Episode:Marriage and Family—The Ideals (Part 5)

From Symmetry of Soul


The advancing ideals of family life are leading to the concept that bringing a child into the world entails the supreme responsibility of human existence. Family life is the progenitor of true morality, the ancestor of the consciousness of loyalty to duty. A true family—a good family—reveals to the parental procreators the attitude of the Creator to his children.

Listen to the broadcast

Keywords: Urantia, Marriage, Family, Tolerance, Patience

Summary by Kermit

84:7.10

Love of offspring distinctly favors survival and is practically universal. The ancients gave preference to child welfare over maternal rights. Like the animals, primitive mothers only nourished their children when very young, discarding them as soon as they grew up.

Enduring and continuous human associations are founded on more than just a biological foundation. While animals love their children, civilized man loves his grandchildren. this triggered a discussion involving our old friends, the levels of meaning, outlined by Jesus in 147:4, p. 1650.

While the fullness of genuine love is to be found on the 6th level of meaning (LoM) and animals access only the first two LoMs (flesh and feelings by virtue of their encircuitment in adjutant mind spirits 1-5), we asked in what sense do animals love. This love of animals for their young can only actually be functioning on the 2nd LoM (feelings) at most. The maternal instinct represents the level of the flesh. Humans are capable of recognizing the maternal instinct and move it up the levels of meaning to its fullness on the 6th LoM. Unfortunately, for many humans, love is a feeling (2nd LoM), instead of a verb on the 6th LoM.

With respect to our ancestors, the Andonites, they were too primitive to comprehend grandchildren. Note that the Planetary Prince waited until the arrival of the Sangik races before coming to Urantia. We noted the trend today of preferential rights now being accorded the mother over the child as a pre-primitive phenomenon. Are we moving in retrograde? Yet we note that today we no longer discard our your at an early age, but continue to nurture them in an every increasingly complex society.

Our author proceeds to list seven reasons why the ancients desired many children, even though these families were not, as they say, affectional. These reasons were all somewhat selfish, more or less, based on what the children could do for the parents. These reasons may not be so enlightened, but they were sufficient to move the family, hence civilization forward evolutionarily.

Similarly, the primitive rationale of the ancestor worshipers for valuing sons over daughters ultimately worked to further civilization. This item led to a valuable discussion about the dangers of idealistically attempting the change of a single element in our society or culture without the objective awareness of the consequences to civilization from a system perspective.

We engaged in another worthwhile discussion regarding the practice of protecting children from the natural consequences of foolish conduct, thus contributing to modern insubordination. Even the word insubordination sparks strong negative reactions among today’s spiritual idealists. One of our team remarked, that the kind of self exaltation that rejects subordination is SO problematic as to unwittingly lead to a kind of anarchy that characterizes the emergency to civilization to which our revelation speaks!

Regarding the issue of discipline and correction, the presence of Andite inheritance produces more imaginative and adventurous youths in contrast to the more placid and tractable Eskimo children as well as those of the red and yellow man. These young require more training and discipline.

Our author cited three factors that render the modern problems of child culture increasingly difficult.

  1. The large degree of race mixture. The two elements here are the deficiency of Adamic inheritance and the lack of proper supervision in racial blending.
  2. Artificial and superficial education. Artificial in that in that current educational content has little relevance to day to day living; and Superficial, there is so little cultivation of relationship with the three cosmic intuitions—cosmic insight.
  3. Inability of the child to gain culture by imitating parents, who are absent from the family picture so much of the time. Our material comfort era tends to produce a ME orientation as opposed to a WE perspective.

Lest we despair, we are told that the advancing ideals of family life ARE leading to the concept that bringing a child into the world entails the supreme responsibility of human existence.

A child’s respect for his parents arises as a result of the loving display of care, training, and affection in assisting the child to win the battle of life. It is the wise child who recognizes and appreciates the true parent’s continuous service-ministry. Note regarding the wise child, the Adamic uplift is intended to foster the race’s relation to the 7th adjutant (WISDOM). Likewise, the true parent (true signifying a synchrony with the cosmos facilitated by this same 7th adjutant.

The security of civilization rests on the willingness of one generation to invest in the welfare of the next and future generations. The revelators warn against attempts to shift this responsibility to the state or church, as this will prove suicidal to the welfare and advancement of civilization.

This material is challenging our cosmic recognition to make a connection between the spiritual ideal of human brotherhood and the crucible of the family, wherein the facets of cosmic character can develop. It is in the family, the fundamental unit of fraternity where the lessons of patience, altruism, tolerance, and forbearance are learned, lessons which are so essential to the realization of the brotherhood among all men. A most enlightening discussion of the levels of meaning and the facets of cosmic character ensued deserve to be re-visited in the archive of this broadcast.

The family-council practices of the Andites are held up as the ideal of fraternal family government. Here is why the family is the nucleus of civilization. Getting along with individuals in society depends upon learning these behaviors and skills in a family. The enforced associations of family life stabilize personality and stimulate its growth through the compulsion of necessitous adjustment to other and diverse personalities. Further the true family—the good family—reveals to the parental procreators the attitude of the Creator to his children, while at the same time such true parents portray to their children the first of a long series of ascending disclosures of the love of the Paradise parent of all universe children. Note the reference her to the hierarchy of fathers given in [51:6].

142:7. The Lesson on The Family

In answer to a question by Thomas concerning spiritual kingdom living as applied to the social, economic, and political issues of the day. The Master explained that his use of the “kingdom idea” to illustrate man’s relation to God was chosen to align with Jewish expectations and to dovetail with the Baptist’s initial efforts, and that people of another age will better understand the gospel when presented in terms of a family relationship, as the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. This last half hour of our broadcast, reading and discussing the midwayer restatement of Jesus’ response to Thomas’ question is so rich and packed with valuable reflections on the evolutionary nature of Jesus’ teachings, application of LoM’s, and possibly most importantly the utter necessity of avoiding the application of spiritual idealism to material difficulties. It is beyond the scope of my summary, lest I take the next half hour to do so. For serious students of the revelation who want to take delight in cultivating re-visiting the archive of this broadcast is a must!

Thomas’ question, or questions had to do with what the apostles were to teach the multitude concerning the material affairs of the day, such as slave ownership, poverty, mercy law and justice. These are the same concerns voiced today by spiritually conscious individuals, i.e. how to apply of spiritual idealism to material affairs.

Jesus reply to these questions took all afternoon and evening. The midwayers summarized and restated his teachings. Most extraordinary is that Jesus explains that the people of another age will better understand the gospel when it is presented in terms expressive of a family relationship. This underscores the evolutionary nature of the Master’s teachings. This should disabuse believers of “absolutizing” the Master’s words and ideas suitable for other ages.

Facets of cosmic character appear here as well. Tolerance, Patience, and Forgiveness. Cosmic character is the product of ascending the LoMs. In the wholeness on the cosmic level the LoMs can be thought to form a circular faceted structure composed of the fruition of the six LoMs. FORTITUDE, TOLERANCE, PATIENCE, FORBEARANCE, ALTRUISM, AND FORGIVENESS. These facets were derived from the text in Papers 84, 100, and 140.

Jesus went on to discuss the fundamental characteristics of family life and their application to the relationship existing between God and man citing seven facts:

  1. The fact of existence
  2. Security and pleasure
  3. Education and training
  4. Discipline and restraint
  5. Companionship and loyalty
  6. Love and mercy
  7. Provision for the future

After hours of teaching the Master ended with theses words.

This entire relationship of a son to the Father, I know in perfection, for all that you must attain of sonship in the eternal future I have now already attained. The Son of Man is prepared to ascend to the right hand of the Father, so that in me is the way now open still wider for all of you to see God and, ere you have finished the glorious progression, to become perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Following this, Thomas was not yet satisfied and persisted in asking why the Father appears not to always deal kindly or mercifully with his children, as evinced through the tribulations and hardships of our material existence. To which Jesus replied, Thomas, Thomas... again trying to clarify for him and the other apostles the difference between the spiritual kingdom and the material affairs of this life. In short he asks his boys to grow up in the spirit!