What The Urantia Book Means to Me By Mary Ann Leader

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By Mary Ann Leader, Berlin, Wisconsin, United States

The Urantia Book came into my life when I was in my early 40s, a time of intense turmoil in my personal life. I was seeking truth for a foundation on which to rebuild my emotional, intellectual, and spiritual life. When suggested that I might find The Urantia Book interesting, I flatly rejected it. I did not see The Urantia Book as a resource to help me with my turmoil. I turned my back on the gentleman who suggested the book to me and walked away.

Three years later the book was presented to me for a second time. This time a hardcover book was thrust into my hands, literally, by someone who was willing to give it away. He said he was not able to understand it, but it seemed that its contents included many subjects that we had discussed. He said that I would be able to understand The Urantia Book and would be able to explain it to him. I took the book, and while on a vacation, I opened it and started reading it.

I found a confirmation to one of the basic beliefs that I had evolved during the previous 20 years of my life. To say that I was “blown away” by what I read would be an understatement. I did not put the book down that whole week, and during my readings, I found confirmations to almost all the new inspirational beliefs that I had been developing during my previous 20 years.

During those 20 years, I did a private comparative-religions study. I exhausted the resources of my small town's library on many subjects, starting with astronomy and then anthropology, which led me into archeology and the various ancient religions and civilizations. I did a study on Native American Indian cultures―the ancient cultures of South America, Central America, and North America. During these 20 years my God concept and my personal religious understanding and experience were growing. I decided to no longer participate in organized religion, and I experienced a breaking apart of my personal life. I felt driven to know God personally.

Reflecting on these experiences, I think that I did not choose God. God chose me! This may seem to be an arrogant statement, but experientially, I know it to be true. God chose me. The experience of the truth of this statement began when I was eight years old and continues to this day. I had many difficult life experiences during my childhood. And as I have grown older, and if I find myself in a troublesome situation, I ask myself, “What is God trying to teach me now with this experience?” Many times these experiences have wounded my soul, but God has never left me, and I have come to know God as “my heavenly Father.” God has become a loving personality to me, I see my heavenly Father leading me into a more personal and spiritual relationship with him.

I used to keep The Urantia Book on my bookshelf. Occasionally I would take it down and read it here and there, but I always returned it to the bookshelf. However, for the last five years, my Urantia Book sits beside my desk, and now I daily read it.

I have also taken courses offered by the Urantia Book Internet School, and I have learned the value of the book. Reading it is a life-time activity. Learning never stops! “The Godward urge is intense and inescapable.” (155.1) 14:2.7

The Urantia Book has given me the experience of the loving heavenly Father; the knowledge of the Triune Personalities and our Creator Son, Christ Michael; and the wonder of the Thought Adjuster and the Infinite Spirit. It has also given me peace to know that death is a transition of the spiritual-life adventure. As I am in the “sunset years” of my life, I am grateful for Francis Thompson’s poem, “The Hound of Heaven” which inspired me to become a reader of The Urantia Book, and to learn the truth and beauty it contains between its covers. “Through truth man attains beauty and by spiritual love ascends to goodness.”