© 2014 Chris Wood, James Perry, MD, Abegunde Julius Taiwo, James Woodward, Marta and Dave Elders, Line St. Pierre
© 2014 International Urantia Association (IUA)
Welcome to this first edition of Tidings in an online format. While this format has been simplified for ease of online reading, you can still view it in a PDF format if you click here. (Choose issue No. 69)
¶ In This Issue
Chris Wood – President’s Message
James Perry, MD – Virginia-Carolina Readers 12th Annual Conference
Editor – Good Tidings Conference and Meeting Announcements
Editor – 2015 Easter Spirit Renewal and Sacred Art Retreat
Editor – Portland Urantia Study Group
Abegunde Julius Taiwo – Urantia Book Readers in Nigeria
James Woodward – Young Reader Study Group in Boulder
Marta and Dave Elders – Teaching and Facilitating in the UBIS
Editor – Mini-Study Guide
Line St. Pierre – International Conference 2015 Update
¶ President’s December 2014 Message
Chris Wood
There is excitement in the air! There is no definitive way to measure excitement, to say that there is more excitement than last week or last month or last year – excitement is an experiential reality. But this buzz in the air about the Association and the projects we are accomplishing together has manifested in two ways: first, people are talking! In their recent letter to their entire mailing list, the Urantia Foundation chose to highlight two of the Association’s national projects. In Colombia the Association has been importing books and selling them to individuals and bookstores hoping to reduce the cost of El Libro de Urantia in their country. In Ukraine, the National Association has taken a similar step, and together with the International Association we have embarked on a plan to pierce the tough wall of the Ukrainian bookstore market. The success of the National Associations in Colombia and Ukraine will serve as models for other nations to follow paths to make the teaching of The Urantia Book more available and more affordable than ever before. The story of these Associations is so inspiring that the entire Urantia Community wants to spread the word and sing their praises!
¶ Virginia Carolina Readers’ 12th Annual Conference
James Perry MD
We have assembled here for the 12th Annual Virginia Carolina Readers Mini Conference. We are a small group, and the question naturally arises about why we do this. Why spend so much of our time relatively speaking on one endeavor. We have been studying these intriguing revelations for years, and on face value, it would appear that we have not made much progress in bringing these revelations to the world. But I would ask you to consider these thoughts as you ponder in your mind whether or not it is worth the effort.
¶ Good Tidings Conference Announcements
¶ Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Local Universe
March 20-22, 2015
Briarwood Retreat Center
Argyle, TX
For more information, email urantia.randall@yahoo.com
¶ Easter Spirit Renewal and Sacred Heart Retreat
March 27-30, 2015
Los Gatos, CA
¶ 2015 Urantia Association International Conference—Quebec (CANADA)
July 30–August 2, 2015
Bishops University in Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada.
The conference theme is, “Progressing from Human to Divine—Revealing Ourselves to God.” To learn more about the conference site, visit http://www.ubishops.ca
¶ 2015 ANZURA Annual Conference for Readers of The Urantia Book
October 9-12, 2015
Sydney Academy of Sport & Recreation
Narrabeen, NSW, Australia. For more information, email anzura@urantia-anzura.org
¶ 2015 Easter Spirit Renewal and Sacred Art Retreat
The United Urantia Family & Urantia Sacred Arts
Are you looking for ways to deepen the experience of your relationship to God and spirit? Are you yearning to enjoy greater harmony in your life and your relationships with others? Are you interested in nurturing your soul by developing your innate artistic abilities?
Then don’t miss out on this momentous occasion—March 27th-30th, 2015—as we dedicate ourselves to the joy of renewing our spirit with the Creator Son while expressing the Creative Spirit through the arts during the 2015 Easter Spirit Renewal and Sacred Art Retreat.
¶ Portland Urantia Study Group
We are readers of The Urantia Book and are sincere seekers for improving our relationship with God. We all come from a diverse religious background of all faiths searching for God and desiring to have a personal relationship. We have regular meetings in the Portland area where we read sections from The Urantia Book as well as conduct topical religious studies centered on The Urantia Book. We value diversity of opinion and welcome your participation on our journey in finding God in ourselves and others. Above all, we aspire to live lives of faith and service to mankind. http://www.meetup.com/Portland-Urantia-Book-Readers/
¶ Urantia Book Readers in Nigeria
Abegunde Julius Taiwo
My dearly beloved brother Rick Lyon, and our international family of students of The Urantia Book in the USA and around the world. Good day and happy greetings from Africa to you all. I am writing to you in order for you to view and share my family photo, our home study group here in Lagos.
¶ Young Reader Study Group in Boulder
James Woodward
(Adapted from an interview conducted by Susan Owen)
Ten years ago Jennifer Siegel started a study group for children at their home in Boulder, Colorado. The young folks meet at the same time as the adults but in a different room. All the children in the group come from families where parents or grandparents are readers. The children, however, must be able to read well and they have to able to sit still and pay attention. According to Jennifer, “There is nothing worse than religious instruction that is forced by parents. So over the years I’ve had a few instances where kids didn’t want to be there, it didn’t fit and so they didn’t come back. But generally they really look forward to class. And in fact when I have to be in Chicago they really miss the experience.”
It requires different methods to teach children and Siegel has to keep them engaged. In a recent meeting she asked the kids, “According to Dale Carnegie, what do you think, is the most favorite word of people?” The answers were love, thank you, and please. But, according to Dale Carnegie, the word is your name. So each week she talks about how they are and it seems to have made a difference. “I start with: ‘How was your week?’ If they answer, ‘Good,’ I ask, ‘Why was it good?’ Or if they say ‘bad,’ I ask, ‘Why was it bad?’ We go around the room and they share a lot or a little, depending on what’s going on in their lives. Over time I really get to know these kids and they feel validated and heard by an adult they trust—who’s not their parent.”
¶ Teaching and Facilitating in the UBIS
Marta & Dave Elders
The Urantia Book is a revelation of living truth. Unlike human education, which makes information and knowledge accessible to the thinking mind, in the encounter with The Urantia Book teachings, The Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS) has to provide students with the opportunity to realize truth in their own experience. As mota 16 declares: “You cannot perceive truth until you feelingly experience it…” That begs several questions: How do we provide for that experience in the online UBIS classroom comprised of students who are not physically present to one another? What role (if any) does the soul play in both the experience of truth and in its consequent perception? As we read and study together the words which embody the fifth epochal revelation, can the Teacher-Facilitator and students together create an enhanced awareness of the possibility of, and the necessity for, the personal experience of truth which will lead to its subsequent perception?
¶ Mini-Study Guide
Although The Urantia Book does not offer any official interpretations of its teachings, your study group may benefit from using the following selected text and questions to foster an in-depth approach to your reading and study experience. These questions, then, are designed to stimulate thought in reference to a highlighted section from The Urantia Book.
This issue’s selected section is from Paper 130, Section 6: The Young Man Who Was Afraid
Questions to Consider
- What to you is the one central truth of this section? Are there other truths contained herein? If so, what are they?
- What meanings/ideas do you extract from this passage?
- If you were to describe the spiritual values/ideas of this passage, how would you?
While they were up in the mountains, Jesus had a long talk with a young man who was fearful and downcast. Failing to derive comfort and courage from association with his fellows, this youth had sought the solitude of the hills; he had grown up with a feeling of helplessness and inferiority. These natural tendencies had been augmented by numerous difficult circumstances which the lad had encountered as he grew up, notably, the loss of his father when he was twelve years of age. As they met, Jesus said: “Greetings, my friend! why so downcast on such a beautiful day? If something has happened to distress you, perhaps I can in some manner assist you. At any rate it affords me real pleasure to proffer my services.” UB 130:6.1
¶ International Conference 2015 Update
Line St-Pierre
¶ Progressing from Human to Divine: Revealing Ourselves to God
July 30–August 2, 2015
Bishop University, Lennoxville,
Quebec, Canada
The Urantia Association of Quebec under the umbrella of Urantia Association of Canada will be hosting this event on behalf of Urantia Association International. It will take place at the beautiful site of Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, province of Quebec, Canada, from July 30th to August 2nd.
We will develop three sub themes, one for each day of the conference. The first is on Family, the second about the Individual, and the third is on Society/Brotherhood.
The Heavenly Father has a mission for each of us. He welcomes us into the great family of God’s children and gives us the opportunity to develop our potentials to carry their full expression of divine values in our material lives and beyond. Indeed, the Father has placed in our hands control over an infinitesimal fraction of the future of the Supreme. We have a good part of eternity to accomplish this mission and it starts now, here, on Urantia.