© 2024 Francine Fortin
© 2024 Urantia Association of Quebec
Francine Fortin
Quebec
Come with me, I’ll take you to the 12th International Congress 2024 of the International Urantia Association “Nature and Nurture of the soul” “The nature and the culture of the soul” which took place from Friday March 29 to Sunday March 31, 2024 at the Maritime Conference Center, in the city of Baltimore in the United States.
A superb, comfortably furnished center, with indoor swimming pool, equipped with 232 rooms, 55 meeting rooms and an auditorium that can accommodate more than 350 people.
The name Maritime, referring to everything related to the navy, has inspired more than one reader to the following quote from The Urantia Book:
“Mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is captain. The master of the mortal vessel should have the wisdom to trust the divine pilot to guide the ascending soul into the morontia harbors of eternal survival.” (UB 111:1.9)
The two days were filled with a very well orchestrated program.
I liked the format adopted. In the auditorium, there were 4 presentations per day with a maximum duration of 20 minutes, so no time to fall asleep. A link was offered for simultaneous translations in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
At the end of the presentations, people went to discuss them in small groups (maximum of 15 people) in a room that they had designated during their recordings. The discussions and sharing, led by a facilitator, lasted approximately 40 minutes.
This was my second international conference that I attended, the first took place in 2015 in Sherbrooke.
There were more than 180 of us from 29 countries and as it was school break, there were 15 children/teenagers who benefited from a wonderful vacation well organized by readers.
I was very privileged to be able to travel to and attend this wonderful conference thanks to my two generous benefactors, Joyce and David Anderson, who covered all my expenses.
What I experienced there is difficult to describe if you have never had the experience of being surrounded by wonderful, beautiful and good people, with whom every conversation was simply enriching and meaningful.
I will still try to give you the desire to attend this kind of event by sharing with you the memories embedded in my mind.
Arriving a day early, I had offered to help where I could. What happiness I felt to work as a team with all these wonderful people who had the firm intention and a common goal: that the conference be a real success and eloquent for all the participants.
My most emotional moments occurred on Thursday, the day before the Conference, while I was working the reception desk and handling registration.
When people arrived and recognized me, unaware that I would be there, they literally threw themselves on me to hug me. It must be said that I have developed within the Association, through my active participation, a lot of virtual friendships, each as precious as the next.
It was then that I realized and became aware of how much I was loved by so many people. Just thinking about it brings tears of gratitude to my eyes.
Another memory that I will call a Divine synchronicity thus occurred.
Every time we returned to the auditorium, a reader from a different country would come and say a prayer in their native language.
So, on the first day, Friday March 29, before the first presentation, Mamadou Doudou Diagne, my Progressive Divine Wisdom educator, was called to pray in his Senegalese language, Wolof.
That same morning, having consulted my diary, I had noted that 6 years earlier, on March 29, 2019, Moussa Ndiaye had left us. The coincidence comes from the fact that Doudou was Moussa’s first student and he had spent more than 50 years with him. Now, Doudou continues to teach Moussa’s work on the SDP, for me and for many students around the world. Doudou was accompanied by another educator and student of Moussa: Amsata Fall. I was very moved to meet them both in person.
I was pleased to see my Canadian friends Line St-Pierre, Gaétan Charland, Robert Cadieux again who were driven by Alain Cyr. A trip lasting approximately 12 hours by car.
Throughout the conference, on the giant screen in the auditorium, images of our magnificent planet Urantia and some videos from talented readers scrolled.
Here is one of my favorite works created by Dipti Bhakti, a young reader who impressed me a lot: “The Light of the Universe”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX-eh5jHgrs
The buffet meals were delicious and varied for all tastes. Our evenings were pleasantly enriched by these 2 talented artists of international renown: Rebecca Oswald, who has become my new friend and spiritual sister, and Bob Solone who played a special request from Robert Cadieux “Smile”. I knew this song, but I didn’t know it was by Charlie Chaplin.
All these overflows of love, these communions of souls, emerging from the virtual to be expressed in reality, will remain anchored in my heart throughout my life.
Cut off from the outside world, we lived in a huge ball of Divine Love. I liked to make people aware that we were probably living a foretaste of life on the mansion world.
Back home, I can only feel gratitude towards these new and magnificent flowers which embellish my garden of friendships and towards my spiritual family which has been renewed and expanded.
I returned with a heart at peace and a refreshed soul, anchored by the love experienced in the serenity and fraternity of this 2024 Congress of the International Urantia Association.
I hope I have given you the desire to participate in the next UAI congress which will take place in 2027 in Brazil.