Destiny

Destiny is such a fascinating topic, so important as a part of our consciousness from the beginning of life, running through it like a constant thread for its entire length.

Destiny is not a static concept, not a far-off goal, not a plaque on a wall that states the result of a performance, an office attained, nor a goal reached. Rather, destiny is what is contained in the seed of being as a potential prior to the onset of life. And the destiny starts to unfold at the moment of birth. Each of you here now is participating in your own destiny. You have a destiny that was, the destiny that is, and a destiny that shall be. From the time of attainment of your Thought Adjuster, you have a unique way of altering - not altering - but molding your personal destiny, as if each of you had before you a detailed blueprint of your entire existence and the capacity to make changes within the blueprint limitations at will. Erase a line here, add a line there, this is where your free-will decision-making capacity serves you most mightily.

You may ask “But how can I possibly know the correct way to mold my destiny?” “What is the way?”
 You have the Spirit of Truth. You have the living fragment of God within you. You have a certain
 knowledge of truth and goodness and beauty and love to guide you. You have the spiritual muscles of
 your soul - as strong as your use of them has made them. And it is those muscles - if you will - that have
 a firm grip on your destiny through your freewill.

Imagine the Father has given you a large diamond at the beginning of your life, and it is your job to cut
 that diamond so that it may reflect light in brilliant and in interesting ways. You have the gift of
 personality given with the gift of life, and your freewill is the tool that you use to shape this personality.
 How will you shape it? That is your decision. Will you make changes? Almost certainly. Will you regret
 them? Yes, of course, but not all of them.

When you pass from the life in the flesh and are given the choice of continuing on or not, at that point
the richness of destiny will almost certainly be such an irresistible inducement that no one but the most
deeply impaired ever decline to continue. This concept is difficult to grasp at this point for you,
 nonetheless it is useful to ponder.

Much has been written in your literature on Urantia about destiny, the concept of fate. And some of what
 has been speculated is actually quite close to the truth. Yes, a single decision can change the course very
 much. Yes, the decision you make at any time can have an impact on the destiny of another, not unlike
 stars on a collision course, or - less dramatic - marbles rebounding from one another as they roll down
 an incline, each impact causing a ricocheting of other marbles, and yet others. It is this interaction of
 destinies through personalities and free-will decision that makes fellowship so vitally important in the
 Universe.

As UrantiaEarth progresses toward the era of lightLight and life,Life, the spiritual growth of individuals will accelerate
 and improve. Fellowship will grow, and there will be far more positive impacts of personalities upon
 personalities in the sense of non-adverse contributions to growth.
 Of course, adversity helps the individual to grow spiritually. However, there are many many ways of
 abetting growth that do not necessarily involve adversity - as you all are aware. And of course there is
 ample adversity through the eternal ages. A diminution in the adversity experienced in this embryonic
 stage of growth in the material form will not detract in the long run.

Yes, adversity makes one stronger,
 however the man running the race who finds himself beaten with a whip or struck in the leg with a stick
 at each step most likely will not run as quickly, oras confidently, or as contently as he might with that -without those adverse factors not present.factors. He instead would have more energy to devote to the task of running
 the race rather than having to divert attention to the pain and the opposition.

So it is on UrantiaEarth now: many souls with clearly established destinies running that race - the race to get
 through life. How will you run your race? How will you affect the race of others? When we engage in
 service to our fellows we help them to run the race a little more easily, you see? That does not mean we
 carry them upon our backs, for it is their race, it is their destiny. But we do not trip them, or strike them.

Is our destiny completed when that far-off day comes when we stand in the presence of the Father? No,
 not at all. However, the striving to meet that particular goal is a very important part of the destiny of
 every one of you here today.
 Destinies are eternal and infinite, and no being has ever existed - mortal or non-mortal - that has fully
 expressed their potential destiny. This is a difficult concept to grasp for me also, nonetheless, it is so. So
 you see your destiny is a fluid thing, dynamic, growing, alive, subject to many forces, but most of all
 your own will, your one desire to act.

Yes, you have many helpers within and without, and their promptings can be very useful if you wish to
 accept them. So go forth. Meet your destiny. Run the good race.
That is all. Are there questions?
S:
Question: About the beginning of the 16th century a man by the name of John Calvin, when he was
 translating the Latin scriptures into French, became convinced that the New Testament taught
 predestination, and developed the doctrine of predestination which is known as Calvinism. It holds
 generally that people are predestined to go to heaven or go to hell. I realize that, in Thethe Urantia Book
 language, this is predestined to survive or not-survive. This became such a strong point, that others, who
couldn't accept the idea that a God would create individuals to go to hell, said that they had the free will
to choose. And the doctrine of predestination and the doctrine of free will are considered to be opposite
to each other.

I think Thethe Urantia Book teaches that they are consistent with each other, that when we are born we are
predestined - to do something, but we have the free will to change that destiny, point by point, decision
by decision. And if I remember it correctly, Thethe Urantia Book says that we are predestined to do things,
but we are not foreordained to do them, that we have the free will to say no. Putting that together with
your lesson, suddenly it fills in the blanks.
R:

Answer: Yes, you understand well. You see that there are many dimensions which have been left out by
the formal religious approaches of the past. Do you have any comments?
S:
 Perhaps this can serve as the basis for at least a scholarly article on the subject of predestination
and free will, where The Urantia Book / Rayson teachings can be presented as an alternate to Calvinism
without having to turn it down completely - as the doctrine of free will has.
R:
 That is an excellent idea, (S). It would do much good in a number of ways. Destiny is a very
strong inducement even to those small in faith, and you will find much receptivity for the concept.
Q:
 Although I understand it is possible for an individual not to live up to their destiny in this
lifetime. The Urantia Book suggests, and I want to confirm this, that collectively, the destiny of the
group in the Supreme will be honored. In other words, we have a destiny as a group that will be fulfilled
even though we might - individually - not fulfill our own destiny. Is that correct?

A:
 Yes, that is one way of understanding what is true. I do not, myself, understand the full
implications. Destiny in the fullest sense is beyond the understanding of any unfused personality, and
indeed, it may be necessary to experience paradise before truly grasping what destiny really means.
(01/31/94)
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Q:
Question: I have a question about the active or non-active role that the different agents and beings that
 surround us actually take in our lives. Some of us think that they are quite active, I mean to the point
 where good fortune is placed in their path, if they are seeking the Father's will. And others of us feel as
 though they aren't that involved, that interactive. Can you shed any light on this?
A:

Answer: Yes. This is a question that comes up again and again in this mission. Some are blessed with
 great agility in managing the material world and are perceived as being lucky. This is not a result of
 spiritual leading, necessarily, in the sense that you are referring to with external forces bringing to bear,
 however it is not that common for a material being to thrive without some participation in a program of
 spiritual growth. It does happen, of course. There have been some quite iniquitous beings who have
 done enormously well in the material sense. But of course they have lived with overwhelming inner
 torment which they have not generally admitted to others. But the one who thrives on UrantiaEarth without
 inner torment must necessarily follow a spiritual program.

Material success requires study and practice at material skills. Wealth does indeed flow in well-defined
 channels, and the one who would be wealthy may easily, or not so easily, tap into these channels. This
 may be seen as luck, but it's more a matter of having a good eye and a high level of desire. There have
 been persons who've become wealthy who have also achieved high spirit attainment. This is rare, but
 known to happen.

Has their success been due to cosmic intervention? They too have been endowed with Thought
 Adjusters, and some have heeded the advice of Thought Adjusters and been helped in attaining their
 goals. Some have had other spirit helpers for reasons beyond what your history books may record. Much
 of this has to do with using well-placed beings to help offset some of the damage done during the
 rebellion. They happen to be in opportune positions, so an attempt is made to use them, but as far as
 anyone being intentionally placed in a position of power by seraphic or other guidance, no. Those in
 positions of power may choose to avail themselves of seraphic guidance that is offered, which is a free
 will decision, but there is not divine intervention in the matters of man beyond that.
 

Advice is always at hand. Whether man chooses to take it or not is another matter. Let us look at the
 other side of the situation. What of the person who seems to be good and lead a life of worship and yet is
 beset with misfortune, material poverty from family tragedy? In undertaking the journey towards
 spiritual growth one may or may not choose to participate in the flow of wealth and material.wealth. Some
 choose not to, and therefore their material lives are impoverished while their spiritual lives are enriched.

This is rare. This is as rare as the other extreme. It is as rare as the wealthy man who is spiritually rich,
 but it does happen. The great mass of people do best, have the most so-called good luck, when they are
 engaging in worship in their activities and heeding seraphic guidance which is available to all. So you
 could say that good luck, no matter what your goals may be, they will be more readily attained, if you
 follow God's plan. This may sound somewhat like a television evangelist, but this is certainly not a call
 for donations to churches. If you lead your lives in such a way that you are loving, you are good, you are
 kind, you are truthful, you are bound to have some good fortune, and you are also bound to have some misfortune. But overall the services that you render in the plying of your trade, whatever that may be,
 will generally be well accepted, and you will prosper to whatever extent is possible. Does that help?
Q:
 It sure does. What I think I understand you saying is that like attracts like.
A:
 True, and beyond that those who are lost or in doubt will respond positively to a light, to a
beacon.
Q:
 Rayson, the Urantia book indicates that human reservists, reserve corp of destiny, have special
seraphic assistance, guardians of destiny assigned to them. Where in your discourse did that fit?
A:
 Well, there is separate seraphic guidance certainly, special seraphic guidance accorded to those
who are reservists, but there is also seraphic guidance available to all others, if they wish to avail
themselves of that. And that is the question, is it not?
Q.
 And we access that seraphic guidance by the same means we improve our ability to communicate
with the Father through the Thought Adjuster?
A:
 Yes, and through our conduct. If your conduct is worshipful, you will attract the attention of
seraphim and others who will be at hand should you request extra help? Yes, this does happen through
the Thought Adjuster, but I personally do not know how it occurs. This is part of the mystery.