© 1993 William Wentworth, Allan Lane, Pam and David Bradford, Ken Glasziou
© 1993 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
2 Salisbury Crt, Glen Waverley, Victoria, AUSTRALIA, 3150.
¶ In This Issue…
SIX-0-SIX
PO BOX 616, Sunnybank, Queensland, AUSTRALLA 4109
Six-O-Six is a bi-monthly publication dedicated to the promotion of International goodwill and understanding among readers of The URANTIA Book.
- So They say
- Letters to the Editor
- News Around the World
- Articles
- More on Channelling
- Variety The Dice of Life
- The Book — Study and Discussion
- The Women’s Corps
- Forum
- Can Calligastia Really Get at Our Minds?
- Divine Antidotes
- Quotable Quotes
- Crosswords
- On Reflection
- 1992, The Year That was
- From ‘The French’ by Theodore Zeldin
- When All is Said and Done
¶ Editor’s Notebook
Gallup research (1985,1987,1989) in the US demonstrates patterns in public opinion about religion.
- increasing interest despite a growth in ‘unchurched’ Americans
- a greater religious pluralism
- movement toward more conservative, fundamentalist churches
- a move out of organized religions
These opinions then penetrate attitudes on moral authority, the separation of church and state, and media reporting of religious issues. Can a new ‘conscience’ of independent thinking be identified? Signs of unpatriotic individualism? People are proactively taking charge of religious proclivities in their lives.
Professional advocates to government and public affairs are having difficulty in selling news of their religious organizations. Instead, demand is for news on moralizing rhetoric, policy position, and political influence.
In such a climate, proactive strategy building by religious groups becomes hazardous. In the 102nd Congress, for example, religious freedom was a key issue, and often caused coalitions to be formed or broken.
Nonetheless, there is the need for UB officials to move to a proactive posture.
Yet any number of determinants seem likely to preclude any such eventuality. Poor reader opinion climate, no Foundation research on readership, its media bias, lack of strategic alliances, and poor communication, are likely to ensure it. A proactive approach could include considerations such as:
- a publicised multiple-issue agenda, one to stir up enthusiasm and interest. A vision for the 90’s.
- avoid reacting from a secular role, and get ahead of the existing trend curve, through a strategic analysis which will include issues management over the next 5 to 10 years.
- encouragement of field workers. They organize, they publish, they research, they spend, indifferent to the non-existence of official support. They direct resources to worthwhile projects, organizations, and even individuals.
- tap into the infrastructure of existing church organizations. It is cost effective, highly persuasive, and the laity have already done the groundwork.
- left largely to circumstance, a long-term media strategy is doomed. A free-for-all of comments, devoured by sensationalist media, will outweigh an uncoordinated official line of planetary revelation. I fear the embarrassed explanation after the fact, and an irretrievable public perception.
It is worth noting that the Catholic Church, governed traditionally by its hierarchy with its ‘top-down’ information flow has no organizational mechanism built in for receiving information from its own constituents.
The Church has been advised to explain to its own membership, its stakeholders, why it takes the stands it does. This paradigm is a grass roots lobbying technique.
Such public persuasion is essential as the media alone, through opinion and events reporting, is not sufficient to generate religious commitment. People change their religious opinions (Gallup again) over the course of a lifetime according to their life stages and in response to personal circumstance. Again there is little patriotism.
And patriotism, especially religious patriotism, will be the last refuge of a static organization, one of which is out of adaptive creativity, out of energy, and out of touch.
Many religious movements, it would seem, on the path to patriotism, are in the stage of presumed loyalty.
¶ So They Say
Terry Lane (broadcaster and writer)
If I ran all of my correspondence together I could prove to anyone’s satisfaction that I am a MarxistLeninist Friedmanite sexist racist pacifist war-mongering Bible-believing atheistic anarchist fascist consumerist Luddite. Is this being all things to all men?
Thoreau — ‘On Civil Disobodience’
There will never be a really free and enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.
R. Brasch — ‘Strange Customs’
The circle’s very shape increased its antidemonic potency. Having neither beginning nor ending, it stood for eternity — infinity. It symbolized perfection and constant renewal.It meant ultimate oneness in which there was no room for another power. No wonder earlier cultures…used it as a magic shield against all hostile and dangerous agencies.
Ola Raknes — ‘Life And Religion’
In all cultures and in all religions the characteristics of sacredness have been laid down with the same certainty as erroneous theories. The certainty is just as strong in the case of theories which are later shown to be false, as it is for those which may be confirmed by research. To ask if a religion such as Christianity is true, is only meaningless, and gives evidence simply of unclear thought processes.
M.R. Sharaf, Ph.D., Boston, 1970
Wilhelm Reich’s own answer to changing individual structures was an increasing awareness on organic, slow, individual and social development. People who knew what they were doing should quietly work and set an example so that life positive concepts and techniques would influence others. Let work itself and the interconnections between workers dictate development. Eliminate the agitations in political ideological forms.
Six-O-Six is published sir times a year, and editorial contributions are welcomed. Subscription rates: Australia - $ 10 per year. Other countries - US $17 per year The material contained in this publication is of general comment only, and not advice on any particular matter. The publisher, authors and editors expressly disclaim all liability in respect of this information and of the consequences of any actions resulting therefrom. Interpretations and opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of Six-O-Sir or Urantia Foundation. All quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are front The URANTIA Book © 1955 and used by permission. This publication is copyright with the exception of fair dealings under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without and permission from the publisher.
¶ Letters To The Editor
¶ Conference Photos
by Terry Hovaghimian, Sydney
I’m sending you some photos from the 1992 URANTIA Book Conference. I will endeavour to compile the whole collection of photos of all conferences I have attended, so they can be seen by all at the next conference.
The photos are great, and represent treasured memories of great friendships. Details of the 1993 Conference to be announced in the next issue of Six-O-Six. Ed.
¶ The Media And The ‘Good News’
by David Cook, Jan Juc, Victoria
In olden days news was delivered by a town crier and by word of mouth. A street speaker was listened to as a matter of course. So was it that the immediate evangelists and apostles of Jesus proclaimed the glad tidings God had given them. These days, people are eager to turn the telly on at and to read the daily newspaper.
¶ Help Required!
Urantla Book Reader, Pacific Region
The book is kind of hard to read if you have nobody to help you in the beginning and I don’t like my friends to be discouraged as soon as they start reading.
Also if I can introduce them to some other readers too, that is nice.
¶ Involvement Required!
T. Mulhall, Melboume
I would like to see more well-researched, comprehensive and involved articles. I feel the book deserves our serious attention. More on-going feedback from readers and writers would also be stimulating.
¶ News Around The World
¶ Archaeological Find
A magnificent palace built by Herod the Great, infamous for killing the children of Bethlehem, has been found on the coast of Israel.
It has been discovered at Caesarea, the ancient capital of the Roman province of Judaea, now an Israeli national park.
Archaeologists from the US and Israel uncovered a luxurious mosaic-covered dining room, and the remains of a swimming pool.
While Herod’s great naval port of Caesarea has been long known, no one until now knew he had built a palace there.
¶ FEF International Fellowship Committee, Moscow Visit
John Lange, Chairman of the International Fellowship Committee, and Lila Dogim presented The URANTIA Book to a spiritual congress in Moscow in October of last year.'The presentation was well received.
John also reported that they held a small study group and returned home with requests for 25 books. “We feel encouraged about the potential impact these contacts will have.”
¶ Dinosaur Missing Link
Palaeontologists announced the discovery of the most primitive dinosaur fossil yet, thought to be the ‘common ancestor’ of all dinosaurs. Dubbed ‘eoraptor’, the dogsized dinosaur walked on two legs, had curved teeth and roamed the earth about 225 million years ago. Its skeleton was found in the fossil-rich Ischigualasto Valley of Argentina by American and Argentinean scientists.
¶ Spiritual Psychology
Dr. Meredith J. Sprunger, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Psychology originated in the study of the more troubled aspects of the human mind. Humanistic psychology made a significant leap forward in attempting to study healthy minds and what makes them healthy. Dr. Sprunger has taken the third major step, bringing the study of the human mind fully within the realm of spiritual reality.
Dr. Sprunger’s new book, ‘Spiritual Psychology’ attempts to unify two great fields of human thought and experience — psychology and religion. It sets forth a series of basic principles for the study of the mind within the great, dynamic spiritual setting in which it functions.
The book may be ordered from:
Jemenon Inc.
PO Box 725 Wilmette, Il 60091, USA
Cost is $US16 plus $3 postage and handling.
¶ Anzura Bulletin Reports
South Pacific Conference II
The seeds have been planted for the idea of a second South Pacific conference to be held in New Zealand and hosted by New Zealand Anzura members. It is likely this will occur in 1995 or 1996 so start thinking about making plans for holidays etc. We hope to be able to announce more specifics in 1993.
New Zealand Library Placement Scheme
Marion Steward has prepared a list of libraries in New Zealand to be targeted for library donations of The URANTIA Book. There are over 100 libraries to be approached. A proposal will be sent to URANTIA Foundation before the end of the year asking for this number of books to be sent to Marion. Providing this request is granted, Marion will then coordinate the donation of these books to libraries.
¶ Articles
¶ More on Channelling
William Wentworth, Towamba, NSW
In writing to support the editor’s comments in the July/August edition, I wish to make a couple of points which I don’t think have been adequately covered so far.
In the first place, most of us accept the notion that truth can be assessed only by its content. Lacking, as we do, any known authority to discriminate between truth and falsehood for us, we can only determine the matter by our own lights, according to what makes sense to us, by what appeals to our highest ideals and activates our purest motives. Those of us who believe The URANTIA Book to be in fact the revelation it claims to be, and not some clever fraud, have adopted this attitude because the contents of the book have convinced us that it is what it says it is. As far as I know, this is the only way we can validate any revelation, by the inner conviction that what is revealed is truth, and not falsehood. For those of us to whom it makes sense, The URANTIA Book is its own validation. No outside authority exists to validate it for us.
In the same way, truth, from whatever source, can be assessed and validated only by whether or not it appeals to our highest lights. If it does so appeal then we can accept it; if it does not, we reject it. The whole question of where it comes from is of no consequence, just as it is of no consequence in our acceptance of the teachings of The URANTIA Book.
¶ Variety — The Dice Of Life
Allan Lane, Perth
While reading a series of articles recently by Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, a brilliant researcher, whose work in the field of biology and in particular evolution, displays an exhilarating open-mindedness, and one by Colin Wilson in the same book, I began to contemplate the challenging ideas presented regarding the existence of such an astounding diversity of life forms on earth: it is estimated that there are currently millions of different species sharing the planet with us, and that there have been hundreds of millions of different species since life appeared here.
Why, I found myself asking more than ever before, such breathtaking variety? Our planet is home to at least 300,000 species of beetles, at least 20,000 species of wild orchids, about 200,000 different kinds of moths and butterflies, hundreds and hundreds each of wattles and eucalypts, and who knows how many spiders!
I will try in this article to stick mainly to this issue of diversity while examining the theories for its explanation as presented by established science and The URANTIA Book. In later articles I would like to investigate the thorny topic of the inheritance of instinct and form.
¶ The Book Study And Discussion
¶ The Women’s Corps
Pam and David Bradford, Eden, NSW
The URANTIA Book tells us (UB 84:5.9) that in an enlightened developing society women are equal to men and are afforded equal rights and hold positions in society hand in hand with men. We are also told that although equality is important, it must not be mistaken for meaning that men and women think the same or are capable of exactly the same feats of achievement. Women have intuition, men have logic. Thus we are told (and the reader should be aware) that men and women enhance one another’s existence through mortal and spiritual existence.
At the time of Jesus’ mortal presence on Urantia, women held a lower place in society, not being considered worthy of holding positions of civic, political, or religious power. Therefore when Jesus appointed ten women as the original Women’s Corps many eyebrows were raised by his male disciples, and no doubt there were some malevolent feelings from church and political leaders of the time.
¶ The Forum
¶ Can Caligastia Really Get At Our Minds?
Ken Glasziou, Maleny, Queensland
Firstly, let me state unequivocally that I don’t know. Until recently my reaction to this question has been, “No, not likely”. After all, The URANTIA Book tells us that since the cross of Christ, Caligastia has been comparatively impotent (UB 53:8.9). Besides that we are assured of survival providing we do not deliberately and knowingly reject it, and even then we have to agree to our own annihilation. Then we have another statement that says:
“The only means of communion with the spiritual world is embraced in the spirit endowment of mankind, the indwelling Spirit of the Father, together with the outpoured spirit of the Son and the omnipresent influence of the Infinite Spirit.” (UB 150:3.7)
That word ‘only’ is tremendously important. It implies that if Caligastia, who presumably is a spirit, wants to get at us, it must be indirectly through our indwelling Spirit endowment — in reality, our first line of defence against him.
¶ Divine Antidotes
Remember me? We met at Snowmass.
Can’t remember your name, but your faith is familiar.
The price of the UB is going up.
Only the paper it’s printed on remains stationery.
With so many UB-isms, it’s getting difficult to tell the good guise from the bad.
What did the UB say to Big Ben?
If you’ve got the time, I’ve got the information.
I hear a few people in Africa are reading the book.
Yeah. Safari, so good.
Where do midwayers leave their space ships?
At parking meteors.
What did the Life Carriers say when they landed on 606? This is no accident. We planet this way! (Really down to earth characters.)
If Sadler had written it, wouldn’t he have suffered from authoritis?
¶ Crosswords
by Audrey Morris, Tewantin, Queensland
Across
3. Sea polyps 8. Large evergreen tree 10. Terns 12. Killed 13. Small bird of prey 15. Spirited 18. Openings 19A. Amphibious mammal 21. Dorado (sea) 22. Large cat 23. Centre 24. Local universe 26. Quiver 31. We belong to him 32. Mean value 34. Uncanny feeling 35. Fuss 36 . Crown of … 37. Proverb 38. Value
Down
1. Wild 2. American mammal 4. Night birds 6. Bellows 7. Woolly animal 12. Fish 14 . Bearing 16. Town in Palestine/Jesus’ time 17. White flowered tree 19. Double shell 20. American animal (South) 21. Peace birds 23. Mate 24. Names 25. Deer 27. Just 30. Eager 32. Officer 33. Girl’s name 34. System of time
Solution To Previous Crossword
Across: 3. Ennobling 8. Among 9. Dan 11. Except 12. Secret 15. Tare 18. Immanuel 19. Progress 20. Cato 24. Engedi 27. Levant 28. Oat 30. Flair 31. Lutentia
Down: 1. Safest 2, Concur 3. Egypt 4. Nod 5. Bone 6. Iter 7. Gift 10. Asem 13. Cynic 14. Exert 16. Aaron 17. Eagle 18. Iberia 21. Agaman 22. Otters 28. Reef 24. Ebal 25. Goat 26. Down 29. Tai
¶ On Reflection
¶ 1992, The Year that was…
- A: Founding of ANZURA, our emergence in the Antipodes.
- B: books now distributed in Australia.
- C: Conferences in OZ consistently continued.
- D: discounts discontinued.
- E: Excellent work, Matthew Block.
- F: Foundation trustees played musical chairs. We hope they aren’t deck chairs.
- G: gratuitous gullible groups gather to disregard the UB.
- H: Hooray for the meek.
- I: Investigative journalism is watching you.
- J: So is Jesus.
- K: Kindness in another’s trouble. Courage in your own.
- L: Legal loopholes, litigation and losses.
- M: Milestones. Maybe the Midwayers managed a major. Did we?
- N: No.
- O: We need brilliant organization.
- P: We need brilliant planning.
- Q: Qualtum not quantum theory.
- R: Readers required. Apply within.
- S: What else but Six-O-Six, from strength to strength.
- T: Why do translations take interminable time?
- U: UB Association — ungainly, unforgiving.
- V: Voices will surely tell us…
- W: …Whither we are going in '93, whereof we shall speak!
- X: X-ploitation — beware of imitations, especially brand X.
- Y: Yawning…Yawning…
- Z: zzzzzz… Wake me up if anything interesting happens… second coming or equivalent only…
¶ From “The French”
by Theodore Zeldin (Collins Harvill).
“I no longer agree with what I taught twenty years ago”, says the Benedictine monk Father Luc, “and indeed I would be ashamed to repeat what I said twenty years ago”.
The Catholic Church in France is no longer what it was. It is not just that Father Luc does not look like a monk, in his rather smart, casual civilian clothes, with no dog collar, no tie, only an inconspicuous small cross attached to a chain around his neck.
More important is that he no longer has the same status or functions that a priest used to have. His job, he says, is no longer “to sell religious merchandise.” He seldom holds services or preaches. He does not even teach religion to children any more, since that has been taken over by professional lay teachers.
He lives a communal life with four or five other monks, but he has become a parish priest, because he found the monastic life not enough by itself. He has spent all his twenty years in the same working-class suburb with a communist municipality, and he has seen his congregation fall by about half in that time: “a quarter left us because we moved too fast and a quarter because we did not move fast enough”.
He does not try to be a missionary among the unfaithful. Fewer than five people a week come to him seeking the traditional confession. Religion has ceased to mean primarily taking the sacraments or attending church. Instead, Father Luc spends most of his time helping people to reflect on their faith.
He helps to form little groups, by district, or just a few friends, who meet with priests to discuss the way they live, and the way they experience their faith. He takes part in the discussion with no superior authority: “we are converted as well as they”; he has been as much influenced by the changing attitudes of the laity as they have by him.
¶ When all is said and done.
“And it will not be by the words you speak but by the lives you live that men will know that you have been with me and have learned of the realities of the kingdom.” (UB 140:1.7)