What is Evolution?
When an individual first becomes God-conscious and then embraces the fact that he or she is an ascending son or daughter of the Universal Father, that person opens up those innate desires to grow and evolve that are a part of all personalities. As persons move ever more into their personality circuitry, their hunger for growth into the perfection of the Universal Father increases, and that urge to "become as the Father is" continues to increase in strength with the growth of those who acquiesce to that innate yearning.
According to the tenth edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, evolution is, “a process of change in a certain direction, an unfolding; the process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, better state, or growth; the process of working out or developing; a process in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated phenomena." That same dictionary denotes ascension as: "a movement upward, a rising from lower levels to higher levels, degrees or values."
As a result of my studies of The URANTIA Book and The Cosmic Family volumes, I have come up with an expanded definition of evolution. "Evolution is part of divine pattern. This continuous growth happens on all 3 universe levels of reality—the physical, the mindal and the spiritual. This never-ending unfoldment happens on both a qualitative and a quantitative level. This ascension is an individual as well as a group and corporate process. Progression happens with the individual person, an entire family, a whole community, a state, a country, an entire planet, a system, a constellation, a local universe, a minor sector, a major sector, a superuniverse, the Grand Universe, and the Master Universe."
Since making certain decisions concerning my own spiritual ascension, I am very aware of the call to evolve at a much quicker rate than in my old order of living. I am so conscious of my own personal ascension process, as well as the evolution of those around me who have also made those important decisions to accelerate their inner growth. We realize that though evolution seems to be very gradual and slow, there indeed are sudden shifts, quantum leaps in the natural evolutionary process.
“Suddenlys” and Quantum Leaps in the Early Evolution of Pre-Human Mammals
In Paper 62 of The URANTIA Book, entitled "The Dawn Race of Early Man," we are told that the ancestors of humankind on earth made their appearance by three successive and sudden mutations. With each of these sudden shifts forward in evolution there was an increased physical, mindal, and social adeptness.
That first quantum leap in the evolutionary process happened a little over a million years ago when the Mesopotamian dawn mammals, the direct descendants of a lemur type of placental mammal, suddenly appeared. They were superior in all ways to their parents, siblings and ancestors. They had the largest brains for their size of any animal that had existed on earth. They had use of a thumb and were quick and agile. They had emotions and instincts that their predecessors did not have and which later characterized primitive man. They were highly curious and felt elation when successful at any undertaking and experienced shame and remorse when unsuccessful. They practiced courtship, chose mates, and were loyal, tender and protective in family associations. They constructed shelters in high treetops for defensive purposes, but spent most of their awake hours on the ground.
The second jump ahead in animal evolution happened seventy generations after the sudden origin of the new tribe of dawn mammals that came from the highest type of lemur ancestor. This second sudden differentiation happened when twins, a male and female, were born to parents of this dawn mammal tribe. These twins were superior in all ways to their parents, siblings, and tribe. The twins had less hair and a more developed thumb. They were bigger than the others of their tribe and taller with shorter arms and longer legs. They walked upright most of the time rather than moving around on all four limbs. They had larger brains, displayed superior intelligence, and were recognized as heads of the whole tribe of dawn mammals. They developed a primitive form of social organization and a crude economic division of labor. These superior twins had twenty-one children who were much like themselves. These twenty-one children and their many offspring became the mid-mammals, who were in every way superior to their dawn mammal ancestors. These mid-mammals were capable of showing disgust in certain repulsive situations. They created rudimentary weapons and expanded construction to subterranean structures as well as treetops for defensive purposes. They hoarded and stored food, realizing that in the future they may need it.
Early in the career of the mid-mammals another set of twins were born to a set of parents of this tribe, and again this was a sudden mutation or jump, for these twins, a male and female, created a new species of Primates constituting the next vital step of pre-human evolution. These Primate twins had even less hair, were bigger and taller, with larger heads and brains. They used their hands and thumbs more than their predecessors. They used symbols in sign and sound communication. At fourteen years of age they left their tribe to raise a family and establish a new species of Primates, which were more human and less animal.
In Paper 63, "The First Human Family", of The URANTIA Book, we learn that 21,000 years after the emergence of the Primate twins, another quantum leap happens, and this time this sudden mutation is the birth of the first human beings on Urantia (Earth); twins, a male and female. These twins were in all ways superior to and radically different from their parents, siblings and tribe. They were walkers and runners, not climbers, with little hair on their larger bodies, and of course, their brains were much bigger. These twins, who called each other, Sonta-an and Sonta-en, were very curious and adventurous. They had emotions of admiration and worshipful feelings of awe, reverence, humility and gratitude. They communicated verbally, with words, which the rest of their family and tribe could not understand or learn. Because they were so different, they felt isolated from and frustrated with their family members. Even though their parents, brothers and sisters loved them and looked up to them, Sonta-an and Sonta-en realized that they were of another destiny than the rest of their tribe. At nine years of age, they one day made a pact with each other, to live with and for each other, which was the first of a series of such agreements that finally culminated in the decision to separate from their inferior animal associates and to journey northward, not realizing that they were thus to found the human race.
Becoming “Human”
At that first crucial decision of those twins when were nine years old, every celestial spirit intelligence stationed on Urantia was present as an observer of that transaction between these first human beings. At ten years of age the twins had grown enough in their minds that the spirit of worship could make contact and a year later they made another momentous decision, which enabled the spirit of wisdom to begin to function in their minds. That purposeful decision to segregate themselves and their offspring from their inferior family, friends, and tribe catapulted them into the category of human beings, for they had chosen to worship and to ascend, and in that choice they realized that they had to separate themselves from their family's and tribe's order of existence. In other words, they had to move into a new order, and in acting on that difficult but intelligent decision, they received new names from the celestial spirit ministers, Andon and Fonta, names that mean the first Father-like and Daughter-like creatures to exhibit human desire for perfection.
The decision of Andon and Fonta to leave their Primate tribes implies a quality of mind far above the baser intelligence which characterized so many of their later descendants who stooped to mate with the lower genetic simian tribes. Their decision opened up a new planetary circuit, the mind circuit of the Universe Mother. And from this newly established mind circuit came the message from the chief of the archangel corps: "To the Life Carriers on Urantia—Greetings! We transmit assurance of great pleasure in honor of the registration on the headquarters of [the local universe of] Nebadon of the signal of the existence on Urantia [Earth] of mind of will dignity. The purposeful decision of the twins to flee northward and segregate their offspring from their inferior ancestors has been noted. This is the first decision of mind—the human type of mind—on Urantia and automatically establishes the circuit of communication over which this initial message of acknowledgment is transmitting."
And though the celestial spirit personalities could not arbitrarily influence the twins' decisions, they could and did coordinate their endeavors to lead the human twins to make those series of intelligent decisions that led them northward and far from their less advanced people. Away from their inferior relatives of the Primate tribes, Andon and Fonta escaped biologic degradation through inappropriate breeding and were able to expand and evolve socially, intellectually, and spiritually, which they had realized they would not be able to do if they remained with their tribe.
Making the Quantum Leap into a Fourth-Dimensional New Order
Today many potential Destiny Reservists, Urantian and cosmic, are being called to become parents of a Divine New Order, just as Andon and Fonta were called to be parents of a new order of first human beings in the evolution unfolding on this planet of Urantia. Those who are being called today have much in common with Andon and Fonta of a little less than a million years ago.
Like Andon and Fonta, those potential Destiny Reservists experience a difference between themselves and their loved ones and the rest of the world. They know that they are different, no matter how hard they try to be one of the crowd or fit in with the rest of the group. Those being called to become parents of the Divine New Order will realize that their aspirations, ideals, and values are on a much higher level than the third-dimensional dominant culture's, just as Andon and Fonta realized that they wanted much more from life than what their tribe's reality was. They want to evolve more quickly and more meaningfully than the majority. Like Andon and Fonta, those being called today strive for a higher spiritual reality, a closer communion with the Universal Father, connecting more with the adjutant spirits of worship and wisdom. And like Andon and Fonta, in order to move into true wisdom, they have to make a series of intelligent decisions that will culminate in them moving on from their old order of third-dimensional values of spiritual poverty and materialism. Like the first pair of Destiny Reservists, they will have to leave their flock of tribespeople and cling to true complements, others who have also made those courageous and wise choices, and create an expanding family of higher genetically-linked offspring.
Today those being called have even more living spiritual forces than Andon and Fonta had, working within and guiding them to help make the moves they need to in order to be part of the quantum leap that is happening. This quantum leap in the evolution of this planet is a leap in the ascension of each individual who hears the call and flees the Luciferic third dimension to join the new tribe of change agents at the fourth-dimensional Planetary Sacred Home. This is a quantum leap for the planet, from an almost barbaric stage to the first stage of light and life. This is a quantum leap from corrupt human governments of chaos and confusion to a divine planetary government that works in coordination with a universe government in divine pattern. This is a quantum leap in the ascension of material human bodies into morontia (semi-spirit) bodies, a leap from physical death to transformation. With the final change point comes the sudden mutation of the planet, moving in a “suddenly” from brokenness to wholeness.
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There usually is a process that individuals go through in order to move into the wisdom of acting on a decision to leave the old brokenness behind and ascend to the wholeness of the Divine New Order. Like Andon and Fonta, who experienced much fear after making their decision to migrate northward, most today will experience those fears. Andon and Fonta especially feared displeasing their father and immediate family, and they also feared the unknown, for they were leaving the security of the tribe. However, they overcame those fears, just as today those potential Destiny Reservists can overcome their many fears.
Andon and Fonta also felt much sadness, guilt and grief in leaving their family and friends, for they did love them, and they realized that their parents would be heart-broken when they left. In spite of all of this, they did finally act upon their higher decisions, and the watching celestial spirits rejoiced, and major circuits were opened for this planet. In their decisions, Andon and Fonta made a tremendous contribution to the evolution of humankind.
For those courageous and wise ones today who act upon the call in their hearts to become change agents, helping to bring in the higher reality of the Divine New Order, they too can make a tremendous contribution to the ascension of this beloved planet, Urantia. And, as with Andon and Fonta, the hovering celestial spirit personalities rejoice and applaud when each person responds to that call. In answering the call, each person will receive a new name that reflects the individual’s ascension into a higher reality, just as Andon and Fonta did.
Past Epochal Revelations Required Quantum Leaps of Evolution for Individuals
In order for those Urantians (people of Earth) to participate in the furtherance of the evolution of this planet 500,000 years ago, when the Planetary Prince and his staff of 100 supermortals came, they had to come to Planetary Headquarters, Dalamatia, in order to ascend personally and be trained in an advanced reality before they could share that with their fellow Urantians.
200,000 years ago when the Lucifer Rebellion erupted, those followers of the true spiritual leaders, Van and Amadon, had to separate themselves from the rest of the confused and violent world in order to create a new Planetary Headquarters, the First Garden of Eden.
And when the material son and daughter, Adam and Eve, came to upstep the evolution of this world 36,000 years ago, they came to that Planetary Headquarters of the Garden of Eden, and all who wanted to take part in this leap in evolution had to become a part of that reality at the Garden in order to ascend themselves to become the leaders of that new order.
4,000 years ago those missionaries of Machiventa Melchizedek who traveled to the ends of the world with his higher message, had to first come to Planetary Headquarters, Salem, and be part of the community and school there.
The apostles and disciples of Jesus had to spend time with Him (and wherever Jesus was was Planetary Headquarters) in training before they could make the spiritual impact that they made.
Today, those called to be apostles of the Divine New Order, must first come to the Planetary Sacred Home of Divine Administration to make a quantum leap in their own individual ascension before they can fulfill their destiny to help bring about the quantum leap in the evolution of the planet. Like Andon and Fonta and those students of Dalamatia, the First and Second Gardens, Salem, and Nazareth, today those who are called to become apostles of the Divine New Order must overcome fears and the residue of the Lucifer Rebellion in order to be used by higher celestial spirit personalities of God to bring the quantum leap of this world into the Divine New Order of the first stage of light and life.