© 2009 Text: Olga López. Photos: Demetrio Gómez and Paco Ruiz
© 2009 Urantia Association of Spain
Despite the fact that part of the attendees had already been at the hotel for a couple of days, the international conference officially began on Friday, April 17 at ten o’clock at night (a bit late by European standards, but you know it, “This is Spain”) A welcome cocktail was given, in which attendees had the opportunity to chat animatedly, meet old friends and meet new ones.
The person in charge of giving the starting signal was Gaétan Charland, president of Urantia Association International, in a brief address in which he highlighted the number of countries that were represented at the conference (almost 120 attendees from some twenty countries from all over the world) Next, as president of the Urantia Association of Spain, the organizing association of the conference, I gave a brief presentation in which I highlighted the motto of the conference (“Building bridges: from disharmony towards universal unity”) and its relationship with the history of our country, as well as the circumstances that led us to organize the international conference (see previous article)
Saturday and Sunday were the “high” days of the conference, with presentations being the main ingredient in the mornings and afternoons. Unlike previous international conferences, workshops could not be organized at this conference because we only had one meeting room and it would have been very difficult to separate people into groups to do any activity.
The first presentation was given by Gaétan Charland, and had the title “Building bridges at our level”.
“We must strive every day to stay connected with the presence of God within us; that is what I call building bridges on a personal level” (G. Charland)
The next presentation was from Tamila Ragimova, PhD in Semiconductor Physics and current president of the Urantia Association of Colombia, about the genesis of the universe.
«The Urantia Book is a path for human evolution and it is a privilege for us to be able to learn these teachings. The knowledge of the Book is so valuable that it advances the human mind, and also his soul along a path of spiritual evolution" (Tamila Ragimova)
This was followed by a very emotional moment (at least it was for Spanish readers) during the presentation of the just-out-of-the-oven “European edition” of The Urantia Book. Georges Michelson Dupont, trustee and vice president of Urantia Foundation, was in charge of presenting a project that has taken 7 years to see the light of day since the completion of the translation, carried out by Antonio Moya, who was assisted by the group of Seville studio. Georges Michelson-Dupont invited Antonio Moya, who had just arrived from Seville to attend the conference, to the stage, as well as Seppo Kanerva, former President of Urantia Foundation, former Head of Translations for the Foundation and one of the people more actively involved in making this translation finally see the light.
For our part, we invited Esteban Cotán, as a member of the Seville study group and former president of the Urantia Association of Spain, to say a few words about what it has meant for them to have the book on paper and about to get up to speed. sale in Spanish bookstores.
The Foundation brought 100 copies of this new translation to the conference, of which more than 70 were sold at the conference.
After a break to eat and rest a bit, at half past four the presentations began again. Antonio Moya gave a presentation entitled “Building linguistic bridges…”, in which he proposed Esperanto as a universal language, given the characteristics with which it was created.
“To build a better world together, we have to start by understanding each other. For this reason, the first bridge that must be built is the linguistic bridge, using a common language” (Antonio Moya)
His presentation was followed by a brief round of questions and answers, which ended with an announcement that surprised the audience: there is a translation of The Urantia Book into Esperanto, which was carried out by a French reader.
Hara Davis from the UK then presented her Study Aid: a booklet with outlines and graphics from The Urantia Book, which was also available for sale at the conference. At the moment it is only in English, but it is planned to be translated into Spanish.
“I think this Study Aid literally “bridges” between hearing about the book and reading it” (Hara Davis)
As the last activity of the afternoon before dinner, there was a fun rehearsal of the musical performance directed by Alfons Halsema, a Dutch reader residing on the Costa Brava. The attendees were separated into two groups (English and Spanish), so that they sang the motto of the conference to the sound of the well-known “Frère Jacques”. A song was also sung in honor of Miguel de Nebadon with the melody “We’ve got the whole world in our hands”, well known among Spanish readers as it appears in a well-known advertisement for a bank.
After dinner, attendees were offered an activity with group music and dance, directed by Hara Davis. It was called the “Dance of the Sacred Circle”, and it consisted of practicing different dances, mainly from Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. About 30 people participated in this activity and it was a lot of fun. In addition, it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other a little better and to interact with other attendees regardless of the language barrier. They say that music is a universal language for a reason!
The next day was another conference day. The round of lectures was opened by Moussa Ndiaye, a well-known reader and disseminator from Senegal.
In principle it was a round of questions and answers about “The UB and Islam” and how the two can be reconciled. Moussa Ndiaye knows a lot about this because he is a Muslim and a reader of the book, and we were interested in getting the point of view of someone outside the orbit of the Christian world. Finally, there was only one question, which Moussa answered extensively and extensively with great didactic mastery, and also answered other questions that could have been asked. This talk had the added difficulty that, since Moussa Ndiaye only speaks French, a double translation into English and Spanish had to be done.
The next presentation was on study groups and was given by James Woodward, Chairman of the Study Group Committee of the International Service Board (the board of directors of Urantia Association International).
After an introduction in which he highlighted the importance of study groups in disseminating the teachings of The Urantia Book, he surprised us all when he proposed that we set up a study group session with everyone in attendance. So he prepared a selection of paragraphs from the book that revolved around the theme “Urantia, Experimental Planet,” and then we organized ourselves into groups according to the languages spoken. Groups were organized in English, Spanish, French and Finnish, moderated by a facilitator. Each of the facilitators then presented to everyone the most important ideas that had been discussed in that group. It was a very interesting and participative activity that the attendees really liked.
After the meal, there were two short presentations. The first was led by Gary Rawlings and Max Fairclough on one side. The first is the chair of the ISB Membership Committee, and the second is a veteran reader from the US but living in Ireland since retiring. The latter had a farm in Ireland that he wanted to clean up as a future meeting place for UB readers. The second short presentation was given by Rick Lyon, UAI Executive Administrator, who spoke about the importance of the mission of the international association and the projects that were being carried out.
During Sunday afternoon there were three more presentations. First, the presentation by Seppo Kanerva, entitled “Translations Build Bridges Between Cultures”. In it, he explained the importance of translations as bridges between cultures in general and in the dissemination of UB teachings in particular.
«The mission of revelation has barely begun. Therefore, now is the time to translate it into a large number of languages; only thus can his world mission begin in earnest, a mission of personal religion, brotherhood and love” (Seppo Kanerva)
The second presentation was given by Georges Michelson-Dupont in which, using the motto of the conference as the title, he explained at length how to get from disharmony, from imperfection, to experiential perfection.
Finally, the round of conferences closed with the third presentation of the afternoon, given by Carmelo Martínez, entitled: “The Urantia Book: a bridge to the future”, in which he focused on the positive message of the future that transmits the UB in the face of current catastrophic visions.
The Urantia Book is here to serve as a bridge to the future of our humanity, to facilitate the passage to the next age of the planet. And we enter into this function (Carmelo Martínez)
In the evening, after dinner, there was a musical performance directed by Alfons Halsema, in which there was both a participatory part (the one that was rehearsed the previous evening) and a listening part, corresponding to a conventional concert, with accompaniment to the piano and chorus of voices. This was another activity that the attendees really liked.
The following day, Monday, was planned as a day for socialization. Fortunately (and unlike the previous days), the day dawned clear and cloudless and the temperature was very pleasant. At 9:30 in the morning, the buses arrived at the hotel door and took us to the very center of Malaga, near the cathedral, where we met the guides who were going to lead the morning tour.
First we went to visit the castle of Gibralfaro, located on a hill from where you can see all of Malaga, the commercial port and even part of the towns of the Costa del Sol. A beautiful view! We briefly visited the facilities and returned to the city to visit the house where the brilliant painter Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born and where he lived for his first ten years. From there we walked to the cathedral, which we also visited and which was a surprise for many of us, as we did not expect it to be so beautiful inside.
We returned with the buses for lunchtime, and in the afternoon an informal walk was organized to Puerto Marina, near the Hotel Vistamar. There a good group of attendees met to take a pleasant walk very close to the sea, enjoying the good weather and good company.
At 8 pm the special farewell dinner began, organized in the Urantia Room. First, a pica-pica with drinks was offered and then a dinner with typical Spanish dishes. When dinner ended, both Gaétan Charland and Olga López addressed a few brief words to those present as a farewell.
As a final touch, Urs Ruchti, a Swiss reader residing in France and who dedicated thirteen years to the translation of The Urantia Book into German, delighted us with a piano concert in which he performed pieces of Spanish classical music and Chopin.
It was a nice finale to the conference. The evening ended late at night, but it seemed that people were reluctant to let it end and were still in the room chatting. And it is that, when readers of the book meet, it is very difficult to say goodbye.
¶ The pictures
(Images from an international conference)
Very soon we will put on our website multimedia material related to the international conference, as well as the text of the presentations. Periodically visit our website, http://www.urantia.es
“everything in your mental life which was worth while, and which had survival value, was counterparted by the Adjuster and is retained as a part of personal memory all the way through the ascendant career. You will be conscious of all your worth-while experiences as you advance from one mansion world to another and from one section of the universe to another—even to Paradise.” (UB 47:4.5)
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/