with a new paragraph as the conclusion) are enough to give us occasion to ponder and pray as we formulate policies, practices, and programs.
Higher wisdom comes first from the personalities of the central universe, who live with the Universal Father in the eternal now. Please take a few moments of silence to enhance your receptivity to the wisdom of the eternal now.
We also receive wisdom from the realm of the Supreme Being, the past-present-future of evolution. Now please take a few moments to spread out in your imagination the movement of this age from its origin, through its history to its destiny. Imagine the process in fast-forward mode. Find some image or symbol or gesture or somehow try to get a feel for the whole sweep of evolution.
These two sources weave together. We are children of the Universal Father, from whom we have our personality and the indwelling spirit. For the rest, we are children of the Supreme. . . .
As we labor for personal growth and planetary progress, we find that things usually go slowly. . . . [One] major reason why evolution takes so long has to do with rules of sequence. To understand them, begin with a truth of eternity.
Time is not reckoned on Paradise; . . . [but] . . . the sequence of successive events is inherent in the concept of those who are indigenous to the central Isle. (14:1/153)
Here are examples of rules of sequence in time.
When physical conditions are ripe, sudden mental evolutions may take place; when mind status is propitious, sudden spiritual transformations may occur; when spiritual values receive proper recognition, then cosmic meanings become discernible . . . . (65:8/740)
In other words, there are sequences that are inherent in the concept of the Deities and citizens of Paradise, where there is no consciousness of time; and these sequences imply necessary conditions of progress in an evolutionary world. X has to be in place, before Y can follow. Wisdom requires more than patience. Revealed religion is excellent as well as genuine. It takes cosmic insight to motivate epochal maturity.
As the self matures, it reaches further and further back into the past for experience, while its wisdom forecasts seek to penetrate deeper and deeper into the unknown future. (118:1/1295)
We can learn the lessons of previous epochal revelations and anticipate the next thousand years of the mission of The Urantia Book. Then we can attempt to contemplate “the affairs of each generation as they are designed to fit into the mosaic of the age in which they occur” (114:6/1255).
For students of The Urantia Book, the most important rule of sequence governs our truth-sharing as we help people enter the kingdom and advance in it. I call it the receptivity principle (teach according to other’s capacity of receptivity): Present entry-level truth before giving advanced teachings. Following this rule, we do not complicate evolution (66:5/747), but promote it. Here’s what Jesus told Simon and the apostles.
Go then, Simon, teaching and preaching the kingdom, and when you have a man safely and securely within the kingdom, then is the time, when such a one shall come to you with inquiries, to impart instruction having to do with the progressive advancement of the soul within the divine kingdom. . . .
That night Jesus discoursed to the apostles [and] said in part: “When you enter the kingdom, you are reborn. You cannot teach the deep things of the spirit to those who have been born only of the flesh; first see that men are born of the spirit before you seek to instruct them in the advanced ways of the spirit. Do not undertake to show men the beauties of the temple until you have first taken them into the temple.” (141:6/1591-92)
Entry-level truth is not only about the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Jesus’ many-sided gospel comprises a cluster of themes, including the indwelling spirit, love, worship and service, becoming and being like God, joy and liberty, eternal life, and doing the Father’s will. . . .
If we teach truth according to revealed rules of sequence, we lay a sturdy foundation for the decades and centuries to come. If our enthusiasm for The Urantia Book leads us to disobey the teachings of the book we claim to cherish, we jeopardize the plans of the revelators during the present planetary crisis. Divine justice, power, and sovereignty hold us accountable.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
