© 1986 Ken Glasziou, William Wentworth, Tom Reynolds
© 1986 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
P.0.Box 606, Brighton, Victoria, AUSTRALIA, 3186.
¶ Conference 1986 Report
If there was lack of sunshine outside, there certainly was plenty of it inside. Although the conference was on Saturday and Sunday, for a lot of people who had come from interstate and from overseas, the “getting to know you” had already started on the Thursday and Friday before. Our American visitors still looked bright and cheerful when we picked them up from the airport after their eleven hour flight from Tahiti, where they had visited our good friend Emanuel Iou and his lovely wife Jeannette.
John Hales from Chicago, Berkeley Elliott and Tom Allen from Oklahoma City immediately won our hearts with their personal warmth and sincerity. Jan Francey was waiting for us with a beautiful lunch and we all thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and the delicious food.
¶ Want To Join A Study Group ?
We have good news for readers in country areas of victoria. If you would like to form a study group and need some help in organizing material and general procedures, contact Tom and Pamela Reynolds, P.0. Box 124 Huntingdale, 3166 .
They have many years of experience and have assisted others to form study groups. They would be pleased to visit your area on a regular basis ( e.g. monthly) in order to discuss the exciting teachings in The URANTIA Book.
¶ Important Notice
Please note our new address for all correspondence:
2 Salisbury Crt, Glen Waverley, Victoria, AUSTRALIA, 3150
¶ Commentary On Scientific Statements In The Urantia Book, Part III
Cosmology — The Red Shift
A train whistle from a train speeding towards us grows higher in pitch as the train approaches, and the pitch gets lower as the train moves away. Because of the train’s motion the sound waves are compressed, hence higher in pitch (frequency) as the train approaches, and decompressed (lower frequency) as the train moves away. This is called the Doppler effect. The same effect is used to account for the spectral shift of light coming from far away stars. Spectral bands are usually shifted towards longer wave lengths, that is towards the red. The so-called red shift is the basis of estimates of the age of the universe, currently said to be between 10 and 20 billion years, and also gives rise to the Big Bang theory of its origin. The Urantia Book states this is quite wrong, that the effect is due to other causes, and of course, gives a very much greater age to the grand universe.
Ken Glasziou, Clifton, Qld.
NEXT MONTH: Don’t miss Ken’s final part — The Origins of Life!
¶ Australia — A Pagan Country? A Rejoinder
by William Wentworth
I very much enjoyed the article by Dr. P. Jensen in the June issue. I can well understand his frustration with the growing secularism of Australians; and I share his view that the “new wowsers” are a secular version of the old variety, propagating feminism, environmentalism, pacifism etc. in place of Sunday observance and temperance.
I was particularly pleased to notice his clear distinction between Christianity on the one hand, and Christian morality on the other, together with his observation that sometimes morality stands in the way of Christianity.
But I believe he errs in blaming “decency” as the real problem for Christianity.
¶ Who Am I
At one pole of my being, I am at one with the physical world of reality. The other pole of my being is separate from all. I stand alone. I am “I”! I am incomparable — unique!
Man and nature cannot destroy this reality of me, this island of consciousness. Only I can destroy it with my own selfishness.
This individuality holds its own against the forces of ignorance and fear, for they try to pull us down to a sameness of mind and spirit, which is a self caused poverty of God given gifts.
If this individuality is lost, all is lost. This loss is at once not only individual, but also universal, as this unique individuality is a creation by God from the universal and is meant to become a full partner with God.
Tom Reynolds, Melbourne
¶ Broken Wings
Not everybody can lay claim to the statement that he had to fall out of the sky to find the URANTIA Book, but that’s precisely what Louis de Keizer is saying.
One day Louis was floating up in the sky, carried by gentle breezes and the big wings of his hangslider. The world looked beautiful from above and life was peaceful and happy.
But the Gods had something else in mind for Louis and he was painfully reminded that all good things come to an end. Louis and his hangslider crashed down and finished up in a twisted heap. One particular couple of bystanders were true Samaritans. They carted Louis off to the hospital, where they stitched up the big gash in his knee. With a little more dinted and bruised than just his pride, Iouis went home with the same people who offered him accommodation for the night. During the conversation that night they introduced him to “The Course of Miracles”, which in turn led him to our good friends Bridget and Christopher Bilington. This couple, who were themselves still fairly new to the URANTIA Book, were about to retire in East Gippsland. But before they did they told Louis about the book and also about the Brighton Study Group. Louis still remembers that first night when a whole new world opened up for him. That happened in May 1985 and he has been reading the URANTIA Book with great enthusiasm ever since. Congratulations Louis! You landed on target after all. You came across circles of a different kind. The seven psychic ones!
One of the first questions that URANTIA Book readers ask each other usually is: “How did you find the Book?”
Six-0-Six would like to hear from other readers just how you found the Big Blue Book.
¶ General Notice
ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHALLENGE! COME, TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE URANTIA BOOK … COME, PLAY THE ONE AND ONLY SOOPER-DOOPER “ASCENSION CAREER” BOARD GAME.
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It’s a question-answer game. Players all start here on Urantia and each question they successfully answer moves them one square at a time around the board … culminating in Finaliter status and spiritual adulthood at square 80 .
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It’s a game suitably designed for both beginners and long-time students of the U. book to have fun with. Each question has 4 answers provided to select from, so even someone who has not even read page 1 of the book can fumble their way through the game [we tried it on such a person … and he beat us at it!].
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It’s best played with from 4 to 6 players [otherwise it takes forever to have another turn] and each player is allowed one assisting advisor to back them up if they feel they can benefit more.from 2 adjusters, 4 Seraphim, 2 brains and double guesswork.
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We plan on keeping one Sunday afternoon each month available for playing from 1 to 5 pm. Dates are as follows:
| JULY 27th | AUGUST 24th | |
|---|---|---|
| SEPTEMBER 21st | OCTOBER 19th | NOVEMBER 16th |
| DECEMBER 14th | (it works out to be every 4 weeks from June 29) | |
IF YOU WANT TO GO FOR IT GIVE US A CALL AND RESERVE A PLACE. IT’LL BE HELD AT OUR HOME IN NORTH BALWYN AND YOU CAN CALL US ON THESE LINES:
MARY CRICKETT 3704437 (9-12am.)
ROB CRICKET · 6021333 (6-8pm.)
STUDY GROUPS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES: WELCOME TO OURS
¶ Remembrance Supper
On 21st August the Victorian Study Groups will celebrate the commencement of Michael’s seventh bestowal mission on Urantia, as he was born in Bethlehem.
This year we will hold a Remembrance Supper at 1622 Dandenond Rd, Oakleigh from 7-8p.m.
To help with the catering, please ring Pamela to see which dish you can bring. You can call her on 5444243 .
If you want to introduce a new friend to the URANTIA Book, then this could be a good occasion to bring one along.