By Doug McKeever, Illinois, United States
Editor’s Note: Readers who wish to receive “Thoughts to Ponder” may subscribe to the daily uplifting quote by visiting the Foundation homepage and selecting it from the email list options.
I've been a reader of The Urantia Book since the mid-1970s and have become reliant on the “Thoughts to Ponder” daily messages that arrive in the early morning hours. As a dedicated Urantia Book reader and supporter, I thank Urantia Foundation for this daily inspiration to wake up to.
My brother introduced me to the book around 1974 while we were growing up in Montana. When I moved to Chicago in 1987, one of the first things I did was walk to Urantia Foundation’s headquarters on Diversey and purchase a copy of my very own, which I cherish to this day.
It is a common experience for readers to have read a passage many times over and yet find that each time something new will stand out and add to the power of the message. I’ve found that “Thoughts to Ponder” brings this experience to me on a daily basis as I incorporate it into my reading—or rather, hearing.
I have formed the habit of listening to the audio version of The Urantia Book. I find that hearing spoken words heightens details and illustrations in a powerful way, not to mention allowing me to put on my headset and listen while I go about my daily routine. I take each day’s thought as a new entry point to the book as I listen to the section or paper from which it is drawn.
There are special papers I return to over and over because they refresh and recalibrate me throughout ongoing spiritual resets—and always settle me according to what I need at the time. My baseline references are: Papers 91 to 103 on religion and prayer; Papers 107 to 112 on that voice deep within (the Thought Adjuster); a beautiful summary of a philosophy of living in Paper 160; and cosmic answers to the question “Why is it so hard to become more advanced?” in Paper 106.
At this time, my freestyle reading of The Urantia Book has landed squarely on Part IV, “The Life and Teachings of Jesus,” Reading Part IV helps me to live more fearlessly and to cope by viewing things with a long view. It is a road map to eternal life, the very same “how-tos” that Jesus taught the multitudes.
Waking up to “Thoughts to Ponder” equips me first thing as I progress little by little, a day at a time, one kind gesture leading to another. Fortunately, having the book front and center at the start of every single day has really made my life more wide-eyed, heartfelt, and honest—internally, spiritually, and personally.