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The idea of Route 66 as the "mother road," famously described by John Steinbeck, connects deeply to the opening reflection of the website by symbolizing a journey of discovery, transformation, revival, and progressive growth.

About the Author

Bob Debold has an MA in organizational management and leadership. It dovetails with the revelational aspects of the cosmology disclosed in the pages of The URANTIA Book (UB).  Bob has been a student of 'ol Blue' for nearly five decades. The website's intention is to provide a constellation of articles, many of which Bob has authored himself, with an objective to provide consumers of these fourth wave-revelational topics for students of the UB (and open minded non-students) a portal into how the revelation offers one a peek into various truths of reality. If one is not a student of the revelation, it might be helpful to suspend disbelief as you traverse the various essays.

An Opening Reflection

I remember clearly sometime around when I was ten years old, maybe younger, I thought to myself that I wanted to know as much as God must know. I can't remember a time that I doubted that 1) God is a "person," i.e., he is contactable as "A Being," 2) God is omniscient, which means He has a mind as I do, and 3) God is infinite "Being," which means He has an impersonal aspect, like energy or nature itself. Similar to the narrations of Jonah and Abraham of the Old Testament Bible, who received messages from God (and somehow recognized it was God speaking), I never doubted that communication is a two-way personal circuit with God; and any person could take advantage of this capability. I was also enough of a secularist (or maybe skeptic is a better designation) to be disabused that any intercourse with God would come by way of sound waves or perhaps mental telepathy. I have since modified that perspective based upon a fuller reading of Julian Jaynes theory of the bicameral mind, or more appropriate, the bicameral brain.

Raised as a Roman Catholic, I was mostly instructed through its brand of theology via a focus on the New Testament and the "Catechism," which is the teaching of Catholic Christian doctrine and dogma. This focus on the New Testament precluded any cognitive dissonance between the character of God in the Old Testament and that of the New that, upon reflecting in later years, I determined would most decidedly have confused me. I don't know if that was an intended reason, or merely a result of time constraints, but Jesus' portrayal of the personality of his Father is surely very different from the one that deals with Jonah's whale and Abraham's potential sacrifice of his son Isaac. The differences however, did continue to increase my desire to understand God's true nature and how he really prosecutes his infinite plans in our finite lives. Should I completely eschew the Old Testament? If the Bible is so dissonant about God, is even the New Testament a true depiction of how Jesus illustrated the Father to first century humans?

// Bob Debold Fairfax, VA, September 2024

Footnotes

  1. The Urantia Book. (102:6.10 (1125.5))
  2. The Urantia Book. (36:3.5 (399.7) & 36:6.3 (404.1)
  3. (Provide a text explanation of the vast array of reveltors)
  4. The Urantia Book. 130:2.8 (1431.3)
  5. Toffler, Alvin. The Third Wave. First ed., William Morrow, 1980. Pg 49. Toffler's Third Wave theory emphasizes the profound shifts brought by the information age, where technological advancements accelerate societal change. This wave, characterized by the move from an industrial to a knowledge-based society, introduces the concept of future shock—a sense of disorientation due to the overwhelming speed of change and specialization. The Urantia Book passages (81:6.30 and 81:6.31) resonate with Toffler’s ideas, highlighting the danger of rapid specialization without adequate mechanisms for coordination and cooperation. As technical and industrial skills diversify, the passages warn that such specialization, without proper integration, may weaken society. However, both Toffler and The Urantia Book suggest that the intelligence capable of creating these innovations should be able to manage their effects. Toffler’s future shock aligns with the need expressed in The Urantia Book for new techniques to direct individuals toward suitable employment. This reflects the growing complexity of labor in the Third Wave, where knowledge and specialization must be harmonized with evolving social and economic systems to prevent societal disintegration.
  6. Toffler, Alvin. The Third Wave. First ed., William Morrow, 1980. Pg 49.

References

Orvonton Divine Counselor, et al. The Urantia Book. Urantia Foundation, 1955