© 2021 Urantia Association of Spain
_Editor’s Note: We are starting a new section, in which a featured reader will answer some questions about how he came to _ The Urantia Book and why he finds it so inspiring. On this occasion, Ginés Avilés, current president of the Urantia Association of Spain, will answer our questionnaire.
Hello brothers! I am Ginés and I am a seeker of Truth, that is the most important thing I can say about myself, my best resume.
In addition, I am married with two beautiful children and I live happily in the city of Murcia. I have a varied life but mainly I am a public employee in the Bank of Spain and, as you all know, I participate in the Urantia Association of Spain.
From a very young age I was curious and open, I was interested in almost everything, I wanted to know more about people in general… and I think that this same attitude with its comings and goings was what led me to this new spirituality that The Urantia Book represents.
¶ 1. How did you get to “The Urantia Book” and why do you think you found it?
Because I was looking for the Truth and God answered. He always does. With each and every one of us. Of course, God manages his times and nothing was immediate, far from it.
How did I get to the book or rather to its teachings? One boring afternoon, sitting in my dorm room, I decided to find some revelry in one of my roommates’ other rooms and join them, no matter what.
I entered a roommate’s room, and at the moment a book on his shelf caught my attention: Trojan Horse. I asked its owner for it and it didn’t take long for me to borrow it, that same afternoon I began an adventure that, without knowing it, would change my life.
The emotion seized me almost from the first pages and that first book was followed by other Horses and my beloved _St. of the religion of the spirit.
How could it be otherwise, there was a thank you note to Urantia Foundation and from there pulling the thread was easy, everything was in a revealed book and, above all, it was not fiction!
Since then, the book joined me as a travel companion, I took it everywhere, it gave me security, even though I didn’t understand half of what I read…
The Father was wisely leading me to him so that I would be able to accept a revealed book, making me a believer in the spirituality that the book contained. Thank you, Father!
And the adventure continues…
¶ 2. What was your first impression when reading it?
I was strongly impressed by the blue and white of the cover and the sheets of a thin paper, similar to a Bible, which were overflowing with information. I had the feeling of being in front of something special, as if an angel had handed me the book.
I started reading the fourth part and I remember feeling overwhelmed by everything, the dazzling figure of Jesus, the discovery of his hidden life, the pride in how I carry his passion, the coherence of everything, the difficulty in understanding parts of his teachings, etc. It was overflowing.
¶ 3. At what point in the reading (document, sentence, etc.) did you accept that “The Urantia Book” is really what it claims to be?
Actually, the Testamento de San Juan prepared me to accept the new spirituality of the book, so I was convinced from the beginning. In addition, my sense of Truth was continuously being overwhelmed, which is the best test for me about the truth of something.
¶ 4. How has “The Urantia Book” changed your life?
The Urantia Book built and settled the pillars of my spiritual house, it reinforced the idea of the religion of the spirit so much that I don’t remember doubting it anymore. More than the book itself, its spiritual ideas have been part of me to the point of making them my own. They have given me a lot of security and reaffirmed my hope in a promising future; all of this just when it was needed.
¶ 5. Has the faith you had after reading it changed? If so, in what way?
Before Benítez’s novels and The Urantia Book I was more in favor of denying the existence of God and focusing only on the negative points of other religions, more along the lines of an atheist or agnostic. Now I am an acolyte of the beautiful and courageous religion of the spirit. Now the problems go through the filter of objectivity/truth and the actions through that of the common good/love, at least, that attempt whenever it is my starting point.
¶ 6. Is there a point (or points) of the revelation that you find difficult to accept?
It has always been clear to me that The Urantia Book proposes such an exquisite respect for all of us individually that it is easy for me to accept the different controversies of the book, because I know that it seeks a global good without losing sight of a neat respect for each being. Under that prism all those points look different, more acceptable.
¶ 7. What is the part that has most deeply impressed you?
There have been several and at different times. Apart from the life of Jesus that I was commenting on, I was very impressed by the entire section on inevitabilities, documents 100 and 101 on religion, the fascinating history of the planet, the number of beings that take care of us, friend Rodán, etc. Everything has had its moment.
Right now, I am discovering the interrelation of spiritual terms such as faith, adoration, religion, being born of the spirit, fear… I love discovering that among so many quotes and so many concepts, an explanation can be derived that encompasses them all.
¶ 8. How do you understand “doing the will of the Father”?
For me, doing the will of the Father consists in following the Truth, the one that one understands in the mind as a spiritual value, as far as it takes you and above all with the confidence placed in the goodness of the result, even if it arrives in a very long time. term.
¶ 9. Have you become aware of the presence of your Adjuster?
I sincerely believe so, although with the warning that the book gives us I am always very cautious.
Sometimes, in single words, but with a lot of meaning for me, I think I see the “hand” of the Adjuster, never in the form of a dialogue, far from it.
I practice the art of silence and stillness by paying full attention to listening to what the Adjuster might say to me and trying to tune into or feel His presence. It is an exercise that makes me feel good and closer to my Adjuster, even if the actual contact is not obtained.
¶ 10. Have you tried to put the Master’s teachings into practice? What was the result?
Of course. What use would be so much effort to read, think and reflect if there was no practice? It would be a faith in vain.
What is important in itself is not the result but the intention, and if this is good, God will take care of the good consequences. With this I tell you that in the short term the results have not always been what was expected, sometimes the opposite.
In fact, at first I thought about why life was more complicated for me if I was already a believer. Now I know that the more believer, the better I can take advantage of the vicissitudes that life presents me for my own growth.
¶ 11. Do you think that “The Urantia Book” has something “mysterious” that makes not everyone decide to read it?
Each person (if they wish, of course) has their own process in discovering the Truth, their own rhythm, even the means used by those above are different for each one.
In my case, the book has fit but I don’t know if it is for everyone and what, from experience, is clear to me is that the moment was the most opportune, before I would not have considered it.
Also, I needed a little by little reading rhythm, I needed to assimilate it or mature it in small doses. Other people, on the other hand, arrive with more age and read it completely in a few days.
May each one follow his heart in this sense, it only helps to be open to what life brings you and brave to assume it, God knows what are the best times for you.
¶ 12. Is there anything else you would like to say regarding “The Urantia Book”?
Highlight that the important thing about the book is its teachings and not the book itself, as the revelators tell us. And that these, we have no doubt, will transform the face of the Earth, would you like to participate? 
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/