Truth Concept
Author: Sara Blackstock
TRUTH CONCEPT
God Lives Within Me
Suggested Reading from the Urantia Book for Adults
The Spirit in Man – (380)
“Man is infinite, but he is indwelt by a spark of infinity.” (1221)
DOING
* RITUAL
Light a candle every night, once a week, at families meetings, on special holidays, or on any other occasion where you want an extra emphasis. As the child gets older, s/he can have the privilege of lighting the candle.
* CEREMONY
“Adjusters reach their human subjects on Urantia, on the average, just prior to the sixth birthday.” (1187)
“Entrance upon the seventh circle constitutes a mortal creature a truly potential citizen of the local universe”. (1210)
Receiving the Thought Adjuster ceremony
A simple ceremony can be held to acknowledge this amazing gift. Either gather a group of children for this special ceremony with extended family and friends invited or have a special ceremony within the home as a family. The occasion can be one of celebration – like a party. Best not to try to make it too “sacred”. 15 minutes is about right for children of this age for the whole ceremony.
Here is how one Thought Adjuster ceremony was conducted:
The ceremony began with the children being told: We are celebrating the fact that God the Father lives in you, and that He is love. You will have this light in you for the rest of your life. His love will shine forth from you for the rest of your life.”. Each child was called forward by name. A badge with “Welcome Thought Adjuster” and the three concentric circles on it, suspended on a blue ribbon, was hung around the child’s neck. The child’s name and date had been lettered on the badge and a frog sticker was on the back. The children and their parents were each given an unlit blue candle (with a paper wax drip protector) to hold. Then began the next phase. The parents of two of the children began playing the guitar and singing softly. The leader of this ceremony lit her candle and said “We are here to receive the great gift of God which is given to all of us about your age. My candle represents the light of God. I will light each of your candles with this symbol of His light.” The parents and friends lit their candles from the child’s candle to signify their light being spread to all the world. When all the candles were lit, everyone joined in singing “Jesus loves me” substituting “for the Master tells me so” for “for the Bible tells me so”. It was a very touching and joyful experience, flowing and not stiff. Ceremonies can be individualized according to the wishes of the parents.
Thank you to Linda Buselli for sharing this ceremony which she has “conducted” with children a number of times.
+ A prayer of thanksgiving may be said:
“Thank you Father/Mother God for giving your most precious gift to these children to be with them and guide them all their lives.”
+ A special and beautiful certificate can be given to each child acknowledging this special gift.
+ A box wrapped in beautiful paper with a small “jewel” inside can be given to the child to unwrap
.
* VISUAL AND EXPERIENTIAL ANALOGIES
(1) Jewel Inside Me – ( 3 years – 12 years)
Give each child a lump of clay, preferably tan which is not as “messy” as red clay and a “jewel”. As you talk about the gift of God within them they can be molding a figure out of the clay. When the figure is done, ask each child to push the “jewel” – a symbol for the part of God in them – into the clay somewhere and cover it up. The child may take this home, let it dry and remember, even though it cannot be seen, that there is a beautiful jewel, a part of God, hidden in the clay.
(2) Fragment of God – ( 6 years – 12 years)
“…we know that there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God,….” (17)
“There sojourns with each moral being of this planet a fragment of God, a part and parcel of divinity.” (26)
“Man’s adjuster is a fragment of God and everlastingly seeks for divine unification;…” (42)
“There dwells within you a fragment of the Universal Father, and you are thus directly related to the divine Father of all the Sons of God.” (448)
Get a puzzle of the most beautiful picture with the most pieces you can find – 1000 or more. Spend some time putting it together. Maybe this would be a project that would be ongoing for a couple of weeks, or a family could have it out on the table while family members work on it over a period of time. When the puzzle is done, admire it, comment on the wholeness of it, talking about the wholeness of God. Ask someone to play “God” and choose a beautiful piece of the puzzle and give that piece to each child. This is symbolic of God giving away parts, fragments, or pieces of himself. Point out that God never runs out of pieces.
+ For younger children a puzzle with just a few pieces can be used.
(3) Gift of God (3 years to 12 years)
Put a “jewel” inside a small box. Have a box for each child present. Wrap the box with beautiful paper. Have a child play “God”, giving a gift to each child. The children open the gift, find the jewel, and then wrap the box with beautiful paper to keep as a remembrance of the gift God has given them.
“Those who have received and recognized the indwelling of God have been born of the Spirit. ‘You are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you.’ It is not enough that this spirit be poured out upon you; the divine Spirit must dominate and control every phase of human experience.
FEELING
“Jesus taught the appeal to the emotions as the technique of arresting and focusing the intellectual attention. He designated the mind thus aroused and quickened as the gateway to the soul, where there resides that spiritual nature of man which must recognize truth and respond to the spiritual appeal of the gospel in order to afford the permanent results of true character transformations. (1705)
* Art (all ages)
The LIGHT OF GOD is a theme for expression using colored pencils, crayons, and paints. Even though we can’t feel it when the light of God comes into us, we can imagine what it might look like – bursting through our minds and lighting us up all over. Children can draw or paint pictures or a mural showing their own creative expressions of what this coming of God might look like if we could see it.
* Music – (all ages)
Incorporate music into, around, within, behind an activity.
Instruments: Drums with a good sound; egg shakers, rhythm sticks, triangles.
CD/cassette player with a variety of kinds, styles, and cultures represented.
* Nature – (all ages – considering appropriate distances and abilities)
Take them out into nature – a walk around the block or a climb up a mountain. Get them out into the night. Be sure they experience a sunset and/or a sunrise. Find ways of having them experience their senses – touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste.
* Meditation (5 – 10 years)
Tone the environment for a feeling of quiet and mystery. Lower lights or turn them off if there is natural light. Have some soft bean bags or pillows around. Quiet yourself. Some light aromatherapy oil could be burning. Have the children sit cross legged on their bottoms on the floor or a mat. Ask them to put their thumb and middle finger together and rest them on their knees. They must sit up straight so they can take deep breaths. Ask them to close their eyes so they can be inside themselves. Briefly explain to them the Universal Sound of OM. Some say that if God made one sound, it would sound like OM. Play a tape in the background of Tibetan monks chanting OM. After taking three deep breaths, begin to OM and the children will join you. Keep it up for 3 or 4 minutes so that everyone has a chance to do about 8 full OM’s. It may take a few times before the children lose their self-consciousness. I do this at a daycare care center with 50 children ages 5 – 11. They now ask to OM.
* Dance
Gather some beautiful veils of lovely colors about 4 or 5 feet long. Be sure there is some black satin for some children like dark colors. Put on Mozart for Children music and dance with them, holding the veils with both hands and running, bending, skipping, laying down. Let the children create a drama with the colors giving each child with a color a chance to “preform”. You can create a story as they move: Once upon a time the world was all dark. God made the sun to shine and drove all of the darkness away. The flowers grew (all the colors dancing and moving) but they got too hot and began to die. They needed water (enter blue) who watered the flowers. And so it goes. Stories don’t have to be directly about God to allow emotions to be expressed. Children readily create their own living myths.
* Physical contact
Massage
Most children of all ages respond to warm, loving touch as you work with them. Children can also be encouraged to touch each other in a loving way through massage.
+ Shoulder Massage
Family or group can sit in a circle. Each places their hands on the shoulders of the one in front and kneads. The circle can be turned around with each one facing the opposite direction.
+ Foot Massage
Materials – a bucket of warm soapy water for each pair of children; several kinds of aromatic oil – lavender or pine seems to be enjoyed; a large towel for each pair.
Children can massage each other’s feet with a delicious smelling oil. First have them wash their own feet in a bucket of soapy water. Dry off with a towel. The partner pours the aromatic oil on the foot and with their hands give each foot a good massage. They switch roles.
Roughhousing or light weight wrestling (5 years – 10 years)
Materials – mats
Sometimes it seems that we “wrestle” with God, with the still small voice within us which wants us to go the right way, to do the right or best thing. We wrestle with our own thoughts, with the suggestions of our parents, teachers, and even peer group.
With the children participating establish some ground rules: no throwing down, hitting, pulling on clothes, kicking, neck holds.
THINKING
AFFIRMATIONS
Affirmations can be used in many ways on a regular basis:
– said or read by the adult to the child;
– said or read together as a group;
– said or read by an individual child;
– written on an index card and chosen at dinner time, at the beginning of the day, on a birthday or special day of any kind.
The light of God has been given to me. I will follow the light.
God’s light will show me the best way to walk each day.
I carry a spark of the divine God in my heart.
My body is a temple of God; I will take care of this temple.
God’s light is in everyone. I look to see God shining in each person I meet.
I want to kindle the spark of God within me.
Talking to God in my own heart and mind is like kindling for the spark of God who lives in my mind. Helping those around me is like kindling for the spark of God who lives in my mind. Thanking God for life and family and friends is like kindling for the spark of God who lives in my mind.
STORY FROM THE URANTIA BOOK
THE FIRST THOUGHT ADJUSTERS ON OUR PLANET AND THE DISCOVERY OF FIRE
Once upon a time almost a million years ago, a pair of twins – a brother and sister were born to Primate parents. These were the first human beings. They were different in some ways from their parents: they could not grasp with their big toe so when they climbed a tree they climbed like we would climb today, not like a chimpanzee swinging from the branches. They experienced new feelings which had never been felt by a being on earth. They admired objects and themselves. They felt gratitude – being thankful – an emotion which had never been experienced before. They felt worshipful feelings like awe, reverence and humility. They felt shame when they did something wrong. They felt love and hate, revenge and jealousy. And they felt sorry for others.
The twins were so curious and adventurous they almost died many time before they were eight years old. They were a great worry to their parents. By the time they were 12 years old they had a lot of scars from getting hurt. The boy twin made a weapon by fastening a sharp piece of flint on the end of a club, using animal tendons. He saved his and his sister’s life more than a dozen times using this weapon.
By the time they were 10 years old they had developed about 50 sign and words which was a lot more than their parents. They tried to teach their new words to their parents but they were not very successful. About 9 years old they made an agreement. Sitting by a river on a bright day they agreed to live with and for each other. Their mother was killed in a gibbon raid two years later She gave her life to save the lives of her twin children. She held off the gibbons until the father arrived with others and ran off the invaders.
The twins decided to leave the tribe. They feared displeasing their father and others in their family. Others were jealous of them. They were always together and this set them apart from the rest of the tribe. They built a better tree home away from the others and this increased the jealousy. After their decision to leave their more primitive family they prepared a crude treetop place about half day journey away. They were planning how to get away safely. This was their secret. They left before the day break in order to be able to get away before the others woke up. They were afraid of being on the ground at nighttime so it took a lot of courage for them to leave their tree house and run along the ground while it was still dark, even with a full moon. They went to their secret and safe temporary tree top dwelling. Their father was so sad that he was heartbroken. He refused to eat, even when his other children brought him food. He missed his brilliant offspring so much that life wasn’t worth living. He wandered into a forest and was beaten to death by hostile gibbons. (798-709)
This decision of the twins to leave their Primate family was the first human type of decision and from that moment on, this planet was considered to be inhabited by HUMANS! The angels named these first human beings Andon and Fonta.
A few days after they left their Primate home Andon and Fonta received the gift of the spirit of the Universal Father – the Thought Adjuster, just as children today are given this gift when they make a great decision for good.
Andon and Fonta went north. They came to a flint deposit and gathered up a supply of stones for the future. The boy twin discovered that these stones sparked when he chipped them and he thought of the idea of building a fire, but since it was still warm the idea didn’t go anywhere. But as the night grew cooler and they were going farther North, Andon tried to make fire. Every day they would strike the flints and try to ignite wood. One evening as the sun was setting an idea occurred to Fonta to climb a tree and get a bird’s nest which was very dry. Andon sparked the flint pieces against each other and the nest flared up into a full blaze as soon as the spark fell on it. They added more fuel and enjoyed the fire for three days. This was the first time the a creature of earth had started a fire when they wanted to. Andon and Fonta had 19 children and that is another story.
+ Look for or make up stories about sparks, flames, lights, torches.
FUN AND MEANING WITH WORDS
+ Make a list of words which have to do with FIRE – print this list on a piece of paper and hang it up. For example sparks, flame, kindling, torches, candlelight, flashlight.
+ Write a prayer to the Though Adjuster thanking it for choosing you, and asking it to guide you.
CONCEPTS COME ALIVE
Get a piece of flint and some dry grass or other kindling. Strike the flint to get a spark. Have a child or youth put some kindling on the spark.
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION
!. What can hinder the Thought Adjuster from being powerful in us?
2. What can I do to help the Thought Adjuster?
3. When is the Thought Adjuster most active?
4. Are Thought Adjusters the same in me as other people?