Upon reading the amazing autobiography The Divine New Order and the Dawn of the First Stage of Light and Life written by Van of Urantia, my first thoughts were of what happened to me personally the first night I stayed at the First Planetary Sacred Home of Avalon Gardens and EcoVillage, which Van (Van of Urantia) and Niánn Emerson Chase co-founded together. I woke up around 3:00 a.m. with peace in my heart, knowing that I was finally home, because reading The First Stage of Light and Life bridges the gap of what was once the vast dark spaces of the unknown with the light.
We must take great spiritual leaps in order to achieve the highest potentials for ourselves, and Van (Van of Urantia) has captured his destiny. Having the mindset of a true trailblazer can seem foolish at times to some, yet courageous and admired by those who are meant to see, acknowledging that if we continue to do things the ways they’ve always been done, nothing changes. Many of us are encouraged to explore those same spaces within ourselves, because it is there that we find our fragmented self and then can be delivered by God into clarity and purposeful living.
Van’s (Van of Urantia) years of early adulthood were pure experiential learning and this kind of learning I found is the most conducive to anyone who is to receive the title of “Destiny Reservist.” We must experience life as it is lived here on this planet, and I struggle with this in many phases because on one hand, it is incredibly exciting to learn that you have a point of origin in the cosmos somewhere and on the other hand, you may also be asked to “come back down to earth” to simply clean out a refrigerator. Each of our experiences have purpose, as each experiencer has a path he or she must follow. Thinking of the big picture is where I like to be, though it’s not always where I am, as there are many lessons to learn and reasons for that.
There were so many days in my life that I envisioned this cosmic family, which I recently found here at Planetary Sacred Home, and hoped to be in an environment where I could truly grow into a deeper understanding of the meanings to things, as I too, am a very deep person. I am grateful and eager to learn how to integrate my lower nature into becoming my higher self and how to cope with my own emotions, thoughts, and ambiguity without having a drink in my hand. My journey in being led to Alcoholics Anonymous was one of the greatest blessings I was to experience shortly before arriving here at Divine Administration.
Without a doubt in my mind, the man who was once known as Anthony or Tony from Pittsburgh has indeed transformed into a great spiritual leader, a loving and compassionate father-figure, and a wise mentor. In relation to some of the past lives Van (Van of Urantia) mentioned in his autobiography, at The University of Ascension Science and The Physics of Rebellion we recently had a Jesus papers class where it was part of the class curriculum to get together in groups and discuss our familial backgrounds, lineages, religious associations, etc. It came to our attention how many fellow classmates were of Lutheran indoctrinations and/or German descent. There was a little variety away from these subgroups, and we clearly recognized this as a testimony towards the connection of Van and his past life as Martin Luther. There is an outstanding show within the community of consistent serendipities of all sorts among those who have been loyal to the Divine Administration for nearly three decades now.
I very much enjoyed reading about some personal details and the journey of how Tony became first Van of Prescott, and then Van of Sedona, and then Gabriel of Urantia, and finally his realization as being Van of The URANTIA Book. These kinds of transformations are difficult and full of challenges that not everyone knows about nor can comprehend, but for the few who can, we enjoy every moment of spending time with our true cosmic family—the good, the bad, and the indifferent.
I had never read The URANTIA Book before coming here to the First Planetary Sacred Home, though I have had some interesting celestial experiences and have felt very much guided here and led all throughout my current lifetime. Also, I have never been shy about these kinds of experiences, including past lives, as I believe it is a vital piece of understanding the journey of souls, as well as for our own personal continual evolution.
There is no doubt in my mind that I have had many lifetimes here on this planet, which were mostly in rebellion but also with a few of the souls here in our cosmic family. Now that I am here, back with my cosmic family, I wish to be nowhere else, as this is where I will continue to learn and grow with the leadership of Van and his highest spiritual complement, Niann, and so many others.
There is much of Van’s journey to awakening to who he truly is that I resonate with at its core. This is because it is the path of the divine reawakening in our hearts and stepping into the unknown with our often logical and experienced minds and then fusing them together to create an integrated tapestry of the union of souls. We are forever grateful and in service to the Mandate of the Bright and Morning Star and its mission here on Urantia today and every day to come.
Using the guidance at the back of the book, I followed the author’s encouragement to read about what a “channel” actually is. The information given through The URANTIA Book and then following it further with The Cosmic Family volumes is a dream come true. I had some pre-conceived understanding of terms from books passed along through my grandmother about channeling, astral travel, and unseen worlds by authors such as Ruth Montgomery, Brad Steiger, and Edgar Cayce to name a few. I remember being excited to learn more about the “real world” and the true nature of time and space—the cosmic truth. After reading The First Stage of Light and Life and now studying The Cosmic Family volumes, they catapult me far beyond those wonderful initial foundations I had growing up into a truly magical and cosmic new reality unfolding here at Planetary Sacred Home. What an amazing future awaits our beloved world, Urantia!