© 2017 Ivan Stol, Jean Claude Romeuf, Simon Orsini, Guy Stéphane Nyasse, David Elders
© 2017 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
Dear readers,
The Urantia Book gives us some adjustments to our concepts of God. But, the infinity of manifestations can never be contained in a book, at most it will provide some advice adapted to a specific environment for a time.
Also, any action aimed at setting up teachers for this book will automatically be limited by constraints related to this book which advocates a complete and dynamic opening. In particular and as an example, it praises Hindu philosophy with regard to the advancement of the concepts of deities and therefore invites to study it.
Likewise, our association is locked into constraints related to this book (see the statutes), but perhaps they should be formulated differently, because our last national meeting highlighted some misunderstandings about the goals and expectations that each person should hope for as an active participant.
¶ Imprint
Le Lien is the journal of the French-speaking association of readers of the Urantia Book (AFLUB), a member of the UAI, Urantia Association International.
Head office: 1, rue du Temple, 13012 Marseille. +33 (0)980 978481
Cœurriel: afllu@urantia.fr
Site/Forum: http://www.urantia.fr and http://forum.urantia.fr
Publication Director: Ivan Stol; ivan.stol@free.fr
Editor-in-Chief: Georges Michelson-Dupont; georges.michelson-dupont@wanadoo.fr
Reading Committee: Jean Duveau; Ivan Stol & Patrick Morelli.
The Link: Published 4 times a year electronically to AFLLU members
Legal deposit: December 1997 — ISSN 1285-1116
All rights reserved. Materials from The Urantia Book are used with permission. Any literary or artistic representation(s), interpretation(s), opinion(s) or conclusion(s) implied or stated are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Urantia Foundation or its affiliates.
¶ Issue 79 — September 2017
- Editorial, Ivan Stol
- AFLUB Annual Meeting
- Third Italian Readers’ Congress
- Assembly of God, Jean Claude Romeuf
- Belief and Faith, Simon Orsini
- The UBIS experience, Guy Stéphane Nyasse
- Our educational imperatives, David Elders
- 2017 National Meeting Report, Ivan Stol.
¶ AFLLU Annual Meeting
JUNE 15-18, 2017
At Our Lady of Lights
Report of the AFLUB 2017 Ordinary General Meeting
On Friday, June 16, 2017 at 4:35 p.m., the members of the French-speaking association of readers of the Urantia Book met at Notre Dame de Lumières for an ordinary general meeting, at the call of President Ivan Stol.
Total number of members: 41
Number of participants: 21
Number of members present: 16
following attached annex
¶ III Congress of Italian Readers of the Urantla Book
with the participation of French-speaking readers
from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 October 2017
in Rimini (Italy)
It is with great joy that I invite once again all French-speaking readers to this third meeting of Italian readers in the city of Rimini.
I will be very happy to meet again those who have done me the honour of coming to previous meetings and to meet again many friends of the UB.
The Congress is open to any reader or supporter of The Urantia Book.
¶ Assembly of God
So what will I do this Sunday to pass the time? That’s the question I asked myself this morning when I woke up. The first idea I had was to go to a Malagasy mass to listen to the magnificent religious songs and immerse myself in traditional folklore. As I was walking my friend home who was going to celebrate this national holiday with her family, I told her that I would go to church to pray for her. Because, you all know that it is preferable for the person for whom we pray to be aware of our intention to do so. But, she told me, I am Protestant and you are Catholic!
Faced with the incongruity of the situation, it seemed preferable to me to choose neutral ground and enter the most beautiful basilica in the world: the ocean! Forty meters deep, I know a small cave. That’s where I’ll go and pray for her!
Jean-Claude Romeuf
¶ Belief and Faith
Belief is the first step of faith. This analysis depends entirely on revelations and leaves no room for improvisation.
To arrive at faith, the human heart must thirst for perfection; what knowledge and reason cannot do for us, faith can accomplish.
Faith eliminates religious fear, it destroys superstition
The believer has faith in a God of love, it is by drawing inspiration from this love, which should be the essence of all religion, that he can move forward.
Simon Orsini
¶ The UBIS Experience
The Urantia Book was given to me in 2012, and I read it alone for 3 years. It was a personal choice; I did not want to be influenced by anyone else. I wanted to form my own point of view on these wonderful teachings. After being convinced of the value of this revelation, I began to look for readers. It is very curious that I have never seen the UBIS school because it has been there for several years on the Foundation website. I discovered UBIS in 2015 when I first read the book in paper version because on the first page of the book there is a mention of the internet link for the UBIS school.
¶ Urantia Book Education Seminar
MARCH 23-26, 2017 @URANTIA FOUNDATION
(Translation by Jean Royer)
David and his wife, Marta, have been devoted students of The Urantia Book since 1970. They have been married for 52 years. They have two married sons and five grandchildren. They have lived most of their lives in southwestern Connecticut. David states with great conviction that the teachings of the book are a complete facet of the truth revealed to us and that we must experience and understand in the context of a new revealed religion.
“Evolutionary religion is sentimental, not logical. It is man’s reaction to belief in a hypothetical ghost-spirit world—the human belief-reflex, excited by the realization and fear of the unknown. Revelatory religion is propounded by the real spiritual world; it is the response of the superintellectual cosmos to the mortal hunger to believe in, and depend upon, the universal Deities. Evolutionary religion pictures the circuitous gropings of humanity in quest of truth; revelatory religion is that very truth.” (UB 92:4.3)
¶ Our Educational Imperatives
A strategy for the coming decades
Purpose of this essay
The purpose of this essay is to offer an examination of a number of educational imperatives to guide us, as among the first recipients of the new truths revealed in The Urantia Book, in implementing an educational strategy designed to encourage the transition in human consciousness from the fourth epochal revelation to the fifth. One aspect of this educational strategy deals with how we choose to meet the risk typically associated with the challenge of integrating new truth while minimizing its dilution and contamination by past religious beliefs, symbols, practices, and institutions. A Melchizedek observes that:
David Elders
¶ AFLUB Frange Association — Report of the 2017 national meeting
Introduction
This 2017 meeting took place during the election period, so attendance was lower and people were a little tense.
The general topic was “the influence of THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH on each person’s spirituality” but plenty of free time was left for individual discussions.
A general meeting took place, with the situation of the association, aid to French-speaking people in Africa and the renewal of executive members on the agenda.
There were 16 members (out of 41) and 8 sympathetic readers present.