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Defamation of Character???
Georgina Merrill, Maleny, Australia
"Not long since, I (a Solitary Messenger) was present on Salvington and heard a guardian of destiny present a formal statement in extenuation of the difficulties of ministering to her mortal subject. This seraphim said:
"Much of my difficulty was due to the unending conflict between the two natures of my subject: the urge of ambition opposed by animal indolence; the ideals of a superior people crossed by the instincts of an inferior race; the high purposes of a great mind antagonized by the urge of a primitive inheritance; the long-distance view of a far-seeing Monitor counteracted by the near-sightedness of a creature of time; the progressive plans of an ascending being modified by the desires and longings of a material nature; the flashes of universe intelligence cancelled by the chemical-energy mandates of the evolving race; the urge of angels opposed by the emotions of an animal; the training of an intellect annulled by the tendencies of instinct; the experience of the individual opposed by the accumulated propensities of the race; the aims of the best overshadowed by the drift of the worst; the flight of genius neutralized by the gravity of mediocrity; the progress of the good retarded by the inertia of the bad; the art of the beautiful besmirched by the presence of evil; the buoyancy of health neutralized by the debility of disease; the fountain of faith polluted by the poisons of fear; the spring of joy embittered by the waters of sorrow; the gladness of anticipation disillusioned by the bitterness of realization; the joys of living ever threatened by the sorrows of death. Such a life on such a planet! And yet, because of the ever-present help and urge of the Thought Adjuster, this soul did achieve a fair degree of happiness and success and has even now ascended to the judgment halls of Mansonia." (1223)
When I first read this paragraph during my habitual pre-"lights out" reading of The Urantia Book, in the wave of indignation that swept over me, I wrote, "What would mere seraphim know about being human? How dare they judge--they who can only observe but not feel what it is like to be petrified with terror, submerged in envy, exploding in anger, to suffer pain, grief, sorrow, rejection, to know maddening, burning jealousy, or any of those other emotional and bodily agonies that are the normal accompaniment of the experience of being human. What would they really know?"
I read this again on awakening the following morning. I cried. I could see the truth of that seraphim's statement within myself. I could see that same truth within the people I knew, within the people of my country, within the people of my race, and all other races. And I cried. But how can they understand, these beautiful angels, no matter how hard they try? We cannot discard our ancestral animal links, it is an unavoidable fact that we have them, and that they will out in times of stress. You really have to have "been there, done that" to know what being an ordinary, common human being is like.
Other thoughts intruded as I lay there, letting my mind wander:
Must we be totally condemned? Would it not be just as well to cause the surface of this planet to be wiped clean and for the Life Carriers to begin again, to re-seed what is, by their own admission, an experiment gone horribly wrong?
Do I condemn myself utterly? No, because I am what I am, as we all are. It's not our fault. And it is O.K. to be what I basically am. This is what we are, friends. So let's accept that and work from here. There are occasions in my life when I believe I am able to lift my thoughts or my actions past that human/animal barrier and reach for the stars. Surely these moments can only be credit to my helpers--and also to myself for am I not a partner in this experiment?
Can you not see and hear the smiles and the rejoicing of our guardian seraphim when the very worst member of the human race, one even we might label an animal, also reaches up and, ever so briefly, displays that faint flicker of faith that could mean salvation? (1733)
Then another thought came to me even though I was still tearful, still feel like crying my heart out. Who better to help such wretched humans than those who themselves have "been there, done that"--those whose struggles have helped them to take that next step successfully; those who well understand that oh-so-steep climb between the animal and the angel. Yes, that must mean us. And when we, too, make it to Mansonia, we will be there helping, guiding, sometimes even teaching those who are one rung below us on the ladder of spiritual progress. Then it will be our time to be truly thankful for the experience gained on Urantia where, perhaps unknown to us, it was the loving care of angels that helped us to cross the bridge that leads to life.
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