We have not forgotten this blog; rather our focus
has been on normalizing our life in these magnificent western North Carolina mountains,
this glorious portion of our Father’s creation.
In the many months since the last posting we have settled in somewhat
and taken a short journey. We have also
made some modifications to our little lodge in Poplar Cove. And in the midst of all this, the book, “Light
of Truth,” has expanded until it currently has more than 107,000 words.
Our quotation naturally relates to the book.
There
is but one law to obey — that is the command to go forth proclaiming the gospel
of the kingdom. Cease to fear men; be unafraid to preach the good news of
eternal life to your fellows who languish in darkness and hunger for the light
of truth. (Urantia Book, 2049.2)
Light in
the Trees
One of the joys of life in this cove is watching the interplay of light and shadow. Every moment there is a shifting shadow or an interesting display of light. It is fascinating to watch the light of the sun setting behind the ridge above our house as it illuminates trees in our cove. This is truly a magical space in our Father’s creation.
I have been tracking the weather in Poplar Cove,
recording the temperature extremes and rain accumulation. For example, we have received 35.5 inches of
rain in the first six months of this year and more than 57 inches through the
last twelve months. Since we arrived
here in late November 2015 we have not had a single temperature reading above
89 degrees. We have also been tracking
the position of the sun, how it changes throughout the year. There are many aspects of our natural world
that continue to amaze us; it is up to each one of us to seek an understanding
of our surroundings. It is through our
seeking to understand physical reality that we can also grow in our awareness
of spiritual reality because both require a desire to learn truth.
Pileated
Woodpecker
The creatures in our corner of the world are also fascinating. We frequently hear this woodpecker as it attacks the trees, sometimes sounding like a machinegun and at other times sounding like a methodical carpenter building a house in the woods.
Just yesterday I was sitting at my desk in
mid-morning when I looked at my reflection in the window. Something appeared to be moving; it took me a
moment to realize that a young bear had climbed the post on the veranda railing,
had his head and front feet above the railing and was looking in at me from
about six feet away. We watched as he
casually climbed down, went around to the back of the house, sniffed around the
fruit trees then scampered up the bank and into the woods. We were certainly glad that we were inside
and little bear and mommy (wherever she was) were outside. These hills have belonged to them far longer
than they have belonged to us.
Wandering
Urantians at Lake Norman
We took a short journey to Charlotte to visit
friends; as you can see from our attire this was not recent, actually we went
there a few days before last Christmas.
Jetton Park on Lake Norman is a 106 acre park on the lakeshore and is an
excellent place to get fresh air and enjoy the out of doors. We had a great walk along the lake, but as
can be seen, the lake level was a bit low.
There is a vibrant Urantia Book study group in
Charlotte, but the timing of our visit did not allow us to attend their
meeting. We did meet with the group
leader and his wife at Freshwater Restaurant in Charlotte. We truly enjoyed an evening of music, food
and friendship at this lively establishment.
The remainder of this posting is a condensed version
of Chapter One in the book “Light of Truth.”
More excerpts will be forthcoming in future posts.
Five hundred thousand years ago our planetary prince, Caligastia, arrived to take over leadership of this planet and to guide its inhabitants toward a fuller understanding of themselves, the nature of God and His creation (UB 741.2). While Caligastia is invisible to mortals, he brought with him one hundred physical beings who were similar in appearance to our ancestors and were therefore able to interact with the mortals of the realm who had been evolving for about five hundred thousand years at that time (UB 742.3).
Caligastia’s
superior in the local government, the system sovereign, was a brilliant
being. After passing through the
universe training schools his boss was ranked number 37 out of more than seven
hundred thousand similar beings (UB
601.1). He subsequently became the
sovereign of our local system. More than
two hundred thousand years ago he went into open rebellion against higher
authority. Caligastia’s boss was Lucifer
and the assistant was Satan, you have heard of them from the Bible. Caligastia joined the Lucifer rebellion
against the universe government. This
event was a disaster for the nascent civilization on our planet.
The
Monster Rising out of the Lake
(I found this stump
in Jetton Park to be compelling; it looked like some monstrous apparition
crawling out of the lake. Somehow it
fits here.)
Lucifer, the system
sovereign, was the instigator of the rebellion.
Nobody suggested anything of the sort to him; the rebellion originated
totally in the mind of Lucifer (UB
603.1). Not only did the rebellion
originate with Lucifer, there were no specific problems in our system that
could have been a catalyst for a rebellion; there were no glaring deficiencies
that needed correcting. Lucifer could
have originated his rebellion wherever he might have been stationed (UB 602.5). He was a brilliant personality and this
deceived many because they could not understand how anybody that magnificent
could lead them astray. Depending blindly
on authority can be a risky business for anybody. Instead of some “authority,” our allegiance
should be given to our Heavenly Father.
Self-assertion was
his rallying cry (UB 604.4); he
declared that each of us must assert our rights and seek our own personal
liberty. This doctrine of selfishness
and greed has appeal even to some in our own times.
There
is no error greater than that species of self-deception which leads intelligent
beings to crave the exercise of power over other beings for the purpose of
depriving these persons of their natural liberties. The golden rule of human
fairness cries out against all such fraud, unfairness, selfishness, and
unrighteousness. Only true and genuine liberty is compatible with the reign of
love and the ministry of mercy (UB 614.3).
Before this
rebellion our planet had made progress, the light of truth was being gradually
introduced. But as a result of
Caligastia’s betrayal, the cultural gains that had occurred since his arrival
were mostly lost and the consequences are still being felt by all of us
today. An understanding of this betrayal
is necessary for us to comprehend the problems of our existence on our native
sphere in these times (UB 754.1). We all have lived with the consequences of
his actions and all human history has been altered (UB 752.4) in such a way that this abnormal planet appears to us to
be the way things should be. It is as if
we lived upside down all our lives and are certain this is the natural state of
things.
Caligastia succumbed
to the lure of pride of self and personal glory, as a result everyone born on
this planet since has been given an inaccurate image of truth; the mass of
society has sought out materialistic gains over spiritual gains. We seek short term goals instead of eternal
goals.
When we make the
slightest compromise with evil, when we make the slightest assertion of our own
rights over those of others, this constitutes falseness. Evil may reside in the smallest of decisions
and if we follow these small decisions we will be heading into falseness or
possibly worse. Caligastia chose to
follow Lucifer in open rebellion.
Caligastia thought God’s plan could be improved upon and the result was total
disaster.
His betrayal precipitated world-wide confusion and
robbed all subsequent generations of the moral assistance which a well-ordered
society would have provided (UB 382.4).
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