Reunion

Chapter 2

Suddenly they both felt tremendous gratitude for the God who made their resurrection possible. Great tears came to their new eyes, tears of appreciation and joy. Both were thinking about this marvelous plan God created for time and space ascenders. And what they are seeing and experiencing during these first moments of life as resurrected beings are but the barest beginnings of morontia life, even life eternal.

Next, a pilgrim receiver stepped up, introducing herself by title, and addressing the pair by their first names. The receiver sincerely and touchingly welcomed them to mansion one, to their "first stop on the journey to Paradise," and to their "new lives as semi-physical beings." At that moment they were feeling more like super-beings.

Just then Kala recalled that pilgrim receivers are a type of Morontia Companion, beings who are among the first to greet resurrectees and to minister to their needs. Before they died, Saro and Kala had near encyclopedic knowledge of The Urantia Book's text. Those revealed facts were quickly falling into place. Gradually but certainly, many recollections of the pair's former lives were coalescing in their morontia minds. Their memory transcripts—brought forward by the individualized God presence who indwelled them during their time as humans—along with their humanly acquired soul values and their God-given personalities, were now integrating, completing the process of reunification, of becoming morontia beings.

After that introduction and welcoming, the receiver expressed genuine pleasure at meeting these two survivors from Urantia, whose life records she had reviewed prior to this meeting. Kala and Saro couldn't help but notice how charming and genial she was.

But who were the other shining, smiling beings gathered around them? They both felt they should know but couldn't quite place them. Should they introduce themselves? Evidently introductions were to come later.

The receiver then signaled a couple in their reception group to come forward. "Kala, do you recognize these two?" She was stunned, but then it dawned on her. Of course! How could she not know it was them? The difficulty was that everyone appeared young, radiant, unbent, and unwrinkled.

She reached out and took one parent in each arm for an affectionate embrace, then looked into their lovely morontian eyes. It was an unimaginably thrilling experience to be alive and in another and exquisitely sensitive, highly responsive body. But to instantly accept and fully integrate the fact that her once elderly, then dead, parents were also now alive in new, robust, healthy bodies would take time. It then occurred to Kala that everyone here is more sibling-like than an elder or a junior, that generational differences disappear when everyone is forever young.

Now she was once again with her dear mother and father. She had often wondered who would be there to greet her at resurrection. They exchanged words of endearment and laid plans "to catch up." Then Saro embraced them, suddenly recalling the many Urantia Book study meetings he and Kala attended at his in-laws' home. Her parents were longtime students, and she was raised knowing the book. Saro learned about it from Kala after he was grown.

Then suddenly, Kala recognized two others, her maternal grandparents, kindly relatives she truly cherished when on Urantia. She embraced them heartily, and at the same time came to a fuller realization that she must now begin relating to her parents and grandparents as equals, as ascending peers and aspiring souls, contemporaries in this heavenly estate. They congratulated the pair on survival and secured a promise for a long visit.

Kala turned to her father to ask, "Are your mother and father somewhere up here?"

"No, but they'll be along," he assured her.

"And you may recall this person." The receiver beckoned one to come forward who had been standing in the back of the group. Kala suddenly recognized her cousin Joy, for whom she had cried and grieved much when cancer took her away during late adolescence. They were more like sisters and best friends than cousins.

"Hello Kala!"

"Joy, you're here!" They hugged and danced in a small circle. What good news that she too had survived, and now they had eternity ahead, which no disease could cut short. Kala always looked up to her, and deeply admired the courage, wisdom, and faith Joy displayed during the illness and right up to her death. They conferred for a moment, planning to meet later for a "day on the town."

All of Kala's family members then circled and embraced her. She glanced at each one then kissed their cheeks. Saro was beaming at the beauty and elation of this reunion. He watched with wonder and anticipation, hoping that one of the other ones standing back and watching this resurrection scene, might be his relations or friends. He vaguely felt that he knew at least one but hesitated to speak up without certainty.

The receiver then asked, "Saro, perhaps you will recognize this person?" He peered into the being's face; then it hit him.

"Will! I thought that might be you! I'm so glad." They laughed and gave each other strong back-slapping hugs.

Will died in war when Saro was only nineteen. He was all but crushed by his brother's death. It was a difficult and soul-searching period in his life. Saro had always admired and emulated this man, his only sibling. Will was much older than Saro, and truly a good person. The two of them agreed to meet, talk, and roam, after he and Kala were settled.

Will signaled two others to come forward saying, "Saro, you remember our old bandmates and cousins?"

"Jerry, Stu!" Saro replied after a moment staring into their faces. They all laughed and hugged.

The three of them had been best of friends all their Urantian lives, and their dad was a favorite uncle of Saro. Always was it a memorable occasion when, as boys, they gathered to make music, oftentimes with Will as band leader. Both cousins had preceded Saro in death, and he missed them greatly. He couldn't have been more pleased, except he wondered why other family relations were not there to welcome him, as were Kala's. He thought to ask his cousins if their parents had survived. They informed Saro that his aunt and uncle were expected to reappear at the next millennial resurrection.

Saro hesitated to ask where his parents were. He was recalling that they showed little interest in things spiritual and his nagging concern that he might not see them again. Sensing his brother's question, Will put a hand on Saro's shoulder and said, "Mom and Dad, and all four of our grandparents, are still asleep. I have been told they will awaken in due time." He was disappointed but happy to know they would be resurrected at some point. Saro and Kala were well-versed in the teachings about resurrection that some, like them, die and are re-personalized after three days. And some become sleeping survivors who will awaken in morontia bodies at millennial or dispensational resurrections.

After the thrill of re-introduction and welcoming, the group was quiet for a brief moment reflecting on this seemingly miraculous resurrection, something that was a routine occurrence for the receiver. Then, spontaneously, the two families began socializing and fraternizing, discussing others they knew of, ones who were or were not yet resurrected. There was much mirth and good cheer during this exchange.

How satisfying it was to laugh and feel the joy of being alive again, to experience the richness and heavenly reality of everything and everyone! This went on for a while, and the receiver appeared to encourage the interaction. Obviously, it had a stabilizing and bonding effect on her newborn charges, ensuring the pair's rapid and safe introduction to their new life.

Right now, consciousness of survival was uppermost in their minds, along with an appreciation for this warm reception by their beloved family members and guardians, so charmingly facilitated by the receiver. They could sense that much thought, time, and energy had gone into planning and arranging this birthing, this new beginning for two lowly but ascending pilgrims from Urantia. All the while, the pair was becoming more aware of the swarm of activity around them, as tens of thousands of other resurrections and similar reunions unfolded in the great hall.

Next, the receiver asked for the group's attention. She pointed to the center of Resurrection Hall, telling Saro and Kala, "Let us proceed to the temple." The vast circular hall is divided into seven enormous wedge-shaped sections that very gradually slope toward the center where the temple is. Each section has thousands of individual resurrection chambers, and all are where mortals who belonged to one of the seven colored races that typify life on evolutionary worlds are resurrected. Surrounding these seven sections is an outer ring where beings of mixed heritage, ones who belonged to no one race, awaken to morontia life.

Kala and Saro were both of mixed-race inheritance on Urantia. Their mothers were longtime friends who had immigrated to the United States from Indonesia with a small group of World War II refugees. After the war, they met, dated, and married American men—newly discharged soldiers. Kala was an only child. Saro and Will had no other siblings.

The pair grew up not far from each other in a peaceful suburb of Chicago but had only passing contact until they entered the same college. It was there Kala introduced Saro to The Urantia Book, right after Will's untimely death. It gave him comfort learning about the mansion worlds and the promise of resurrection. Kala's father was led to the revelation by a friend at work who invited him to attend a Sunday afternoon "Forum" session at Drs. William and Lena Sadler's residence on Chicago's northside. This was in the 1930's and '40's, during which The Urantia Book gradually came into being through celestial contacts established with the Sadlers.

Kala's dad attended the Forum for several years before going off to World War II. After the war, he met and married Kala's mother. When he heard The Urantia Book was published in 1955, he bought a copy. He and she became lifelong students, and they were very pleased when their daughter embraced its teachings, but only after a somewhat troubled adolescence. At age nineteen, Kala entered university, settling down when she and Saro began dating.

The pair parented three children, and they were grandparents of five, with two more on the way when they so suddenly and unexpectedly departed for mansonia. They were both thinking of their children's families at this moment, anticipating the day they might all be reunited and the wonderful surprises their children and grandchildren have in store.

Their group was quite a distance from the central temple, but it looked especially beautiful, emitting a soft and appealing light. They could see a tall spire at its center, reaching into the sky, supported by seven thin beams, one extending to each section.

"Kala! Remember the Temple of New Life in The Urantia Book?" he asked after a memory flashed in his mind.

"Yes, I do now. That's it!" she exclaimed.

Their receiver said, "Newborn pilgrims invariably wish to thank the Archangels and Life Carriers who helped with their resurrection, but even more they desire to offer worshipful thanksgiving to the creator of all things and beings for making survival and endless life possible."

"I do feel that desire," said Kala.

"Are there many temples on the mansion worlds?" Saro asked.

"You shall soon see," replied the receiver.

As their group slowly moved toward the hall's center, the pair was feeling very much in the moment, drinking in one wonderful scene after another. They were having joyful thoughts, imagining living, working, playing, resting, and worshiping amid such wonders all the time, everywhere. Evidently their relatives who welcomed them had become accustomed to this wealthy environment, free of animal fear, cosmic ignorance, physical disease, and the debilities of age. They were thoroughly enjoying watching Kala and Saro's reactions to the newness and thrill of being alive in a fresh body with a new mind, and on a better world.

"This hall can facilitate a million resurrections at once, as I recall," said Saro.

"That is correct," replied the receiver. "Yours is a special resurrection, and a relatively small one. Approximately 200,000."

Now all the groups of resurrectees, along with their receivers and guardians, were moving toward the hall's center, ambling down the broad aisles between each of the seven sections. What a joyous occasion, what a glorious place! They were both thinking that the experience of this moment is worth any suffering one may have encountered in the first life as a corporeal being. Words failed them while this reality filled them to the brim with the sheer joy of the consciousness of resurrection on a mansion world.

As their group moved further down the aisle toward the temple along with the gathering flow, Kala and Saro observed the faces and forms of other newborns, comparing them to each other, to their relatives, to the Morontia Companions, and to their guardian seraphim. All the while they were delighting in the unspoken but unmistakable premise of morontia life—the idea and ideal of spiritual unanimity—everyone knowing and venerating the same God. No longer were they in a world where people are forever arguing over religious ideology, struggling for secular power, and fighting over territorial sovereignty. They sensed a fearlessness and a pervasive heavenly unity that the pair liked very much. It felt like they had come home to a place they had never been.

The closer to the Temple of New Life they came, the better they could discern its main features: bowl-shaped with a slightly elevated rim, and gigantic to Saro and Kala's wide eyes. The great hall of resurrection and its central temple are completely open to the bright sunless sky. No rain, no lightning, no earthquakes, and no tornados trouble this sphere.

The receiver pointed to a majestic sculpture at the center of the temple and said, "That is the Michael Memorial. It has Gabriel's seal, with the words: 'In commemoration of the mortal transit of Jesus of Nazareth on Urantia.'" * (See author's notes.)

Saro and Kala were once again following in the footsteps of the one they knew was in fact and in truth, Michael who incarnated as Jesus.

The pair was noticing that beautifully intricate artwork covered every surface, that well-appointed sculpture accentuated every corner and post, with which morontia plant life was tastefully integrated. Lovely vines with purplish-violet leaves, heavy with an array of colored flowers, were climbing each side of the shiny arched entrance to the Temple of New Life. They could see the temple area itself is magnificently embellished with sparkling gems, shimmering metals, and shining surfaces from its outer rim to the intervening concentric seating arrangement, to the round stage at its center and lowest point.

Kala's guardian Lea then stopped them and said, "We leave you in the receiver's experienced hands for the moment and go to officially register your resurrection and record your status as morontia survivors. We will rejoin you after your worshipful interlude."

The pair thanked them, embraced them, and took note of their quickly growing affection for them. They watched as their four guardians, and those of the other resurrectees, quickly departed the scene in the company of many others.

The receiver led them through the arch and down to their assigned seats. The chairs were divinely comfortable, with high backs and cushioned armrests. They were made from materials that seemed to embrace and comfort their morontia bodies. Sitting for the first time, Saro and Kala looked at each other and wondered silently and simultaneously what the rest of mansonia could be like, given the astonishing things they had so far witnessed.

The din of thousands chattering filled their new ears. Hearing was astonishingly clear and easily focused. Indeed, all their senses were becoming sharper. As the remainder of the resurrectees entered the temple and sought out their places, Saro and Kala sat watching, listening, and waiting. They were thoroughly enjoying the spikes and nuances of their new senses, stimulated by the sights and sounds of 200,000 fellow resurrectees during these initial moments as morontians.

It took a while for all to enter and take their seats. With their relatives and the receiver beside them, Kala and Saro sat quietly, holding hands, continuing to gaze at this fantastic scene of their fellow beings gathering in this one place to give thanks to, and engage in, the worship of the God of All Creation. These humble pilgrims are here at this time and place for a celebration of life everlasting, and to express their unspeakable gratitude for the One who made it possible. Heavenly living began that day for these two God-lovers fresh from Urantia.