The Beauty of God

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By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders

The Beauty of GodThe truth, beauty, and goodness of God

In The Urantia Book, we learn that three of the attributes of God are: Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. And we discover that the three attributes work together: If something is true, it is also good and beautiful; if it is good, it is also true and beautiful; and if it is beautiful, it is also true and good.

0:1.17 Divinity is creature comprehensible as truth, beauty, and goodness; correlated in personality as love, mercy, and ministry; disclosed on impersonal levels as justice, power, and sovereignty.

2:7.11 All truth—material, philosophic, or spiritual—is both beautiful and good. All real beauty—material art or spiritual symmetry—is both true and good. All genuine goodness—whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry—is equally true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems.

Today, I want to talk about the beauty that is God. I want to talk about how the beauty of God seems to exist just for the sake of existing. Sometimes, this is just overwhelming to me.

Jesus and Spiritual Liberty

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By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders

Jesus and Spiritual LibertyJesus often spoke of spiritual liberty, or spiritual freedom. He spoke of setting the captives free. This article: 5 freedoms only Jesus can give by Alex McFarland talks about the Christian idea of freedoms that were supposedly won because of Jesus death through the so-called atonement. In my blog below, I want to discuss the ideas of spirirual freedom that Jesus promised throughout his LIFE, and that are available to all who enter the kingdom. But here’s the five things that the article discusses:

“It is significant to reflect on the freedoms we have through Jesus Christ. His hard-won victory on the cross gives us these five liberties:

  1. Freedom from guilt that all inherit
  2. Freedom from sinful deeds we personally commit
  3. Freedom within ourselves over personal struggles
  4. Freedom from judgment that is ultimately coming
  5. Freedom to face eternity, and our soul’s final destiny”

Click to read the article

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I take some issue with some of the five freedoms that are discussed in this article above, but it’s really not my place to call out my Christian brethren for what they believe. Nevertheless, having been brought up in a church that was bloated with rules and regulations – a church that preached my inherent sinfulness – a church that blamed me and my sins (and God) for Jesus’ terrible death…well, I have to say that discovering The Urantia Book and the true teachings of Jesus was a truly liberating experience.

Thoughts on Holy Week

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By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders

Thoughts on Holy WeekOrdinarily, this blog begins with a snippet from an article in the Christian press. I get ideas from certain articles; I like to comment on them using Urantia Book teachings. But at Easter, it is very depressing to find article after article about the atonement – how Jesus was a sacrifice for our terrible sins, and the sins of Adam. And, how God demanded this sacrifice. So, this Easter Week, I am making a blog that I hope will speak to all articles of that sort. They are just my personal musings, but I hope you can stick with me and see how The Urantia Book’s teachings about Jesus can really alter one’s perceptions of what’s real – and for the better!

The draw of Holy Week

Holy Week is a big deal for most Christian people, including me. I count myself in that group, although I am not really a Christian. My religion has evolved since I found The Urantia Book, and so, I now consider myself a “Jesusonian.” I particularly like this characterization of the job of the Jesusonian:

195:10.5 In winning souls for the Master, it is not the first mile of compulsion, duty, or convention that will transform man and his world, but rather the second mile of free service and liberty-loving devotion that betokens the Jesusonian reaching forth to grasp his brother in love and sweep him on under spiritual guidance toward the higher and divine goal of mortal existence.