Chicago, US of A, December 23, 2013.
Teacher Hezekiah.
Subject: “Celebrating Special Dates.”
Received by Valdir Soares.
Hezekiah: “By your calendar, another Urantia year is about to finish, and a new one is about to start. Still, as you well know, January 1st is just as important as December 31st, and so are all other days of the year. Western Christians have marked these dates as special, while other cultures and religions have marked other dates in different places, and during diverse ages. You need to mark special dates so you can remember certain happenings by these dates, and live your lives by periods – weeks, months, years and decades. These set periods help you to plan life, record the plan in your mind, and remember to act on it.
“Do acknowledge and respect other cultures and religions' special dates. It’s a sign of maturity to be considerate to other peoples’ religious and cultural values, while keeping yours and learning from others. If you are interested enough, you will discover that special dates celebrated by other cultures have the same purpose as do your own: to keep alive values that are meaningful to them – to people, to religious groups, even to entire civilizations. No nation, culture or religion has it all, you need to learn from each other and complement each other.
“Your social, cultural and religious contexts are strong determinants of who you are. You should value the special dates of your religious traditions as they remind you that you are part of a historical stream of faith that gives you an identity in your spiritual community. Indeed, most of these dates should prompt you to understand and live the contemporary meanings of the faith of your ancestors. Celebrate these special dates with a live effort to ‘unearth’ their spiritual values from repetitive traditions and customs. Seek to realize what these celebrations mean to your life today.
“As a new year begins for most people on Urantia, and as many of you engage in the old habit of making new resolutions for the new year, make this habit a tool to pledge more than good intentions, but to set goals and life-guidelines that will make you a better human being, not merely somebody thinner or richer. Make goals to increase your tolerance, your compassion and openness towards your fellow human beings. These special dates can become starting points for a wonderful new attitude to life – something that will improve you from the inside-out – and, as a result make a difference in the lives of those around you.
“Let special dates be more for you than just another chance to satisfy yourself in pleasurable festivities. Pause and take time to reflect about the dates’ spiritual meaning. These are special days, so that all the other days, although common, may not be banal ones. Let special dates help you to renew your vows, your commitment, even your whole life. Make good use of them by making them count. Make them not only special, but memorable, by utilizing them for decisions that will matter in your life. I am your teacher Hezekiah, inviting you to make life special by being special yourselves. Peace be with you.”
© The 11:11 Progress Group.
We are each other at our spiritual Root Source –
ABC-22, January 1972.