“By faith in the fatherhood of God you may enter the kingdom of heaven, thus becoming the sons of God.” (The Urantia Book, The UB, 142:1.3)

   It is perhaps curious to talk about “becoming” at the same time as we learn we are already there. “Our teaching provides a religion wherein the believer is a son of God. That is the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.” (142:3.8) Aspiring to be, or to become, a son or daughter of God is not an ego trip. It is an everyday human experience, one that Jesus encouraged us to have and cultivate, to become “born of the spirit” (John 3:5). I was once afraid to claim sonship for myself. It sounded too grand, too egotistical.

   I was surprised to see in The Urantia Book (The UB), a new picture of Jesus who did not desire to command our submission, adoration and hero-worship. Instead he encouraged us to become “spiritual heroes.”

   “I admonish you to give up the practice of always quoting the prophets of old and praising the heroes of Israel, and instead aspire to become living prophets of the Most High and spiritual heroes of the coming kingdom. To honor the God-knowing leaders of the past may indeed be worthwhile, but why, in so doing, should you sacrifice the supreme experience of human existence: finding God for yourselves and knowing him in your own souls?” (The UB, 155:6.7)

   To feel at home in my adult self and seek maturity, I've wanted to align myself with truth, beauty and goodness, to make decisions that enhance and favor God’s presence in my life. It is not a special skill. Anyone who wishes can learn to experience it in worship and communion. A normal person, even one not overtly spiritual in their behavior, can seek and succeed in developing, feeling the presence of the Father, and over time, daily experience the love of God.

   “Urantia mortals are entitled to regard themselves as being the sons of God because: 1. You are sons of spiritual promise, faith sons; you have accepted the status of sonship. You believe in the reality of your sonship, and thus does your sonship with God become eternally real.” (40:6.4-5)

   “Mortal man must, through the recognition of truth, the appreciation of beauty, and the worship of goodness, evolve the recognition of a God of love.” (56:6.3) Thus, we establish our relationship as sons and daughters within the circle of that love (I think it is important to try and get beyond the unfortunate sexist language here).

   Jesus was not smitten with himself, his status as God’s son. “Christ Jesus, who, being of the nature of God, thought it not strange to be equal to god but … made himself to be of little import.” (128:1.6) “He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” This was remembered and recorded by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians, 2:8, King James Bible.

   “Holiness is not extraordinary; it is in you; it is in everybody,” said Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “for all those who are led by the spirit of God are the sons [and daughters] of God.” (Romans 8:14), and Pope Francis was heard to say recently, “Do we want to be saints? The Lord awaits us with open arms.”

   “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do.” John 14: 12-14.

   Despite my thesis, “claiming to be a son or daughter of God is not an ego trip,” we should also acknowledge that many times in The Urantia Book movement, our brothers and sisters have fallen prey to a runaway ego phenomenon. We who’ve observed this have to remain vigilant, learn from their example, and be on guard against becoming over-awed, proud of our own attainments.

   “In a religious genius, strong spiritual faith so many times leads directly to disastrous fanaticism, to exaggeration of the religious ego, but it was not so with Jesus. He was not unfavorably affected in his practical life by his extraordinary faith and spirit attainment because this spiritual exaltation was a wholly unconscious and spontaneous soul expression of his personal experience with God.” (196:0.6)

   I remember in our early days with The UB (70’s-80’s) we were prone to speculate about who of us was a member of the reserve corps of destiny. It was thought that some of the early leaders, Christy, Vern, were members of this special group. Section 7 of Paper 114, The Reserve Corps of Destiny, has been one reason we’ve seen outbreaks of religious fanaticism among our fellows. But I don’t want to talk about being reservists so much in this blog. As far as the real work in front of us goes, it doesn’t matter. Certainly most of us won’t have any idea if we are a reservist or not; generally “the members of this unique group are wholly unconscious of their preparation.” (114:7.8) Nevertheless, I hope that I myself would gladly do anything to help serve our planetary administrators if I were so called.

   “You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world,” said spiritual teacher, Marianne Williamson. Our responsibility is to keep it in proportion, “Jesus always preached temperance and taught consistency—proportionate adjustment of life problems.” (149:4.3)

   Let us do this. At the same time, own our sonship and daughtership status. Claim it!