The Urantia Book
PAPER 23
THE SOLITARY MESSENGERS
Presented by a Divine Counselor from Uversa.
23:0.1 SOLITARY Messengers are the personal
and universal corps of the Conjoint Creator; they are the first
and senior order of the Higher Personalities of the Infinite
Spirit. They represent the initial creative action of the
Infinite Spirit in solitary function for the purpose of bringing
into existence solitary personality spirits. Neither the Father
nor the Son directly participated in this stupendous
spiritualization.
23:0.2 These spirit messengers were
personalized in a single creative episode, and their number is
stationary. Although I have one of these extraordinary beings
associated with me on this present mission, I do not know how
many such personalities exist in the universe of universes. I
only know, from time to time, how many are of registry-record as
functioning for the time being within the jurisdiction of our
superuniverse. From the last Uversa report I observe that there
were almost 7,690 trillion Solitary Messengers then operating
within the boundaries of Orvonton; and I conjecture that this is
considerably less than one seventh of their total number.
1. NATURE AND ORIGIN OF SOLITARY MESSENGERS
23:1.1 Immediately following the creation of
the Seven Spirits of the Havona Circuits the Infinite Spirit
brought into being the vast corps of Solitary Messengers. There
is no part of the universal creation which is pre-existent to
the Solitary Messengers except Paradise and the Havona circuits;
they have functioned throughout the grand universe from near
eternity. They are fundamental to the divine technique of the
Infinite Spirit for self-revelation to, and personal contact
with, the far-flung creations of time and space.
23:1.2 Notwithstanding that these messengers
are existent from the near times of eternity, they are all aware
of a beginning of selfhood. They are conscious of time, being
the first of the creation of the Infinite Spirit to possess such
a time consciousness. They are the first-born creatures of the
Infinite Spirit to be personalized in time and spiritualized in
space.
23:1.3 These solitary spirits came forth in
the dawn of time as full-fledged and perfectly endowed spirit
beings. They are all equal, and there are no classes or
subdivisions founded on personal variation. Their
classifications are based wholly on the type of work to which
they are assigned from time to time.
23:1.4 Mortals start out as well-nigh material
beings on the worlds of space and ascend inward towards the
Great Centers; these solitary spirits start out at the center of
all things and crave assignment to the remote creations, even to
the individual worlds of the outermost local universes and even
on beyond.
23:1.5 Though denominated Solitary Messengers,
they are not lonesome spirits, for they truly like to work
alone. They are the only beings in all creation who can and do
enjoy a solitary existence, albeit they equally enjoy
association with the very few orders of universe intelligence
with whom they can fraternize.
23:1.6 Solitary Messengers are not isolated in
their service; they are constantly in touch with the wealth of
the intellect of all creation as they are capable of "listening
in" on all the broadcasts of the realms of their sojourn. They
can also intercommunicate with members of their own immediate
corps, those beings doing the same kind of work in the same
superuniverse. They could communicate with others of their
number, but they have been directed by the council of the Seven
Master Spirits not to do so, and they are a loyal group; they do
not disobey or default. There is no record that a Solitary
Messenger ever stumbled into darkness.
23:1.7 The Solitary Messengers, like the
Universe Power Directors, are among the very few types of beings
operating throughout the realms who are exempt from apprehension
or detention by the tribunals of time and space. They could be
cited to appear before no one except the Seven Master Spirits,
but not in all the annals of the master universe has this
Paradise council ever been called upon to adjudicate the case of
a Solitary Messenger.
23:1.8 These messengers of solitary assignment
are a dependable, self-reliant, versatile, thoroughly spiritual,
and broadly sympathetic group of created beings derived from the
Third Source and Center; they operate by the authority of the
Infinite Spirit resident on the central Isle of Paradise and as
personalized on the headquarters spheres of the local universes.
They are constant partakers of the direct circuit emanating from
the Infinite Spirit, even when they function in the local
creations under the immediate influence of the local universe
Mother Spirits.
23:1.9 There is a technical reason why these
Solitary Messengers must travel and work alone. For short
periods and when stationary, they can collaborate in a group,
but when thus ensembled, they are altogether cut off from the
sustenance and direction of their Paradise circuit; they are
wholly isolated. When in transit, or when operating in the
circuits of space and the currents of time, if two or more of
this order are in close proximity, both or all are thrown out of
liaison with the higher circulating forces. They are "short
circuited" as you might describe it in illustrative symbols.
Therefore they have inherent within them a power of automatic
alarm, a warning signal, which unerringly operates to apprise
them of approaching conflicts and unfailingly keeps them
sufficiently separated as not to interfere with their proper and
effective functioning. They also possess inherent and automatic
powers which detect and indicate the proximity of both the
Inspired Trinity Spirits and the divine Thought Adjusters.
23:1.10 These messengers possess no power of
personality extension or reproduction, but there is practically
no work of the universes in which they cannot engage, and to
which they cannot contribute something essential and helpful.
Especially are they the great timesavers for those who are
concerned in the administration of universe affairs; and they
assist us all, from the highest to the lowest.
2. ASSIGNMENTS OF SOLITARY MESSENGERS
23:2.1 Solitary Messengers are not permanently
attached to any individual or group of celestial personalities.
They are on duty, always by assignment, and during such service
they work under the immediate supervision of those who direct
the realms of their attachment. Among themselves they have
neither organization nor government of any kind; they are
Solitary Messengers.
23:2.2 Solitary Messengers are assigned by the
Infinite Spirit to the following seven divisions of service:
1. Messengers of the Paradise
Trinity.
2. Messengers of the Havona
Circuits.
3. Messengers of the Superuniverses.
4. Messengers of the Local
Universes.
5. Explorers of Undirected
Assignment.
6. Ambassadors and Emissaries of
Special Assignment.
7. Revelators of Truth.
23:2.3 These spirit messengers are in every
sense interchangeable from one type of service to another; such
transfers are constantly taking place. There are no separate
orders of Solitary Messengers; they are spiritually alike and in
every sense equal. While they are generally designated by
number, they are known to the Infinite Spirit by personal names.
They are known to the rest of us by the name or number
designative of their current assignment.
23:2.4 1. Messengers of the Paradise
Trinity. I am not permitted to reveal much of the work of
the group of messengers assigned to the Trinity. They are the
trusted and secret servants of the Deities, and when intrusted
with special messages which involve the unrevealed policies and
future conduct of the Gods, they have never been known to
divulge a secret or betray the confidence reposed in their
order. And all this is related in this connection, not to appear
boastful of their perfection, but rather to point out that the
Deities can and do create perfect beings.
23:2.5 The confusion and turmoil of Urantia do
not signify that the Paradise Rulers lack either interest or
ability to manage affairs differently. The Creators are
possessed of full power to make Urantia a veritable paradise,
but such an Eden would not contribute to the development of
those strong, noble, and experienced characters which the Gods
are so surely forging out on your world between the anvils of
necessity and the hammers of anguish. Your anxieties and
sorrows, your trials and disappointments, are just as much a
part of the divine plan on your sphere as are the exquisite
perfection and infinite adaptation of all things to their
supreme purpose on the worlds of the central and perfect
universe.
23:2.6 2. Messengers of the Havona Circuits.
Throughout the ascendant career you will be vaguely, but
increasingly, able to detect the presence of the Solitary
Messengers, but not until you reach Havona will you recognize
them unmistakably. The first of the messengers you will see face
to face will be those of the Havona circuits.
23:2.7 Solitary Messengers enjoy special
relations with the natives of the Havona worlds. These
messengers, who are so functionally handicapped when associating
with one another, can and do have a very close and personal
communion with the Havona natives. But it is quite impossible to
convey to human minds the supreme satisfactions consequent upon
the contact of the minds of these divinely perfect beings with
the spirits of such near-transcendent personalities.
23:2.8 3. Messengers of the Superuniverses.
The Ancients of Days, those personalities of Trinity origin who
preside over the destinies of the seven superuniverses, those
trios of divine power and administrative wisdom, are bountifully
supplied with Solitary Messengers. It is only through this order
of messengers that the triune rulers of one superuniverse can
directly and personally communicate with the rulers of another.
Solitary Messengers are the only available type of spirit
intelligence -- aside, possibly, from the Inspired Trinity
Spirits -- that can be dispatched from the headquarters of one
superuniverse directly to the headquarters of another. All other
personalities must make such excursions by way of Havona and the
executive worlds of the Master Spirits.
23:2.9 There are some kinds of information
which cannot be obtained either by Gravity Messengers,
reflectivity, or broadcast. And when the Ancients of Days would
certainly know these things, they must dispatch a Solitary
Messenger to the source of knowledge. Long before the presence
of life on Urantia the messenger now associated with me was
assigned on a mission out of Uversa to the central universe --
was absent from the roll calls of Orvonton for almost a million
years but returned in due time with the desired information.
23:2.10 There is no limitation upon the
service of Solitary Messengers in the superuniverses; they may
function as executioners of the high tribunals or as
intelligence gatherers for the good of the realm. Of all the
supercreations they most delight to serve in Orvonton because
here the need is greatest and the opportunities for heroic
effort are greatly multiplied. In the more needy realms we all
enjoy the satisfaction of a more replete function.
23:2.11 4. Messengers of the Local
Universes. In the services of a local universe there is no
limit upon the functioning of the Solitary Messengers. They are
the faithful revealers of the motives and intent of the local
universe Mother Spirit, although they are under the full
jurisdiction of the reigning Master Son. And this is true of all
messengers operating in a local universe, whether they are
traveling out directly from universe headquarters, or whether
they are acting temporarily in liaison with Constellation
Fathers, System Sovereigns, or Planetary Princes. Before the
concentration of all power in the hands of a Creator Son at the
time of his elevation as sovereign ruler of his universe, these
messengers of the local universes function under the general
direction of the Ancients of Days and are immediately
responsible to their resident representative, the Union of Days.
23:2.12 5. Explorers of Undirected
Assignment. When the reserve corps of the Solitary
Messengers is overrecruited, there issues from one of the Seven
Supreme Power Directors a call for exploration volunteers; and
there is never a lack of volunteers, for they delight to be
dispatched as free and untrammeled explorers, to experience the
thrill of finding the organizing nucleuses of new worlds and
universes.
23:2.13 They go forth to investigate the clues
furnished by the space contemplators of the realms. Undoubtedly
the Paradise Deities know of the existence of these undiscovered
energy systems of space, but they never divulge such
information. If the Solitary Messengers did not explore and
chart these newly organizing energy centers, such phenomena
would long remain unnoticed even by the intelligences of
adjacent realms. Solitary Messengers, as a class, are highly
sensitive to gravity; accordingly they can sometimes detect the
probable presence of very small dark planets, the very worlds
which are best adapted to life experiments.
23:2.14 These messenger-explorers of
undirected assignment patrol the master universe. They are
constantly out on exploring expeditions to the uncharted regions
of all outer space. Very much of the information which we
possess of transactions in the realms of outer space, we owe to
the explorations of the Solitary Messengers as they often work
and study with the celestial astronomers.
23:2.15 6. Ambassadors and Emissaries of
Special Assignment. Local universes situated within the same
superuniverse customarily exchange ambassadors selected from
their native orders of sonship. But to avoid delay, Solitary
Messengers are frequently asked to go as ambassadors from one
local creation to another, to represent and interpret one realm
to another. For example: When a newly inhabited realm is
discovered, it may prove to be so remote in space that a long
time will pass before an enseraphimed ambassador can reach this
far-distant universe. An enseraphimed being cannot possibly
exceed the velocity of 558,840 Urantia miles in one second of
your time. Massive stars, crosscurrents, and detours, as well as
attraction tangents, will all tend to retard such speed so that
on a long journey the velocity will average about 550,000 miles
per second.
23:2.16 When it develops that it will require
hundreds of years for a native ambassador to reach a far-distant
local universe, a Solitary Messenger is often asked to proceed
there immediately to act as ambassador ad interim. Solitary
Messengers can go in very short order, not independently of time
and space as do the Gravity Messengers, but nearly so. They also
serve in other circumstances as emissaries of special
assignment.
23:2.17 7. Revelators of Truth. The
Solitary Messengers regard the assignment to reveal truth as the
highest trust of their order. And they function ever and anon in
this capacity, from the superuniverses to the individual planets
of space. They are frequently attached to commissions which are
sent to enlarge the revelation of truth to the worlds and
systems.
3. TIME AND SPACE SERVICES OF SOLITARY
MESSENGERS
23:3.1 The Solitary Messengers are the highest
type of perfect and confidential personality available in all
realms for the quick transmission of important and urgent
messages when it is inexpedient to utilize either the broadcast
service or the reflectivity mechanism. They serve in an endless
variety of assignments, helping out the spiritual and material
beings of the realms, particularly where the element of time is
involved. Of all orders assigned to the services of the
superuniverse domains, they are the highest and most versatile
personalized beings who can come so near to defying time and
space.
23:3.2 The universe is well supplied with
spirits who utilize gravity for purposes of transit; they can go
anywhere any time -- instanter -- but they are not persons.
Certain other gravity traversers are personal beings, such as
Gravity Messengers and Transcendental Recorders, but they are
not available to the super- and the local universe
administrators. The worlds teem with angels and men and other
highly personal beings, but they are handicapped by time and
space: The limit of velocity for most nonenseraphimed beings is
186,280 miles of your world per second of your time; the midway
creatures and certain others can, often do, attain double
velocity -- 372,560 miles per second -- while the seraphim and
others can traverse space at triple velocity, about 558,840
miles per second. There are, however, no transit or messenger
personalities who function between the instantaneous velocities
of the gravity traversers and the comparatively slow speeds of
the seraphim, except the Solitary Messengers.
23:3.3 Solitary Messengers are, therefore,
generally used for dispatch and service in those situations
where personality is essential to the achievement of the
assignment, and where it is desired to avoid the loss of time
which would be occasioned by the sending of any other readily
available type of personal messenger. They are the only
definitely personalized beings who can synchronize with the
combined universal currents of the grand universe. Their
velocity in traversing space is variable, depending on a great
variety of interfering influences, but the record shows that on
the journey to fulfill this mission my associate messenger
proceeded at the rate of 841,621,642,000 of your miles per
second of your time.
23:3.4 It is wholly beyond my ability to
explain to the material type of mind how a spirit can be a real
person and at the same time traverse space at such tremendous
velocities. But these very Solitary Messengers actually come to,
and go from, Urantia at these incomprehensible speeds; indeed,
the whole economy of universal administration would be largely
deprived of its personal element were this not a fact.
23:3.5 The Solitary Messengers are able to
function as emergency lines of communication throughout remote
space regions, realms not embraced within the established
circuits of the grand universe. It develops that one messenger,
when so functioning, can transmit a message or send an impulse
through space to a fellow messenger about one hundred
light-years away as Urantia astronomers estimate stellar
distances.
23:3.6 Of the myriads of beings who co-operate
with us in the conduct of the affairs of the superuniverse, none
are more important in practical helpfulness and timesaving
assistance. In the universes of space we must reckon with the
handicaps of time; hence the great service of the Solitary
Messengers, who, by means of their personal prerogatives of
communication, are somewhat independent of space and, by virtue
of their tremendous transit velocities, are so nearly
independent of time.
23:3.7 I am at a loss to explain to Urantia
mortals how the Solitary Messengers can be without form and yet
possess real and definite personalities. Although they are
without that form which would naturally be associated with
personality, they do possess a spirit presence which is
discernible by all higher types of spirit beings. The Solitary
Messengers are the only class of beings who seem to be possessed
of well-nigh all the advantages of a formless spirit coupled
with all the prerogatives of a full-fledged personality. They
are true persons, yet endowed with nearly all of the attributes
of impersonal spirit manifestation.
23:3.8 In the seven superuniverses, ordinarily
-- but not always -- everything which tends to increase any
creature's liberation from the handicaps of time and space
proportionately diminishes personality prerogatives. Solitary
Messengers are an exception to this general law. They are in
their activities all but unrestricted in the utilization of any
and all of the limitless avenues of spiritual expression, divine
service, personal ministry, and cosmic communication. If you
could view these extraordinary beings in the light of my
experience in universe administration, you would comprehend how
difficult it would be to co-ordinate superuniverse affairs were
it not for their versatile co-operation.
23:3.9 No matter how much the universe may
enlarge, no more Solitary Messengers will probably ever be
created. As the universes grow, the expanded work of
administration must be increasingly borne by other types of
spirit ministers and by those beings who take origin in these
new creations, such as the creatures of the Sovereign Sons and
the local universe Mother Spirits.
4. SPECIAL MINISTRY OF SOLITARY MESSENGERS
23:4.1 The Solitary Messengers seem to be
personality co-ordinators for all types of spirit beings. Their
ministry helps to make all the personalities of the far-flung
spiritual world akin. They contribute much to the development,
in all spirit beings, of a consciousness of group identity.
Every type of spirit being is served by special groups of
Solitary Messengers who foster the ability of such beings to
understand and fraternize with all other types and orders,
however dissimilar.
23:4.2 The Solitary Messengers demonstrate
such an amazing ability to co-ordinate all types and orders of
finite personality -- even to make contact with the absonite
regime of the master universe overcontrollers -- that some of us
postulate that the creation of these messengers by the Infinite
Spirit is in some manner related to the Conjoint Actor's
bestowal of Supreme-Ultimate Mind.
23:4.3 When a finaliter and a Paradise Citizen
co-operate in the trinitization of a "child of time and
eternity" -- a transaction involving the unrevealed mind
potentials of the Supreme-Ultimate -- and when such an
unclassified personality is dispatched to Vicegerington, a
Solitary Messenger (a conjectured personality repercussion of
the bestowal of such deity mind) is always assigned as
guardian-companion to such a creature-trinitized son. This
messenger accompanies the new son of destiny to the world of his
assignment and nevermore leaves Vicegerington. When thus
attached to the destinies of a child of time and eternity, a
Solitary Messenger is forever transferred to the sole
supervision of the Architects of the Master Universe. What the
future of such an extraordinary association may be, we do not
know. For ages these partnerships of unique personalities have
continued to forgather on Vicegerington, but not even a single
pair has ever gone forth therefrom.
23:4.4 Solitary Messengers are of stationary
numbers, but the trinitization of the sons of destiny is
apparently an unlimited technique. Since each trinitized son of
destiny has assigned to him a Solitary Messenger, it appears to
us that at some time in the remote future the supply of
messengers will become exhausted. Who will take up their work in
the grand universe? Will their service be assumed by some new
development among the Inspired Trinity Spirits? Is the grand
universe at some remote period going to be more nearly
administered by Trinity-origin beings while the single- and
dual-origin creatures move on into the realms of outer space? If
the messengers return to their former service, will these sons
of destiny accompany them? Will the trinitizations between
finaliters and Paradise-Havoners cease when the supply of
Solitary Messengers has been absorbed as guardian-companions of
these sons of destiny? Are all our efficient Solitary Messengers
going to be concentrated on Vicegerington? Are these
extraordinary spirit personalities going to be eternally
associated with these trinitized sons of unrevealed destiny?
What significance should we attach to the fact that these
couples forgathering on Vicegerington are under the exclusive
direction of those mighty mystery beings, the Architects of the
Master Universe? These and many similar questions we ask
ourselves, and ask numerous other orders of celestial beings,
but we do not know the answers.
23:4.5 This transaction, together with many
similar occurrences in universe administration, unmistakably
indicates that the personnel of the grand universe, even that of
Havona and Paradise, is undergoing a definite and certain
reorganization in co-ordination with, and with reference to, the
vast energy evolutions now taking place throughout the realms of
outer space.
23:4.6 We incline to the belief that the
eternal future will witness phenomena of universe evolution
which will far transcend all that the eternal past has
experienced. And we anticipate such tremendous adventures, even
as you should, with keen relish and ever-heightening
expectation.
23:4.7
Presented by a Divine Counselor from Uversa.
