© 2011 Dominique Ronfet, Guy de Viron, Joseph Folliet, Jean Annet, Max Masotti, Marc Benoit, Michel Hubaut, Claude Castel , Johanna Beukers, Martin Buber, Albert Samuel, Chistine Baussain, Bénédicte Jourgeaud, Jean-Claude Romeuf
© 2011 Association French-speaking Urantia Book Readers
¶ The President’s Note: Travel Words
An international meeting of leaders of the associations affiliated to the AUI took place in Chicago from July 13 to 17. Participating from the AFLUB were: Ivan Stol, Jean Duveau, Anne-Marie Ronfet and myself as well as for the Belgian association our friends Jean-Annet and his wife Isabelle as President and Treasurer.
Claire Mylanus, who was traveling for a meeting at the Foundation, was also a valuable and warm help to us in our journey and organized a 2-day stay at 533 where we were able to rent rooms and thus discover this charming place which has kept its art-deco style and is full of history since it was the home of Dr. Sadler. The volunteers present who welcomed us with great enthusiasm were very kind.
Dominique Ronfet
Editor’s note (editor’s note):
The Links are quarterly and appear on the 15th of March, June, September and December! They are first sent to subscribers in digital form (PDF format) on these same dates and then, as far as possible, in their “paper” form. As AFLUB prints are grouped with other periodicals, it is possible that the deadline for the paper format is longer. As for the texts intended to be published within the Link concerned, they must imperatively arrive 30 days before the aforementioned publication date and approved by our president, Dominique Ronfet, director of publication. Thank you for your understanding.
¶ Edito: Chicago, Paul and the Eternal Feminine
The Chicago Symposium is, in itself, such a dazzling event that it would be enough to fill this edition of the Link. So, enjoy the testimonies of Jean and Dominique! With gratitude for having been “our eyes” and our spokespeople on a global level!
Paul is still present with his Hymn to Love, the first part of which I am relating to you! Astonishing this Paul who bases all his teaching on this cardinal value that is love, emblem of our superuniverse!
The Eternal Feminine continues too! With the participation of Christine and various other lyrical testimonies in praise of the … woman.
Guy from Viron
¶ Humor: The Little Beatitudes
“For God’s humor”
Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves.
They haven’t finished having fun.
Blessed are those who can distinguish a mountain from a molehill.
They will be spared a lot of hassle.
Blessed are those who are able to rest and sleep without making excuses. They will become wise.
Blessed are those who know how to be silent and listen.
Joseph Folliet
¶ Report 01: Chicago Symposium 2011
Last July, Isabelle and I went to the Leadership Symposium in Chicago. In addition to the Symposium itself, there was a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ that I would not like to pass over in silence, as they were so rich and fruitful.
We arrived 2 days early where we were hosted at the Foundation itself, in Chicago. There were several benefits to this. First, it allowed us to land smoothly and recover from jet lag, then we were able to strengthen our friendships with our French counterparts who had left with us (or we with them, depending on your point of view), and finally soak up the atmosphere of the mother house from which The Urantia Book came. I admit that I went to the Symposium with a peripheral question which was to finally know the answer on the origin of The Urantia Book. This question remained present before, during and after the Symposium. I asked many questions, I met the highest officials, discussed with the closest or oldest people still alive at the Forum. In fact, the more I informed myself, the more I realized that I would never have satisfactory answers to my questions. In short, the answer to all my questions was found in the response of Carolyn Kendall, the last lady of the Forum to still be alive: “I don’t know”. Of course, I knew a little more, but fundamentally, I was not much further ahead. The origin of the Urantia Book will remain a mystery (desired by the Revelators) so that we are only interested in the content of the book.
Jean Annet
¶ Maxien Quiz No. 7: The questions
Superuniverse
- In human self-consciousness, four realizations of universe realities are inherently latent, which ones?
- The UB tells us about adopted seraphim. Can you tell us why they are adopted?
- Who are the gospels of light?
- Do you remember the name of the capital or headquarters world of the major sector of Splandon and that of the minor sector of Ensa?
Local Universe
- In a local universe the sovereignty of a Creator Son passes through six and perhaps seven stages of experiential manifestation. Which?
- The Life Carriers descend from three pre-existing personalities, which ones?
- Who isolated Urantia at the time Caligastia betrayed the planet during the trying times of the Lucifer Rebellion?
- The UB tells us about the univitatias, who are they?
Max Masotti
¶ Reflection: You are valuable to me
If you feel like God doesn’t love you, and can’t use your potential, just remember this:
Abraham was too old,
Isaac was a great dreamer,
Jacob was a liar,
Philippe’s daughter, Léa, was ugly and had a dull look,
Joseph was mistreated by his brothers,
Moses had a stuttering problem,
Gideon, also known as Yeroubbaal, was afraid,
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer,
David had several wives and was a murderer,
Elie was suicidal,
Isaiah preached naked,
Jonah fled from God,
Job went bankrupt,
Peter denied Christ,
The disciples fell asleep while Jesus was praying,
Martha worried about everything,
Nalda, the Samaritan woman, divorced more than once,
Zacchaeus was short in stature,
Paul was too religious,
Paul’s friend Timothy had an ulcer,
And Lazarus was dead!
And remember, Jesus helped them all.
Author Unknown
¶ Ancient Prayers
Prayer before bed
Lord, sign your name with the cross on my house;
Cover with your hand the roof that shelters me,
Protect with your right the bed where I rest;
Keep intact the breath with which you have blessed my body,
Give me sweet rest during this night.
¶ Dream: Interview with God
I dreamed that I had an interview with God.
“So, would you like to have an interview?” God asks.
I replied: “If you have time?”
God smiles.
“My time is eternal; what questions do you have for me?”
“What surprises you most about human beings?”
Marc Benoit
¶ Story: A wonderful assembly
I saw a wonderful assembly resplendent with beauty and purity.
In the first rows were all the sluts in the world and then the drug addicts,
Alcoholics, divorcees, abortions, prostitutes, and also, mixed in with them,
The lonely, the excluded, the rejected, the prisoners,
The condemned, the infamous, the unloved,
And again, the poorly dressed, the unclean, the sick,
The handicapped, the incurable, and, among them,
Marc Benoit
¶ Paul: The hymn to love
It is clear that in his Letters Paul shows a constant concern for the quality of fraternal relationships within each community. Following the example of Christ himself who places “love of God and of others” at the heart of his teaching, Paul often repeats that love, lived concretely, sums up and contains all the other precepts of the Christian life. For the whole law finds its fulfillment in this single word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Ga 5:14). Owe no debt to anyone, except that of mutual love. For he who loves another has fully fulfilled the Law. Love does no wrong to his neighbor. Love is therefore the full fulfillment of the Law (Rm 13:8-10).
Michel Hubaut
¶ Reflection: The Universe and Nature, a mechanism of laws
What is the First Source Center of all things and beings, which is called the One God or the Universal Father, or any other name. This source is the Spirit that creates material Nature and is at the origin of the living Universe. (UB 1:0.1). This Spirit is an infinite and creative personality. It is not limited to a single form. It is the infinitely subtle (or the Absolute), omnipresent, omniscient and all-powerful that commands its body: the Universe, material Nature (or the Relative). Each creature, whether mineral, vegetable, animal or human, is part of this divine whole.
“The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. “God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited.”” (UB 1:0.2)
Claude Castel
¶ Poetry: The Woman
A little tribute
To us women.
Of all ages and nationalities,
And especially to all those who,
Against all odds, they persevere in loving,
to dream and fight for a better world.
The musical theme of Vangelis,
Greek composer,
It is called precisely
“Glorianna - Hymn to Women”.
And God made me a woman,
¶ Meeting: Michael’s Birthday
This year, we decided to celebrate Michael’s birthday at our home in Sollies-Pont. Readers from three departments were gathered, Gard, Bouches du Rhône and Var, a total of 22 people. Our scholar Jean Royer informed us that August 21 of the year 29 was also a Sunday. Logically, we should have talked about the birth of Jesus, but this subject had been raised many times and we decided to study the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Hermon which, as everyone knows, took place on August 15 of the year 29.
This subject of the transfiguration is more complex than it seems since some questions remain unanswered, such as: “Why then do Jesus and his apostles have to spend two days preparing themselves spiritually?” How can one prepare oneself spiritually?
Johanna Beukers and Max Masotti
¶ Humor: Absolutely nothing and Me
Absolutely nothing
When Rabbi Aaron was asked what he had learned from his Master, the Great Maggid, he replied, “Absolutely nothing!”
Pressed to explain these words, he continued:
"Absolutely nothing, that’s what I really learned: the meaning of absolute nothing._
For I learned that I was absolutely nothing and yet I existed.
Me
Martin Buber
¶ Poetry: In Praise of Women
Let your name be Mary
Let your gaze be blue
Your hair is drunk
Your soft satin skin
If I cry
You comfort me
If you laugh, your smile
Is a ray of sunshine
Author Unknown
¶ Reflection: Jesus and women
As for Jesus’ attitude toward women, it is so unusual, so surprising and even scandalous that the disciples are astonished: “How,” they said to one another, “can he talk with a woman?” or “How can he let himself be touched by a sinner?”
Indeed, first of all, contrary to ritual prohibitions, Jesus addresses women. He thus considers them as persons in their own right. He confers equality and dignity on them. He calls them by name. Even more extraordinary, Jesus’ interlocutors are frequently foreigners, such as the “Greek of Syro-Phoenician origin” whose daughter he heals. And above all, the Samaritan woman, belonging to this nation “with whom the Jews had no dealings”. The scene of this encounter, recounted at length by John, is significant. Not only does this woman come from a despised people, but she is a woman of ill repute. Jesus does not content himself with conversing with her; he asks her for a drink. And this request reverses the roles: the Master becomes the one who needs his creature. Better still: it is to this woman with six “husbands” that he reveals who he is the Messiah, and that he explains the new worship, “in spirit and in truth”. This trust transforms the Samaritan woman. She “left her pitcher there” and became the first militant proselyte: “A good number of Samaritans believed in Jesus, the Savior of the world, on the testimony of this woman.”
Albert Samuel
¶ Free Quill: The Return of the Goddess
What representation of women has never undergone such a terrible transformation as that of the witch? From the initiate of ancient wisdom, intimate of healing secrets and divinatory practices, from the wise woman to the priestess of the times before the dictatorship of the male, all that remains in the collective imagination is the hideous and wicked slut who frightens little children.
The Church has been there. Throughout the world, institutional religions have eradicated, with violent obstinacy, the natural ancestral practices by which Man connected himself to the powers above. A little more and they would have won… But times are changing, the Churches are running out of steam, and deep in hearts memories from the depths of time are awakening, and aspirations that speak of harmony between Man and nature, between man and woman, of harmony with oneself. Everywhere the “new pagans”, Wiccans, shamans, pranics, are discreetly leaving the systems to give life to more individual spiritual alternatives, all of which put the Eternal Feminine at the center of her rediscovered glory.
Christine Baussain
¶ Chicago Symposium 2011 - Photos
¶ Testimony: The Tupperware Saga
The story of Tupperware perfectly illustrates the American dream: the famous American way of life. Its founder, Earl Tupper, is a personality of modest origin who, thanks to a “good” idea (the airtight container), will build an empire with the notion that everyone can succeed through willpower! His dream is to save women time, it is always — a central question for them. In the forties, saving time is based on good organization. The “Wonderful Bowls” and other Tupperware containers allow you to preserve food, but also to better organize yourself in the kitchen. We talk about “optimizing” your time. This involves the choice of foods, their preservation, their storage. Tupperware is also Brownie Wise who, in America in the fifties, is proof that a woman can succeed. In 1954, she was the first woman to be on the cover of Business Week, which declared her “businesswoman of the year”. A great success for this divorced mother who started selling Tupperware to pay her sick son’s medical bills…
Benedicte Jourgeaud
¶ Maxien Quiz No. 7: The answers
Superuniverse
-
- The search for knowledge, scientific logic.(UB 16:9.10)
- The search for moral values, the sense of duty. UB 16:9.11
- The search for spiritual values, religious experience.(UB 16:9.12)
- The search for personality values, the ability to recognize the reality of God as a personality and the simultaneous realization of our fraternal relationships with the personalities of our fellow men.(UB 16:9.13)
Max Masotti
¶ Walking, there is no way
I shouted your name from the top of the cathedrals. Towards you, from the eternal snows, my voice flew. The waves of the sea still carry my messages like so many lost bottles.
“Caminante, no hay camino” said the poet; yet the imprint of my steps on the sand is the true proof of the path I have traveled. There is a path! There is a path that the sea erases like the trace of my steps.
I have shouted your name in all the dialects of the earth. You have never answered me! It is as if you do not know the language of men. No me oyes? No me entiendes?
Jean-Claude Romeuf
¶ Imprint
Le Lien Urantien is the journal of the French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book, a member of the UAI, the Urantia Association International.
| Head office | rue du Temple 1, F-13012 Marseille, +33 (0)4 91 27 13 20 |
| afflu@urantia.fr | |
| Site | www.urantia.fr / http://forum.urantia.fr |
| Publication Director | Dominique Ronfet, d.ronfet@noos.fr |
| Editor in Chief | Guy de Viron, guydeviron@bluewin.ch |
| Reading Committee | Jean Royer, Max Masotti |
| Subscription | €20 per year (quarterly publication 4 issues) |
| Legal deposit | December 1997 — ISSN 1285-1116 |
| Print run | 125 copies © 1955 URANTIA Foundation |
All rights reserved. Materials from The Urantia Book are used with permission. Any artistic depictions, interpretations, opinions or conclusions implied or stated are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of URANTIA Foundation or its affiliates.