Leadership and Teamwork: Patterns, Principles, and Stories
Whether our gift for leadership is large or small, developing that gift is a part of becoming like God. “God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition, just one consuming desire, and that is to become, as they are in their spheres, like him as he is in his Paradise perfection of personality and in his universal sphere of righteous supremacy” (1:0.3/21.3). To become like God in our sphere, means (in addition to acquiring self-mastery and the beautiful wholeness of righteousness) becoming a good leader, even in such a temporary, mundane activity of showing another person how to do something simple, or organizing a few people to prepare a meal. We all have opportunities for leadership, whether we think of it in that way or not; and we do well to study the ways of divine leadership, and its profound connections with service and teamwork.
Leadership and teamwork are vital in the success of any movement, and we should not be surprised that our unseen friends told us to train leaders. But what is involved in that? What can we learn from The Urantia Book? What can we learn from human experience and research? How can the average person function better in leadership and teamwork responsibilities that arise in daily life? Let’s find out. Let’s get better at this.
Once the inspiration of The Urantia Book touches our souls, the ambition to serve is kindled anew. We go forward into projects, desiring to make a contribution. Why is it that conflict, unhappiness, and failure sometimes result? We have not learned the ways of leadership and teamwork, the practices of working together with others who think and feel differently. We can create a culture of teamwork, partly by cooperative study of The Urantia Book and other sources and by conscious practice of the principles of leadership and teamwork.
Objections to training leaders—and replies
Is this a pretentious undertaking? Leaders are born, one might object; therefore, we cannot hope to train them. This is true for the great leaders, but leadership functions constantly in small ways in daily life, and it is not presumptuous to study The Urantia Book so that we can better play our roles in teams—as leaders and team members. We certainly don’t aspire to produce another Moses through study, but we can get better in the conduct of our own sphere of responsibility.
Don’t leaders just arise naturally? Why do we need to train them? Of course we have a choice to ignore what The Urantia Book teaches about leadership and teamwork, but that seems a little foolish, if not downright ungrateful, especially given a direct mandate from our unseen friends.
Isn’t there a danger about certifying someone as a leader, sending them forth full of pride to impose offensively on other groups? Certain professions have leaders who are trained and certified; in society this practice is normal. When supervision is effective, the chance of abuse is greatly reduced, and the ways of dealing with it when it arises are wiser. Leaders function whether or not they have any training or supervision; and studying The Urantia Book and this document in particular will help alert to the ways in which leadership can go wrong and to strategies of response. I was initially moved to publish my initial article on leadership by a communication with a friend, who pointed out the following problem. The drive to serve is often mixed, more or less unconsciously, with an egoistic ambition for position and power. Here are two questions to refine the ambition to serve. First, listen again: “God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition, just one consuming desire, and that is to become, as they are in their spheres, like him as he is in his Paradise perfection of personality and in his universal sphere of righteous supremacy” (1:0.3/21.3). What does it take for us to make that ambition supreme over every other ambition? Second, recall the proverb, “Ambition is dangerous until it is fully socialized” (48:7/557#17). What would it mean fully to socialize an ambition?
This document is merely a beginning. In a way remotely analogous to the Ancients of Days, who coordinate divine wisdom from above with evolutionary wisdom from below—and in harmony with Jesus’ message about truth-coordinated living (involving science and religion [155:1/1726]), we need to coordinate revealed teachings with the what we can find in management texts, findings from experienced managers, articles by professors of business, and so on. But see for example, Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger, FYI: For Your Improvement for efficiently packaged instruction regarding several dozens of competencies needed by organizational leaders. Margaret Benefiel, The Soul of a Leader, shows how to integrate spirituality with leadership. I have an unfinished document with notes on relevant teachings from The Urantia Book about organizations, available on request. We need persons willing to lead a sustained study team who will organize events at conferences as the years go on so that we accumulate the coordinated wisdom. It is good to see a new level of seriousness in the training of leaders.
Patterns in the Paradise Deities
After just a few weeks of putting some attention on leadership-related passages in The Urantia Book in our study group, I experienced a major step forward in my understanding. Years ago, distressed at the neglect of this important topic, I had published a list of principles on leadership that I had culled from my study. As we worked together in the study group, I realized two things. First, The Urantia Book has a lot more to offer than resources for distilling a set of principles. It has examples and stories to help the lessons come to life. Second, the Papers on the Paradise Deities began to speak to me as never before on this topic, leading me very far beyond my initial list of principles.
The Universal Father is the first pattern of leadership. What would your study bring forward to explicate this thought? Here are some beginnings. “The Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center of all things and beings. First think of God as a creator, then as a controller, and lastly as an infinite upholder” (Paper 1, section 0, p. 21.1). The Father’s love and goodness are predicated on a perfect blend of justice and mercy. His exercise of power is restrained by “his infinite love, by truth, beauty, and goodness; by the will of God, by his mercy ministry and fatherly relationship with the personalities of the universe; and by the law of God, by the righteousness and justice of the eternal Paradise Trinity” (3:2/48.4-6). The Father is sensitive to others’ limitations and suffering. He “has an eternal purpose pertaining to the material, intellectual, and spiritual phenomena of the universe of universes, which he is executing throughout all time” (4.0/54.1). He began by creating a model (Havona) that would be a pattern for further developments. He is approachable by each individual, and his association with us transcends any creature interests we may have (5:3/65.5). Leadership within pair relationships is an application of fatherly love. This is the main principle—leadership is about service, second-miler service: a parent will do more for a child than a sibling will. Fatherly love transcends brotherly love. (Notice the blend of leadership and teamwork in the Thought Adjusters, who lead us Godward while being subservient to our will.)
The Eternal Son is the first pattern of teamwork and the second pattern of leadership. As always there is an invitation to the student to bring forth his or her own articulation of concept. The Eternal Son cooperates with the Father as the second member of the trios of love, mercy, and ministry, and thought, word, and deed. He cooperates with the Father in bringing forth the Creator Sons and in the proposal to “make mortal man in our own image.” “The Eternal Son . . . did sit in council with the Universal in the eternal past, approving the plan and pledging endless co-operation, when the Father, in projecting the bestowal of the Thought Adjusters, proposed to the Son, ‘Let us make mortal man in our own image’” (6:5/78.3).
The leadership of the Eternal Son evident in his Havona bestowals—leading by example, by revelatory living, by participating in the ventures of his subordinates. The bestowal plan “is the great Father-revelation enterprise of the Eternal Son and his co-ordinate Sons” (7:4/85.6). Leadership operates not only in one-to-one relationships but also in social systems embracing three or more personalities. The Universal Father is not an administrator; he deals with personalities only as individuals. The Eternal Son is an administrator. What is the significance of the distinction between a pair relationship and a social system? Two passages are particularly helpful in understanding the differences.
Relationships exist between two objects, but three or more objects eventuate a system, and such a system is much more than just an enlarged or complex relationship. This distinction is vital, for in a cosmic system the individual members are not connected with each other except in relation to the whole and through the individuality of the whole. . . . In aggregations parts are added; in systems parts are arranged. Systems are significant because of organization--positional values. In a good system all factors are in cosmic position. In a bad system something is either missing or displaced—deranged. (112:1/1227.9).
Two beings are regarded as operating on the mating, complemental, or partnership basis, but when three or more are grouped for service, they constitute a social problem and therefore fall within the jurisdiction of the social architects. (39:3, 432.6-7).
The Eternal Son is the pattern administrator. “The Eternal Son is the spiritual center and the divine administrator of the spiritual government of the universe of universe” (6.1/74.1). Through his spirit gravity circuit, he draws all spiritual values Paradiseward and holds them ever securely. He organizes the response to prayers.
The Infinite Spirit, the Conjoint Actor, is the second pattern of teamwork and the third pattern of leadership. Contemplate this model of cooperation. “With transcendent willingness and inspiring spontaneity, the Third Personal of Deity, notwithstanding his equality with the First and Second Persons, pledges eternal loyalty to God the Father and acknowledges everlasting dependence upon God the Son” (8:1/90.6). “The God of Action functions and the dead vaults of space are astir. One billion perfect spheres flash into existence” (8:1/91.1). “When the attainment plan and the bestowal plan had been formulated and proclaimed, alone and of himself, the Infinite Spirit projected and put in operation the tremendous and universal enterprise of mercy ministry” (7:4/85.7).
Here is the pattern of brotherly teamwork. “In all universe activities the Son and the Spirit are exquisitely fraternal, working as two equal brothers with admiration and love for an honored and divinely respected common Father” (10:3/111.1).
The family of the Infinite Spirit is a pattern of group functioning. They are activated by mercy ministry, and they are organized! After the second millennium of sojourn at seraphic headquarters the seraphim are organized under chiefs into groups of twelve (12 pairs, 24 seraphim), and twelve such groups constitute a company (144 pairs, 288 seraphim), which is commanded by a leader. Twelve companies under a commander constitute a battalion (1,728 pairs or 3,456 seraphim), and twelve battalions under a director equal a seraphic unit (20,736 pairs or 41,472 individuals), while twelve units, subject to the command of a supervisor, constitute a legion numbering 248,832 pairs or 497,664 individuals.
The power of this organization may be imagined by stopping to consider that “Intellectually, socially, and spiritually two moral creatures do not merely double their personal potentials of universe achievement by partnership technique; they more nearly quadruple their attainment and accomplishment possibilities” (43:8, 494.10). In other words, three persons working together are potentially nine times as effective; four persons sixteen times, and so on. Consider the 10,992 midwayers: “Their determination is suggested by the motto of their order: "What the United Midwayers undertake, the United Midwayers do” (77:9, 866.2). “Long since, the battle cry of these pilgrims became: “In liaison with God, nothing—absolutely nothing—is impossible” (26:5, 291.3).
A word about the military metaphors. Obviously there is no connotation of support for carnage; but rebellion may break out in a local system; moreover, Jesus had to deal with “open warfare.” Perhaps the main idea is that united beings mobilize their total powers as they face the challenge: “In the evolutionary cosmos energy-matter is dominant except in personality, where spirit, through the mediation of mind, is striving for the mastery” (12:8, 140, 10).
The pattern organization is the Paradise Trinity. Justice is administered by the Trinity; and Jesus insisted on this pattern: “Mercy ministry is always the work of the individual, but justice punishment is the function of the social, governmental, or universe administrative groups” (133:1, 1469.1; cf. 159:1, 1762-63).
Twenty principles of leadership and teamwork
One. Leadership in pair relationships is an application of fatherly love. Leadership is about service, second-miler service: a parent will do more for a child than a sibling will. Question: In what pair relationships do you have leadership responsibilities, and how could you intelligently and wisely apply fatherly love there? It takes considerable spiritual growth to develop Fatherly love and for that to become our dominant motivation.
Two. Leadership in social systems embracing three or more personalities reflects administration as observed in the Eternal Son and the Conjoint Actor and in other beings on down to planetary models (39:3/432.6; 112:1/1227.9). Imagine the Havona bestowals of the Eternal Son, leading by example, by revelatory living, participating in the ventures of his subordinates. “You can’t lead from the rear.” And behold the ability of the Conjoint Actor to organize the Third Source family for service. Question: In what social systems do we have leadership responsibilities, and what might patterns of divine administrators and great human leaders like Moses imply there?
Three. Teamwork involves responsiveness to leadership, and human responsiveness to divine leadership can be aspire to approach the Conjoint Actor’s transcendent willingness and inspiring spontaneity. Of course it takes discernment to recognize and respond to leadership, divine or human; and the process of discernment can proceed with joy and skill. Question: How do we respond to guidance given by our unseen friends?
Four. It is on superhuman levels that provision for leadership is made.
“In my universe and in my Father's universe of universes, our brethren-sons are dealt with as individuals in all their spiritual relations, but in all group relationships we unfailingly provide for definite leadership. Our kingdom is a realm of order, and where two or more will creatures act in co-operation, there is always provided the authority of leadership” (181:2.16/1959.0).
Question: How shall we discern who is the appointed leader in a particular pair relationship and social group?
Five. Leadership enables teamwork to functioning with “an enthusiastic and effective load-pulling spirit” (81:6.37/911.2). Consider the Conjoint Actor’s transcendent willingness and inspiring spontaneity. Leaders should not regard their associates as followers—we follow only Jesus. Rather, we are called to engage in responsible teamwork, taking responsibility as appropriate. (For the ideal of teamwork in pair marriage, study how the Local Universe Mother Spirit supports the work of the Creator Son (33:3/368#3). Question: How can we upgrade our own enthusiastic and effective load-pulling spirit, and how can we promote that in others?
Six. Relating to others as equals keeps leadership from degenerating into tyranny. The Universal Father does not command the Eternal Son; rather, he proposes, “Let us make mortal man in our image.” (Even the Father's command to the creature, “Be you perfect as I am perfect,” is an invitation-command.) Jesus made it clear that teamwork is voluntary. To the man assaulting his wife, Jesus said, “Man has no rightful authority over woman unless the woman has willingly and voluntarily given him such authority. . . . The Father in heaven treats the Spirit Mother of the children of the universe as one equal to himself.” (133:2/1471.1) The truth of spiritual equality does not, however, imply that democracy is the pattern for every organization. The apostles were not invited to vote on whether or not to take up arms against Rome; nor were the multitudes invited into the counsels of the kingdom. Jesus' leadership was definite: he defined the gospel mission; gathered, trained, and ordained his messengers; and organized their teamwork into a sequence of preaching tours and other missions. But he did not manage excessively; for example, he let the apostles organize themselves and they counseled together in planning their missions.
Seven. Pair relationships operate with particular effectiveness when one or more factors of complementarity operate. Regarding pair relationships, we are told, for example, that “a man and a woman, co-operating, even aside from family and offspring, are vastly superior in most ways to either two men or two women” (84:1.9/932.6). It shocks modern sensibilities to see male and female portrayed as positive and negative, aggressive and retiring (84:6.5/938.9). How is such a comment to be taken? Surely it does not mean that women cannot exercise primary social leadership—witness the story of Ellanora (53:7.1/607.2). In other words, there are a variety of factors in addition to sex that affect the expression of such tendencies.
Eight. Leadership is often best shared. There is a two-fold complexity of leadership. First, in a group, leadership may be shared in the sense that a group may have both a leader and a co-leader. Many organizations would do well to have teams of a man and a woman sharing the leadership. Second, even within a pair relationship, leadership functions may be divided; in marriage, even in the father-family, where man is typically denominated the leader, woman “has always been the moral standard-bearer and the spiritual leader of mankind” (84:6.4/938.8). And wisdom usually requires organizational leaders to have more than a co-leader: sharing leadership is essential (see Margaret Benefiel, The Soul of a Leader).
Nine. “Leadership is dependent on natural ability, discretion, will power, and determination” (156:5.7/1739.2). Highly capable leaders are rare, and, considering the enormous importance of leadership, it is foolish not to value and help them cultivate their abilities when they appear. Discretion includes a sense of timing and avoidance of excess in word and deed. Will power overcomes inner obstacles to whole-personality mobilization in decision-action; determination perseveres in the face of environmental obstacles. Stories of Jesus show that his natural ability was early evident (124:1/1368.2; 124:2./1369.4). His discretion was shown in his restraint in what he said and did (144:6.2/1624.4; 151:1.4/1689.2; 165:4.4/1821.4; 186:2/1999#2); in addition, “he never manifested a desire to direct, manage, or follow [people] up” (171:7.6/1875.1). His will power was a function of his devotion to the Father's will, and his determination to persist in the face of every obstacle was superb.
Ten. Leaders can look to stories of Jesus for inspiration (1874#7). Jesus gave his followers teaching, encouragement, assurance, exhortation, warnings, rebukes, guidance, healing, and divine love. He prayed for them repeatedly and at length. He was tolerant and considerate. He was a friend. Jesus provided attitudinal leadership as a calm and happy laborer, in his contentment, his majestic calm, his cheerful humor. Jesus' trust in God enabled him to cooperate in spontaneous self-forgetfulness.
Jesus, who knew the friendly universe, also took the leadership in confronting the enmity of the world (180:3/1946). He dealt with his enemies directly and warned his apostles that the enemy of the kingdom would also seek to draw them away (138:7.3/1544.2). Jesus led his apostles through the sifting of the kingdom--the great drop in followers after the epochal sermon declaring open warfare.
Jesus gave supreme devotion to primary values without fanatical neglect of secondary values. Jesus meditated deeply and at length in preparation for certain key events in his life; nevertheless there was “little of the professional, the well-planned, or the premeditated” in his ministry (171:7/1874–5). Jesus did certain necessary things in a formal manner (128:7.13/1418.5; 140:2/1569#2; 179#5/1941#5), but on the whole he related informally to his associates. He balanced respectful participation in tradition with critique and periodic rebellion (127:6.4/1404.5; 159#4/1767#4; 173#1/1888#1), for example, in his relation to women (e.g., 150:1/1678#1). He balanced justice and mercy (132:4.8/1462.1; 133:1/1468#1). Jesus balanced direct confrontation with wise strategy and tactics (142:8/1605#8; 144:0.2/1617.2; 174:3/1880#3; 174:2/1899#2) and timing (134:9.8/1495.5; 144:9.1/1627.6; 165:1.2/1817.6; 169:0.2/1850.2). He taught unmistakable truth and yet skillfully varied the meanings attached to key terms (170:4.7/1863.5). Jesus' balanced life of righteousness was so attractive that he did not have to seek out others to respond to his leadership (155:1/1726.2) Jesus did not make the mistake of exhausting himself in excessive devotion to the cause; he took time for refreshment, vacation, and recreation and had his apostles do the same (143:3/1610#3).
Eleven. Leaders must correctly understand the definition of their mission and its implications. In particular, there has been among readers of The Urantia Book a tendency to confuse the methods appropriate to the project of proclaiming the gospel to all the world with the methods that are appropriate for attracting responsive persons to The Urantia Book. Wise sharing of the book is attuned to the other person’s capacity of receptivity. When we seek to reach the general public, our teachings should be “commensurate with man’s intellectual and cultural development.” Even though many particular groups have an immediate and urgent need for selected teachings from the papers, there remains a limited receptivity to the book itself. If there were one study that I would urge on those who would be leaders among students of The Urantia Book, it would be this cluster of documents on Sharing The Urantia Book wisely.
There are other relevant distinctions that may clarify the mission of an individual or a group, for example, between different ministry projects and administrative functions (20:1.12/224.2) and between the exclusive religious focus required of apostles and leaders in the spiritual renaissance (140:8.30/1583.4; 178:1.11/1931.2; 195:9.4/2082.9). The various tasks assigned, for example, to groups of the master seraphim of planetary supervision may focus mortal cooperation (114:6/1254#6).
Twelve. Leaders need preparation and experience. The painstaking training given to those who will occupy positions of universe responsibility is emphasized on every level, from the Paradise training of a Creator Son to the school for evangelists. Jesus prepared himself at length (126:2.5/1388.5) by working through in advance the defining issues of his mission (126:3/1389#3), by careful and wide-ranging study, by waiting until he was sufficiently mature for his mission (130:5.3/1436.4; 134:1.7/1484.4), and by formulating the great decisions about how to use power once the time to begin his public career had come (Paper 136).
Thirteen. Even though human leaders are, at best, middle managers, leadership must have relative independence. Jesus was independent of human opinion (141:7.12/1594.6) and would not let himself be directed by the councils of men (128:42/1412.8). Nor should the gospel be directly attached to older traditions (149:2.3/1670.4). Leaders—including teachers (71:7.4/806.4)—cannot be entangled in what they hope to uplift (99:2.1/1087.4).
Fourteen. Leaders should work for unity within their own group and with members of other religious groups. Jesus harmonized the differences in the apostle's various presentations of the gospel (148:1.2/1658.1); and he repeatedly taught them about spiritual unity (141:5/1591#5; 182:1/1963#1). He promoted unity with John's apostles (144:6/1624#6) and was as positive as possible regarding the religion of his day. He modeled what is needed today: “It is to be hoped that the ardent and sincere efforts of these future prophets will be directed less toward the strengthening of interreligious barriers and more toward the augmentation of the religious brotherhood of spiritual worship among the many followers of the differing intellectual theologies” on our planet (92:5.16/1010.4).
Fifteen. Leaders make wise compromises. Jesus made compromises (137:5.3/1532.1; 157:5.2/1748.2; 157:6.6/1749.5), like Moses (96:3–5/1055–59) and unlike Ikhnaton, who tried to go too far too fast (95:5/1047#5).
Sixteen. Good leaders sometime use force. Jesus' discipline was patient and wise (127:4.3–4/1401.3–4; 128:7.3/1417.3). Yet the cleansing of the temple by a mercy-dominated Son “demonstrates that Jesus did not look with approval upon the refusal to employ force to protect the majority of any given human group against the unfair and enslaving practices of unjust minorities who may be able to entrench themselves behind political, financial, or ecclesiastical power” (173:1.11/1891.1)
What distinguishes force from violence is its ethical character (136:8/1520#8). Note that in the cleansing of the temple, no money was stolen, no property destroyed, no person assaulted. Modern images of spiritual sweetness repress the recognition of the Master's tough side. “Tell my children that I am not only tender of their feelings and patient with their frailties, but that I am also ruthless with sin and intolerant of iniquity. I am indeed meek and humble in the presence of my Father, but I am equally and relentlessly inexorable where there is deliberate evildoing and sinful rebellion against the will of my Father in heaven” (159:3.9/1766.5). From the instructive section on “The Part and the Whole,” we learn that to creatures of limited vision, even the acts of God “must often appear to be dictatorial and arbitrary” (12:7.2/137.5; cf. 3:2.7–8/48.1–2). In many ways, students of Part III are reminded of the evolutionary importance of the decisive exercise of concentrated authority. As “arrogant individualists,” we had to learn to submit (70:2.21/786.12). Nor should we entertain the idealistic fantasy that the members of our own civilization are so advanced that gentle persuasion can be relied upon for every purpose today (71:4/804#4).
Seventeen. If erring leaders cannot be corrected they must be replaced. Leadership inevitably functions, consciously or unconsciously, wisely or not (81:6.37/911; 179:1.6/1937.4; 192:4.8/2051.5; 181:2.16/1958.3). Part of our problem is that we mortals are designed to respond to the leadership of superhuman planetary leaders and rulers (92:5.5/1008.7), and, in the absence of effectively present superhuman leaders, we tend to follow human leaders irresponsibly. In addition, religious leadership is problematic in the current age, when people look for mediators between humans and the spirit world (90:0.2/986.2). When leadership goes bad, teamwork responsibilities shift from (primarily) cooperating with leaders to correcting and, if need be, replacing them, as Van did (67:3/756#3; cf. 77:3/858#3).
Eighteen. In a leadership vacuum, the qualified individual (or team) must assume leadership. Many of Urantia's great early leaders, like Onagar, assumed leadership, brought peace, and led his people in worship (63:6/715#6), a combination of functions found also among other early Sangik leaders (64:6/722#6; cf. 93:5.3/1018.8).
Nineteen. Leaders need to study the principles of organization. Very much of what The Urantia Book has to offer on the subject of leadership and teamwork is implied in the descriptions of various universe organizations, a topic sadly neglected today. We cannot derive every lesson from Part IV. Is there a study group willing to undertake an entire reading of the book with, among other things, a special eye to producing a thorough report on this topic? When clouds of religious passion threaten to eclipse the wisdom of organization, the rule of law, and the responsibility of authority, when fanatical notions of sonship usurp the mature duties of citizenship (178:1/1929#1)--or when the evils of bureaucracy obscure the familial character of universe relationships--students do well to recall and consider anew the techniques and values of careful administration on all levels. Good organization provides a framework within which alone freedom can flourish (70:0.2/783.2; 134:4.9/1487.6).
One of the main functions of organization is to facilitate an effective division of labor. The Father's rule is not self-centered; he delegates as much as possible. Universe organization is complex; but in the end, although levels of subordination are clearly defined, universe organization is not like the hierarchical and static organizational chart so popular in textbooks on management. Universe organization is flexible, organismic and familial (12:7/137#7; 56:10.14/647.5; 116:7/1276#7; 127:4.4/1401.4; 2080.7). The lesson on the family is the master lesson in the functions of leadership, in which the parent provides for the fact of existence, security and pleasure, education and training, discipline and restraint, companionship and loyalty, love and mercy, and provision for the future (142:7/1603#7).
Social architects do everything within their province and power to bring together suitable individuals that they may constitute efficient and agreeable working groups on earth; and sometimes such groups have found themselves reassociated on the mansion worlds for continued fruitful service. But not always do these seraphim attain their ends; not always are they able to bring together those who would form the most ideal group to achieve a given purpose or to accomplish a certain task; under these conditions they must utilize the best of the material available.
These angels continue their ministry on the mansion and higher morontia worlds. They are concerned with any undertaking having to do with progress on the morontia worlds and which concerns three or more persons. Two beings are regarded as operating on the mating, complemental, or partnership basis, but when three or more are grouped for service, they constitute a social problem and therefore fall within the jurisdiction of the social architects. (39:3/432.6–7).
Twenty. This inspiration for service is reflected in the advice Jesus gave to the mistress of the Greek inn: “Minister your hospitality as one who entertains the children of the Most High. Elevate the drudgery of your daily toil to the high levels of a fine art through the increasing realization that you minister to God in the persons whom he indwells by his spirit which has descended to live within the hearts of men, thereby seeking to transform their minds and lead their souls to the knowledge of the Paradise Father of all these bestowed gifts of the divine spirit” (133:4/1475.1).
November 2017