The Beautiful Wholeness of Righteousness
Truth-Coordinated Living as the Key to
the Beautiful Wholeness of Righteousness
“In all that you do, become not one-sided and overspecialized. The Pharisees who seek our destruction verily think they are doing God’s service. They have become so narrowed by tradition that they are blinded by prejudice and hardened by fear. Consider the Greeks, who have a science without religion, while the Jews have a religion without science. And when men become thus misled into accepting a narrow and confused disintegration of truth, their only hope of salvation is to become truth-co-ordinated — converted
“Let me emphatically state this eternal truth: If you, by truth co-ordination, learn to exemplify in your lives this beautiful wholeness of righteousness, your fellow men will then seek after you that they may gain what you have so acquired. (155:1.4-5/1726.1-2)
Week 7: The Beautiful Wholeness of Righteousness
The way of simplicity and paths of thoroughness
The way of simplicity and paths of thoroughness are complementary approaches to living in truth, beauty, and goodness.
There are times when the way of simplicity is the only honest teaching, and any other approach would be evasive. Don’t dodge the issue by asking, “How?” Don’t ask for a method, an easy list of steps. The way of simplicity is a street preacher. Start living in truth, beauty, and goodness right now. Don't make a resolution for next year; don't wait to finish this project. The wisdom is already available to you, and your present intuition is enough to begin with. Dare to come into Presence right now. Let go of creeds and dogmas and books. Truth is here—wake up. Beauty is at hand—let yourself feel it. Goodness beckons—follow in freedom. The way of simplicity is the altar call, the Zen gesture, the revelatory proclamation, the decisive act of service, the enthusiastic hug. The way of simplicity intimidates the cautious, those who fear presumption, and those who doubt that which is genuine.
Simplicity unfolds. A path opens up. We can survey the path in the degree of thoroughness that fits our purpose. We can explore details, consider difficulties, spend time in research and discussion and silence, receiving and giving. Did we really think we could climb the Mt. Everest of knowledge, wisdom, and truth without decades of devoted living? Paths of thoroughness compliment the way of simplicity.
Our concepts of truth, beauty, and goodness develop through experience and effort, study and struggle. Can we combine the way of simplicity with the paths of thoroughness? We must. This is done by bringing a wholehearted grasp of simplicity to the paths of thoroughness. Such wholeheartedness opens up discovery and creativity. The way of simplicity and the paths of thoroughness complement each other. The long path to mature love takes patience and pondering, and it is designed to complement the short path—the immediate availability of love found in communion. The long path depends at all times on the short path, and the short path is enriched by each forward step on the long path.
In daily life, we normally rely on the simplicity of intuition—or what feels like intuition—only occasionally having the time to do our best thinking in thoroughness; but study and reflection sharpen our capacities for intuition. Great spontaneous responses are the fruit of great decisions, and great decisions come from our best thinking. The integrity of genuine simplicity comes only from laboring in fields of thoroughness. Simple concepts become meaningful through experience with complexities, while ventures into thoroughness are kept on track by commitments expressed in simple terms. Thus we move back and forth between simple affirmations of major concepts and more thorough paths of structured exploration, between intuitive, right-brain simplicity and methodical, left-brain complexity. This movement is the life of our very concepts of truth, beauty, and goodness.
A Harvest of Wholeness
After our labors on truth-coordinated living as a path of thoroughness, we allow God to bring forth the harvest: enhanced wholeness. Taking the human steps in God, we cultivate the soil for growth; it is God who gives the growth: “Make us increasingly like yourself.” Among people I know rather well, I have seen numerous growth-spurts, many of which fit into a pattern: the person is working intensely on some worthy project for a sustained period of time, after which there is time for vacation or at least a relaxation of effort—and then is when the growth precipitates. What do you find? What is your experience of growth?
We know that we cannot manufacture growth. We can engage in physical training in the morning, prayer during the middle of the day, and intellectual self-cultivation in the afternoon; but these do not add up to growth.
16:6.10 (192.6) In the local universe mind bestowals, these three insights of the cosmic mind [causation, duty, and worship] constitute the a priori assumptions which make it possible for man to function as a rational and self-conscious personality in the realms of science, philosophy, and religion. Stated otherwise, the recognition of the reality of these three manifestations of the Infinite is by a cosmic technique of self-revelation. Matter-energy is recognized by the mathematical logic of the senses; mind-reason intuitively knows its moral duty; spirit-faith (worship) is the religion of the reality of spiritual experience. These three basic factors in reflective thinking may be unified and co-ordinated in personality development, or they may become disproportionate and virtually unrelated in their respective functions. But when they become unified, they produce a strong character consisting in the correlation of a factual science, a moral philosophy, and a genuine religious experience.
If we cannot gain wholeness by adding up isolated pieces, what can we do? What do you do for wholeness?
110:6.3 (1209.3) The psychic circles are not exclusively intellectual, neither are they wholly morontial; they have to do with personality status, mind attainment, soul growth, and Adjuster attunement. The successful traversal of these levels demands the harmonious functioning of the entire personality, not merely of some one phase thereof. The growth of the parts does not equal the true maturation of the whole; the parts really grow in proportion to the expansion of the entire self — the whole self — material, intellectual, and spiritual.
How do you gain that wholeness?
127:3.15 (1400.7) Jesus possessed the ability effectively to mobilize all his powers of mind, soul, and body on the task immediately in hand. He could concentrate his deep-thinking mind on the one problem which he wished to solve, and this, in connection with his untiring patience, enabled him serenely to endure the trials of a difficult mortal existence — to live as if he were “seeing Him who is invisible.”
By thus fully—“wholeheartedly”—mobilizing himself, Jesus gained that magnificent balance which he helps us to attain.
100:7.1 (1101.5) Although the average mortal of Urantia cannot hope to attain the high perfection of character which Jesus of Nazareth acquired while sojourning in the flesh, it is altogether possible for every mortal believer to develop a strong and unified personality along the perfected lines of the Jesus personality. The unique feature of the Master’s personality was not so much its perfection as its symmetry, its exquisite and balanced unification.
Note that the paragraphs that follow in this section, The Acme of Religious Living, describe virtues of Jesus, qualities that he possessed but did not carry to extremes. After a portrayal of Jesus’ superb balance, the section ends with another resounding and uplifting promise.
100:7.18 (1103.6) Jesus was the perfectly unified human personality. And today, as in Galilee, he continues to unify mortal experience and to co-ordinate human endeavors. He unifies life, ennobles character, and simplifies experience. He enters the human mind to elevate, transform, and transfigure it. It is literally true: “If any man has Christ Jesus within him, he is a new creature; old things are passing away; behold, all things are becoming new.”
Clearly, there is no “spiritual shortcut” to the balance of “the grandeur of genuine character achievement,” which refers to the integration of virtues developed in all basic aspects of living: scientific, philosophical, spiritual, aesthetic, and ethical. Nevertheless, a reflection on personality helps us understand how spirituality and wholeness work. “Personality” has two meanings in The Urantia Book: in its first sense, the term refers to the unique and mysterious bestowal of the Universal Father, constant throughout change; second, the term refers to personality (in the first sense) together with the system of components that are unified by personality (in the first sense). Consider one of the several similar expressions of this system pattern.
116:6.1 (1275.1) In the evolutionary superuniverses energy-matter is dominant except in personality, where spirit through the mediation of mind is struggling for the mastery. The goal of the evolutionary universes is the subjugation of energy-matter by mind, the co-ordination of mind with spirit, and all of this by virtue of the creative and unifying presence of personality. Thus, in relation to personality, do physical systems become subordinate; mind systems, co-ordinate; and spirit systems, directive.
Now remember what a system is.
112:1.17 (1227.7) But the concept of the personality as the meaning of the whole of the living and functioning creature means much more than the integration of relationships; it signifies the unification of all factors of reality as well as co-ordination of relationships. 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.
112:1.18 (1227.8) In the human organism the summation of its parts constitutes selfhood — individuality — but such a process has nothing whatever to do with personality, which is the unifier of all these factors as related to cosmic realities.
112:1.19 (1227.9) 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. In the human system it is the personality which unifies all activities and in turn imparts the qualities of identity and creativity.
When we make a personal and wholehearted moral decision to mobilize our entire, multi-dimensioned self to reinforce the primacy of the spiritual, we do the single most important thing we can do (and, yes, there are other things that we need to do) in order to make sure that our personality system grows into the lines of the beautiful and divine pattern.
We can intuitively recognize when we discover the divine unification of these dimensions in God, recognize them in others, or feel them in ourselves.
16:9.1 (195.7) The cosmic-mind-endowed, Adjuster-indwelt, personal creature possesses innate recognition-realization of energy reality, mind reality, and spirit reality. The will creature is thus equipped to discern the fact, the law, and the love of God. Aside from these three inalienables of human consciousness, all human experience is really subjective except that intuitive realization of validity attaches to the unification of these three universe reality responses of cosmic recognition.
The beautiful wholeness of righteousness
When Jesus spoke of the beautiful wholeness of righteousness, he unfolded something of the depth that was implicit in an earlier, simpler the lesson on righteousness.
That evening while teaching in the house, for it had begun to rain, Jesus talked at great length, trying to show the twelve what they must be, not what they must do. They knew only a religion that imposed the doing of certain things as the means of attaining righteousness — salvation. But Jesus would reiterate, “In the kingdom you must be righteous in order to do the work.” Many times did he repeat, “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” All the while was the Master explaining to his bewildered apostles that the salvation which he had come to bring to the world was to be had only by believing, by simple and sincere faith. Said Jesus: “John preached a baptism of repentance, sorrow for the old way of living. You are to proclaim the baptism of fellowship with God. Preach repentance to those who stand in need of such teaching, but to those already seeking sincere entrance to the kingdom, open the doors wide and bid them enter into the joyous fellowship of the sons of God.” But it was a difficult task to persuade these Galilean fishermen that, in the kingdom, being righteous, by faith, must precede doing righteousness in the daily life of the mortals of earth. (140:10.1/1584.4)
. . . .
John asked Jesus, “Master, what is the kingdom of heaven?” And Jesus answered: “The kingdom of heaven consists in these three essentials: first, recognition of the fact of the sovereignty of God; second, belief in the truth of sonship with God; and third, faith in the effectiveness of the supreme human desire to do the will of God — to be like God. And this is the good news of the gospel: that by faith every mortal may have all these essentials of salvation.” (140:10.9/1585.7)
This last quote is the occasion to raise one of the most important questions for us as we complete this course: How has this course affected your understanding of Jesus’ gospel? There may be some time during our concluding webinar to address this question.
An excerpt from Living in Truth, Beauty, and Goodness
Living in Truth, Beauty, and Goodness concludes with a chapter on character. Here is the section from that chapter that relates closely to our week seven topic
Philosophical ideals of virtue and the spiritual gift of righteousness
Striving for growth reaches toward an ideal, an often vague sense of completeness or wholeness. Aristotle conceived of the fulfillment of one’s purpose as being analogous to the way an acorn fulfills its purpose by becoming a mature oak tree. The word teleion, “perfect,” was used to denote this achievement. Aristotle defined a virtue as a trustworthy habit of acting on a firm and constant disposition to do the right thing in the right way in a specific type of situation. For example, courage is the virtue of reliably responding excellently to situations of fear, pain, and danger. Self-mastery regarding pleasure (“temperance”) requires moderation or restraint when the opportunity for self-indulgence arises—a person who has the virtue no longer struggles with desires that are strong and base. Among the social virtues, justice involves taking no more than one’s proper share—and, we might add, contributing one’s proper share.
According to Aristotle, deficiencies and excesses arise when we lack the appropriate disposition or fail to act on it, or when we deploy one particular strength when the situation calls for a different one; and it takes good judgment to consistently hit the mean between these extremes. We acquire a virtue by doing the right thing in the right way in the relevant type of situation until we have it—a habit that has become second nature. Thus the exercise of moral virtues requires practical wisdom (involving keen deliberation), the virtue that unites and contains them all. Aristotle also recognizes intellectual and technical virtues of thinking and of making any type of product, from bricks to paintings. His ideal of perfection comprises the complete fulfillment of one’s growth potentials.
Despite the nobility of Aristotle’s ideals, it is understandable that the word “virtues” is generally well received among philosophers, theologians, religious believers, and older people, while many others dislike the term and find it stuffy, laden with obsolete constraints; and they prefer the term “strengths.” As it often happens, the implied critique is partly insightful, partly not. In my view, Aristotle’s approach emphasizing a cluster of self-cultivated virtues can be modified in two ways. First, ongoing striving toward remote ideals of perfection can be regarded as completed in heaven. Second, efforts for continued growth can be remotivated by the spiritual transformation of one’s character as a whole.
On the surface, Jesus’ teaching is akin to Aristotle’s when he says, “Be you perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”[1] Jesus’ teaching is very different, but it takes some work to understand it. The quest for perfection gets a bad reputation because people associate it with perfectionism, which is narrow, compulsive, and counterproductive. And the word “righteousness” also has some unbeautiful connotations; it can imply a harsh, judgmental, aggressive, hostile, prideful, and moralistic attitude. But righteousness in its wholeness is none of these.
Jesus’ concept of perfection was not static, and he never gave it an outward, behavioral definition. But I believe that his concept included a sense of a perfection that is possible in this life—perfection-as-righteousness. That humanly attainable achievement begins by responding to God’s call with a wholehearted commitment to the will and way of God. That level of living in grace includes spiritual self-mastery, which liberates one from struggling with unruly desire, fear, or pride. When coupled with persistent prayer, dedication to the will of God sooner or later leads to soul-satisfying integration and harmony.
In The Golden Rule, addressing the question of whether the teachings of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount presented an unrealistically high standard, I set forth an interpretation that makes sense of the idea that Jesus expected his apostles to live according to a higher standard than what was expected of the average believer or disciple.
The call to be perfect [teleios] is addressed to all, not in the sense that apostles or disciples are expected to have completed their personal growth, but in the sense that every believer is expected to be wholehearted. As Joachim Jeremias clarifies, we need not “take teleios in a perfectionist sense; rather, Matthew will have understood teleios in the sense of the Old Testament tamim (‘intact,’ ‘undivided’) as the designation of who belongs to God with the totality of his life.” “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Abandoning anxiety, the disciple is to “strive first for the kingdom and his righteousness,” and is to trust God for other essentials.
The specific constraints on the apostles must of course not be substituted for the gospel message itself and taken as legalistic requirements for anyone seeking to enter the kingdom . . . . Jesus' eschatological presence sets up a gravitational attraction that strictly holds the apostles in a close orbit; partly similar requirements hold for the seventy who were also commissioned to preach the gospel; and other disciples and the crowds are accelerated into its vortex of righteousness. The presence of Jesus generates a movement of desire and commitment to live like him: the core of his new community is to share his specific requirements, while teachings such as the golden rule function spiritually to help a morally diverse humanity to live in an increasingly God-like way.[2]
The desire for wholeness, for perfection in that sense, is widespread; and religious faith routes our quest to fulfill that desire through the relationship with God. The divine gift of perfection-as-righteousness does not replace the long quest for perfection.
The gift of perfection-as-righteousness is a connection with God that brings spiritual truth, beauty, and goodness into our thinking, feeling, and doing. It does not impart knowledge or wisdom; nor does it exempt a person from the need for moral and ethical reflection. And the humbling wonder of it all is that this participation in divinity can be enjoyed by mortals who remain cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally imperfect.
Righteousness flourishes on the basis of meaningful integration of scientific and spiritual living; emotional maturity and sensitivity to beauty; and dedication to some important work, no matter how humble it may seem. But it would be unreasonable to require advanced attainment in any of these areas; an average person can attain the required balance, and any realistic concept of perfection-as-righteousness must make room for our status as learners.
Learning Exercises
Exercise 1. This week, there is just one learning exercise. Some of you are writing up the experience report on your project. (For instructions, see the Class Plan for week 6; and remember to send your papers to jwattles@kent.edu by November 8). You are welcome to respond to this question, but please do not allow yourself to be driven to excess by being staggered by yet another task demand during this last week, when we need to relax the effort in order to facilitate the divine harvest.
If you have not done a project, for whatever reason, please share with us something of what you have learned during the past several weeks about how truth-coordinated living conduces to the beautiful wholeness of righteousness.
[1] Lev 19:2 and Matt 5:48. We can narrow the gap between Jesus and Aristotle in three steps: (1) recall that in Nichomachean Ethics X.6–7, Aristotle sets forth the highest happiness as contemplative and as bringing friendship with the gods; (2) abandon Aristotle’s separation of theoretical and practical virtue; and (3) reinterpret Aristotle’s insistence that virtuous conduct is intrinsically enjoyable: Aristotle did not consciously realize that his enjoyment of eternal and divine truth and his friendship with God were nourishing his own enjoyment of virtuous action.
[2] The New Testament quotations in this paragraph are from Matt 6:24 and 6:24–33; and see Jeremias, New Testament Theology, 230.