The Spirit of Truth is a Moving River

Presented at Canberra Conference 2013

Esther Beaton presented and shared ‘life changing’ experiences alongside some of her own photos of nature.

Here a few excerpts:

What is the Spirit of Truth? What re the implications of it? How to apply it in everyday life?

The Urantia Book describes:

“This spirit was bestowed for the purpose of qualifying believers more effectively to preach the gospel of the kingdom….”  [Paper 194:3.5, page 2063.3].

I’m not an apostle or nun or missionary. How do I spread the gospel in my everyday life? It is the “spirit” locked within our own selves – our own unique selves- which presses the button to make something “ring” as TRUE! It’s a bell that goes off saying “yes!” Before we had this spiritual device planted within us, how did we know when something was true or not? We relied on someone, in a higher position and with more experience to tell us it was so. We relied on authority. What they said was true and right. We believed that the majority consensus was the truth.

As I’ve pondered, preparing for this talk, I have my answer which is that it’s my way of living my truth. And also, that truth varies with the number of people. And it varies with each one’s life experience.

“The Creator Sons possess a spiritual endowment in their person which they can bestow”.[Paper 20:1.13, page 224.3]

“This divine endowment is not the letter or law of truth, neither is it to function as the form or expression of truth. The new teacher is the conviction of truth…” [Paper 180:5.1, page 1949.3].

So we feel drawn. This feeling has been labelled for us “truth”. Like a river winding its way towards its “source” where it originally came from. So let’s say we feel drawn towards truth; or we feel drawn towards some unknown “home” and know we’ll get there through truth. Either way, it’s truth. We know, we feel, truth is important to us.

But, it is a moving river. My truth is not your truth. My truth of today is not my truth of tomorrow. Each new truth helps guide my way through life, drawing me towards some indefinable higher truth. Onwards, always further, always better.

Only recently I discovered a new and better- “truth”. This was; to allow people to have their beliefs, even their errors. After all, what are “facts”. Facts aren’t really truth. Facts change what new knowledge investigates. Therefore truth changes. Who am I to say what truth should be for the majority, or for even one person for that matter?

I had discovered a higher “truth” than the one I had held previously. This was to keep the peace, to keep harmony among the group, even if an error of knowledge was left on the table.
This new behaviour felt better. It came from a place of compassion for others. Now, before I speak, I ask myself “is it important, or “is it harmonious?”

Should I have had this attitude all along? No. Years ago I wasn’t in that place. I couldn’t have acted this way, it was too advanced for my character at that time.

Looking back, I can see that I was on a road of progression, moving from one truth, a lower one, to what for me was now a higher one. At that time years ago, it was right for me to uphold and defend “the truth” – some bit of science or factual knowledge. It strengthened my character. It brought me out of a mouse-like habit of being agreeable. It made me step forward and be accountable.

But today, the truth I’m adopting – of letting a lie or untruth stand in favour of maintaining peace and harmony, is appropriate for my level of self-development. I feel I’m growing in spirit.
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The Spirit of Truth – what important words. By upholding your truth, your own truth, you grow in spirit. As you evolve and develop as a spirit, you flow, ever progressing like a river. You start small, growing in strength and volume and eventually flowing into and becoming one with the great body of great truth – what IS.

Here is a beautiful excerpt from the Urantia Book. Words that previously would have been invisible to me but now vibrate with meaning.

“Action achieves strength; moderation eventuates in charm.” [Paper 556.11, page 48:7.11]

So what do you think, am I charming?

I have invoked the spirit of truth, “which lives within me, that enshrouds me. I often feel the warmth and love of Jesus. I speak to him and feel the depth of his character in return. I feel solace in “thinking” or “believing” that I can contact him directly . This is my truth!

But your efforts to share must be balanced with another of Christ’s precepts. In the parable about casting seeds, I read that it was useless wasting precious seed on infertile soil. That it is far more effective to hand-plant one seed where it will grow into a productive plant than wasting your efforts and resources in useless activity.

The spirit of truth is not an authority, it is not a source saying “this fact is the truth”. What was true in one century is overturned by the truth seekers of the next. What was true for one generation of these truth seekers, the scientists, is out of fashion for the next.

Truth is a moving river. It flows and changes course with our own evolution. As we shift and change and pursue and grow, we relate in new ways to our environment.

As someone else flows alongside me, their truth is different from mine. Like the channels of our rivers here in Australia, many avenues diverge from one truth, follow their own course, finally to recombine into the one “true” course. There are many routes to the source. When I use the word “source” I don’t mean the spring where the river starts high in the mountains. The source I’m referring to is further back, it’s the great ocean of oneness from which all water originates. And to which all water eventually returns. The source is the great ocean of love where we are no longer individual drops and rivulets, but joined in oneness.

Equally will we all arrive at our destination. The destination is the same for everyone: the great ocean of one truth, where we are all children of the Father, all brothers in one spirit.

Just like our relationship with God, through our personal thought adjuster, so this relationship with truth is a personal one and is up to us how to apply it. So is the spirit of truth up to us to invoke, to establish and live our own truth.

It was only after I finished my presentation that I came across this quote. It was like I had never read it before:

“And this new teacher is the spirit of living and growing truth, expanding, unfolding, and adaptive truth.” [Paper 180:5.1, page 1949.3]

Who knows what truth they will be living with, in the future?