© 2012 José A. Rodríguez Jorge
© 2012 Urantia Association of Spain
Convergences and Divergences: The Formation of the Solar System | Luz y Vida — No. 28 — March 2012 — Index | News from Urantia Association of Spain |
Dear friends:
Today I want to share with you part of my experience distributing The Urantia Book in the Canary Islands.
I have a friend in another country who is placing The Urantia Book in the libraries of his land. So I thought it would be a good idea if there was also a copy of The Urantia Book here in the libraries on my island, Gran Canaria. I would like to cover all the islands.
Obviously, one cannot place it in all libraries, but strategically in their cities and towns. For someone with few resources it is a problem, since each book costs money; you can acquire some, but not so many.
So I pitched the idea to the Urantia Association of Spain, and they gave me the go-ahead. They financed me a few copies and I decided to start in my hometown, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
I went to specialized bookstores and bought a few, which advertises and encourages the trade to buy more for sale. Then I went to donate them to libraries.
It is usually a problem when one is asked what the book is about. Cosmology, philosophy, religion, Christianity, theology, science, history…? The Urantia Book is difficult to catalogue. So I decided to be flexible. In practice, the goal is to make the book available to people, so that curious search engines can find it and get started. So it is better not to get too involved giving explanations. Excuse the ruse.
In one of the libraries:
—Hello, I wanted to donate this book to the library, it is very interesting and I think it would be good if they had one. As you can see, it’s brand new.
The man read the back cover. “About the universe?”
Yes, about the universe…
It was enough, although they made me wait half an hour for the manager. Of course, he made me sign, which can be an advantage, because that way one makes sure that they register it.
In another library:
Hi, I wanted to donate this book.
I only ask that you record it and make it available to readers.
No problem. This time they didn’t even ask me about it. So the place where it goes would be at the discretion of the one who catalogs it.
However, sometimes not everything goes smoothly:
Hi, I wanted to make a donation…
“From what book?”
—The Urantia Book.
—Let’s see, let me see on the computer… yes, we have it…
I didn’t believe it. I went to check it out. Indeed, they had a little book criticizing it.
I returned to the charge.
—Ma’am, you see, what they have is a book on UB, but not UB. Can I donate it?
As you can see, the woman was closed-minded:
—Here only donations of books on topics of I don’t know what and I don’t know how much are accepted.
Finally, I reacted:
“Well, can I at least recommend that the library buy a copy?” It’s worth it. (Fill out a form)
"Yes, but not today.
I left, there would be a chance to come back another day and find someone more receptive. And if not, it doesn’t matter. It is left, there are always other libraries. Well, time passed. I thought again that it would be good, in addition to the capital, to work on it in other cities and towns. And I contacted the AUE again. And again, they responded kindly.
And in it we are.
Now it’s time to make excursions to neighboring towns, visit more libraries and donate the copies. It does not stop being entertained by the situations that occur.
On one occasion, while I was ordering the books, because they didn’t have them at the time, a woman heard me and asked:
“I’ve heard from him, have you read it?”
—Yes, several times, it is very interesting, and you can always have it as a reference book.
“Order one for me too,” said the lady to the bookseller.
And I was delighted to have gained someone who was going to have access to the teachings of the book.
So I encourage other friends to put the UB in the libraries around them. You have the satisfaction of doing lasting work.
It is also good to leave brochures about UB in the reading rooms, so that they get to know it and thus arouse interest.
Without further ado, thank you.
José A. Rodríguez Jorge
Convergences and Divergences: The Formation of the Solar System | Luz y Vida — No. 28 — March 2012 — Index | News from Urantia Association of Spain |