The inevitabilities

From Symmetry of Soul

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Perhaps no place in The Urantia Papers better proposes an answer to than Paper 3, Section 5. Each of these inevitabilites ask us to see the beneficience of God where we do not naturally, historically, or traditionally.

"The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following." [3:5.5, p. 51]

We studied these on 7/23/2019 and 7/30/2019.

Ideas to keep in mind

  • Can you love a God that is the Author of both the positive and negative of these inevitabilities?
    • God is the author of these negative aspects, not some evil/dark supposed being.
    • Dual spiritism, ghost cults, and old wineskins have made this difficult to understand.
    • And every evolutionary world must experience these, as well as the indispensables.
    • These negatives are really a gift from God, to spur us to grow.
  • Can you have a 180 turnaround, and be thankful when you see these negatives in the world and in your life?
    • Many think we are blessed when life is going along pleasantly. But no. The greatest affliction is never to have been afflicted.


  • It isn't that we should absolutely fail to address the negative side of each of these.
    • e.g., "Oh, we absolutely must ignore social inequality, because if we addressed it we'd be hurting altruism!" No.
    • In fact, these negatives eventually, in supremacy, will have to be dealt with if we observe they don't exist in the pattern central universe of perfection.
    • Choose to be altruistic to be of service to one's fellows, not to eliminate social inequality. Social inequality runs much deeper than any act you might do. Social inequality has scientific and genetic problems; you won't correct genetic issues through altruism.


  • Clear nomenclature: The inevitability is not the positive item in this list. What is inevitable is the negative--what follow as the negative fact that weighs upon you.
    • Each of these invokes the word must. There is no other way to get your hands on these.
  • Ascension is not escapism. And don't think that the ascencion plan will let you escape these negative. You will need them all the way up.
    • A far greater challenge from these inevitabilities awaits you on the second circuit of Havona.


Based on the final paragraph of section five, we detect 3 sets of 3 in the 9 inevitabilities. Within each the pattern repeats: individuality, associativity, and unity. We suppose the groups-of-3 are:

  1. Hallmarks of human achievement. No Havona native can be these in any possible way. Havona natives cannot be courageous, altruistic, or hopeful--only a human can.
  2. Our inner life. Items which Havona natives have, but they have them in eternity. Humans must reach up and take hold of eternity.
  3. Self-mastery. A mastered inner life can then manifest in the outer life through these. Havona natives already are self-mastered innately, but humans achieve self-mastery. Only a mastered self can consistently respond positively to a negative stimulus. Get your inner life in order first.

Courage requires hardships

  • Not an accident this is first. It takes courage to face the facts of an evolutionary domain.
  • An environment of hardships and disappointments is a divine gift.
    • A prickly environment is just what we need to demonstrate courage. A prickly environment is a gift.
    • Chew on that. Do you want wrapping paper on that gift?
    • The most primitive people sensed the truth of this. They thought good luck and back luck came from God.
    • Dual spiritism has made this difficult. Today we think hardship and disappointment come from some dark being messing around in the world.
  • And courage is strength of character.
  • This author thinks of his paternal grandmother's pluckiness. Her courage forged as a window in the American Great Depression. She just rolled up her sleeves and did what needed doing. I'd classify her strength of character as strong.
    • She did not look on adversity and think "the dark one" visited it upon her. It's the way the universe must be if was are to embody courage.


  • Courage is an INDIVIDUALITY phenomenon. We each must choose to be courageous in the face of hardships.
  • Havona natives cannot be courageous, only brave. Courage versus bravery.
    • The central universe is not a prickly environment!


Altruism requires social inequality

  • Do you want to be altruistic and eliminate all social inequality? You can't have both.
    • If social inequality were eliminated, altruism would be eliminated. You'd also blow up civilization, hence the emergency.
  • We are created equal, not born equal. Created equal versus born equal.
  • This author reports feeling that perhaps we should at least "narrow the distribution" of social inequality. Eliminate the gross extremes.
    • But it was countered that on our planet it has been decreed that the distribution not be narrowed. So the fruits of rebellion can be expunged. Higher voltage/potential, so to speak.
    • If we were on a normal world (no rebellion), this author's thoughts might have some merit.


  • Concerning raging against social inequality:
    • That is, "I want to love but first I have to hate. Let's get rid of the things that make me hate so all that's left is love."
    • This is fundamentally flawed subtractive thinking.
  • Try being a pro-altruist instead of an anti-social-inequalitist. And patiently trust that growth over time will do what it ought.
  • Ensure your altruism is spiritually motivated, not materially motivated.
    • i.e., if social inequality is a spiritual gift, from a spiritual Father, try to ensure your response to it is in a spiritual domain--your inner life, where you are sovereign.
    • Then let the fruits of that spiritual choice produce fruits of the spirit. Trust the bigger picture to the Most Highs.
    • And make sure it isn't false altruism: selfishness in disguise ("I do this only to get a pleasant feeling")


  • Altruism clearly is an ASSOCIATIVITY phenomenon--you must associate with other humans to engage it.
    • Havona natives cannot be altruistic. They can be kind and considerate, but only a human can be altruistic.


Hope requires uncertainty

  • The word hope is full of baggage--watered down and corrupt. What do we mean here?
    • We don't mean the ghost cult's false hope--wishful thinking for a certain material outcome.
      • "My hopes were dashed." Those were false hopes, then.
      • Wish fulfillment from our indolent, animal-origin self is something we must choose not to be subject to.
    • We mean true hope. Undying hope.
      • The individual makes no demands for a particular outcome.


  • True hope is not tied to an endpoint, but to a beginning point.
    • Hope is about "the grandeur of trust," the beginning of something.
    • "I cannot see the endpoint, and yet I trust." That's true hope.
  • If every moment is an infinite beginning, full of potential, such hope could never die.
  • True hope is predicated on the recognition inherent in trust.
  • If you say, "I hope that happens," you probably have a false hope definition.


  • Hope is a UNITY phenomenon. The grandeur of trust.
    • How is hope unity/spirit? Well, true hope is the spiritual essence of the substance of trust.
    • Havona natives cannot be hopeful. They can be expectant of a pleasant future, but not hopeful. Only a human can embody hope.
    • True hope is about the potential of the present moment--a beginning. That's why it isn't possible in Havona: in Havona, all potentials have been actualized.


Faith requires knowing less than you can believe

  • Faith is a gift of God. The third of the three cosmic intuitions is what allows it.
  • Your own faith grasp is an INDIVIDUALITY phenomenon. You do it on your own in the inner life.
  • Ensure you have a proper definition of true faith. Faith versus belief.
    • Faith comes from God. From the top, down to us.
    • Faith is not a more and ever more exalted belief that originated with you. That's ghost-cult style thinking. Old wineskins.
  • This is a INDIVIDUALITY inevitability.
    • Havona natives have this, but they have it in eternity. Humans reach up and take hold of eternity.
    • Hence, this is the saving aspect of it for us. Havona native do not have a saving grasp--they wouldn't need it.
    • Humans spiritize themselves. But your faith grasp is your own. You do this, as an individual, in your inner life.


Love of Truth requires a world full of error

  • They suggest that truth leads us. That is, we can obey truth (we cannot obey facts).
  • But error is not synonymous with falsehood.
    • If you give falsehood form in your mind, that's error.
    • Error is unwise judgment.
  • This item isn't just truth, but love of truth.
  • And like all of these, you must choose the love of truth. Choice versus decision.
    • Borne of a recognition of the positiveness of one path and the negativeness of the other.
    • Choices are made in eternity; decisions are made in time.


  • This is an ASSOCIATIVE inevitability.
    • Just in the same was as we say "fact, truth, and goodness," where truth is the (middle, superadditive) associative element.
    • Truth is about considering others in the context of the whole.


Idealism requires relative beauty and relative goodness

  • Idealism is not the possession of better things, but the irrepressible reach for better things.
  • Even in an era of light and life, this relativity is still in play.
    • Even on the Isle of Paradise, beauty and goodness remain relative.
    • This isn't false idealism, e.g., material idealism.


  • This is a UNITY inevitability.
    • In the 5th ER, ideals are clearly tied to unity, to spirit.


Loyalty requires potential betrayal

  • Define loyalty properly: devotion to highest duty.
    • Not to your baser instincts, that is false loyalty!
  • We each need to discern what that highest duty is. "It is my will that God's will be done," but discerning what that means.
  • This is high loyalty, not base instinctual 3rd adjuant stuff.


  • An INDIVIDUALITY inevitability.
    • Havona natives already have this innately. Humans achieve this.
    • This is self-mastery.
    • This is not what comes naturally. Only a mastered self can respond positively to a negative stimulus.


Unselfishness requires an incessantly clamoring, selfish material self

  • But that material self wasn't made by the devil or such.
  • Even the level of the flesh in the the levels of meaning was made by God.
  • The five-year-old shouts "MINE!" because God made us that way. It isn't sinful.
  • Try seeing selfishness as a starting point, not an ending point we're doomed to stay at.
    • i.e., see selfishness (level of the flesh) as a positive potentiality, not a negative actuality
  • An ASSOCIATIVITY inevitability.
    • Similar to altruism, from earlier. Unselfishness requires association with others.


Pleasure requires pain

  • The high form of pleasure: satisfaction of happiness.
    • We know almost nothing of this. This is sublime pleasure. Not level of the flesh stuff.
    • This is not a pleasant feeling we are talking about.
  • We reach this so rarely because pain and suffering are essential to progressive evolution.
  • Do you want to choose the divine life? Then you must forsake the self life.
  • Happiness is a choice. a positive response to a negative stimulus.
    • If you agree with that, then reflect: could happiness be possible without negative stimuli?
    • If there were no negative stimuli, we could only ever experience joy. Happiness versus joy.
  • A UNITY inevitability.