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The
Story of Everything
An
abridged edition of The Urantia Book
Paper
115: The Supreme Being
To become part of the Supreme Being, one must do something as well as be something.
All minds must develop a framework in which to think rationally and, although such frames are indispensable, they are, without exception, erroneous. Finite creatures in an infinite cosmos must live with distorted conceptions of limitless, never-beginning, never-ending existence. Infinity is beyond the human ability to comprehend, but contemplating infinity can help expand current universe frames.
There is a unity in infinity which is expressed as the I AM-the premier postulate of the human mind. Our distance from infinity causes us to inaccurately express this concept with a single word. Infinity on one hand is unity, but on the other hand it is diversity without end or limit. Infinity, from the human point of view, is the maximum paradox of philosophy.
To help us comprehend the universe, it is reasonable to describe the levels of universe reality as finite, absonite, and absolute. Only the absolute level of reality is eternal without qualification. Absonites and finites are modified attenuations of original, absolute reality. One way to consider the absolute level of reality is to imagine three phases:
1. The Original-the I AM from which all reality takes origin-that which is.
2. The Actual- the union of the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and Paradise-that which was and is. Together the Son, Spirit, and Paradise constitute the actual revelation of the I AM.
3. The Potential-including the Deity, Unqualified, and the Universal Absolutes-that which is becoming and will be, which together constitute the full potential revelation of the I AM.
From the eternal viewpoint, these qualities are not separately distinguished. In eternity, all already IS, but all has not yet been revealed in time and space. The interassociation of the Original, the Actual, and the Potential results in the possibility for all growth in the universes. All decisions, even human decisions, open up a new capacity for potential growth. From a limited viewpoint, activities have endings, but from an expanded view, endings are merely transitions from one phase of development to another.
The dynamics of the cosmos ensure the continuous transfer of reality from potentiality to actuality. This metamorphosis will never end, since Potential and Actual are both included in the Original I AM. As potentials become actualized, they, by becoming actual, open up new potentials that were previously nonexistent.
The evolution of the Supreme involves the transformation of potentials to actuals on the finite level of existence. The Supreme is a spirit person who originated in the Paradise Trinity, but the Supreme is also a Deity of evolutionary growth, growth which comes from the constant tension between actuals and potentials. The motion of the Supreme is twofold: inward toward Paradise and outward toward the limitless Absolutes of potential. In the present age, this dual motion is revealed in the descending and ascending personalities of the grand universe.
Through the creation of the Supreme, the Father I AM has achieved nearly complete liberation from the limitations inherent in his infinity status, eternal being, and absolute nature. In achieving liberation from eternity, the Almighty encounters the barriers of time; the Supreme experiences growth only as a consequence of the incompleteness of his nature.
God the Father's plan predicates finite progress upon effort, creature achievement upon perseverance, and personality development upon faith. God the Supreme is the personification of the finite shadow cast on the universe by the infinite unity of the Paradise Father, the First Source and Center, the I AM. As the Supreme Being encompasses the sum of evolutionary experience, he connects the finite with the absonite.