© 1990 Martin Mc Burney
© 1990 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
An Australian meeting of URANTIA Book readers was held on Melbourne Cup weekend, Saturday November 3 to Tuesday November 6 . We journeyed to Warburton East, about 80 ~km east of Melbourne, at the foot of the Great Dividing Range.
Springtime weather — three warm sunny days and one fine cloudy day — let us enjoy the charm and amenities of the 12 acre property and the beauty of the whole area. The favoured local attractions seemed to be the fauna sanctuary at Healesville, the Upper Yarra Dam, and the magical short walk through the beautiful rain forest alongside Cement Creek (located about halfway to the summit of Mount Donna Buang).
Forty-seven people participated in the conference, plus three visitors who met old friends and then joined us for the Happy Hour on Monday evening.
Australians travelled from as far away as Queensland and Western Australia, and three overseas travellers joined us from the U.S.A. Fifteen people took advantage of early arrival on Friday evening, to socialise and enjoy the area through Saturday morning. The next three nights saw 44,39 , and 38 people in residence — some could only stay for a two-day weekend. The numbers were comfortable for the venue, rather than crowded, and we broke even financially.
We opened with Saturday lunch together, followed by a reporting session where thirteen people contributed. Having thus founded the conference on fellowship and individual initiative, the group maintained them throughout.
For the conference theme of “Living as we are meant to live”, we used the focus offered in The URANTIA Book on UB 46:5.29
“The activities of such a world are of three distinct varieties: work, progress, and play. Stated otherwise, they are: service, study, and relaxation. The composite activities consist of social intercourse, group entertainment, and divine worship.” UB 46:5.29
For “work/service”, there was a forum discussion on URANTIA Book distribution in Australia. Of the many issues, consensus emerged on two points (both of which require agreement from URANTIA Foundation):
Also on “service/work”, there was an assignment to incorporate into the free afternoon on Monday.
For “progress/study”, a forum allowed individuals to share their thoughts on the development of their relationship with God (without necessarily intruding on the relationship itself). Like all but one or two sessions, this was held in the garden under the trees.
“Play/relaxation” was emphasised by extensive periods of free time. As I wrote in the July/August Six-O-Six: “People told me they liked recent conferences because of the ‘atmosphere’, because of the friendship and fellowship …”
On Sunday night, individuals and small groups were free to organise to their own tastes, which ranged from study groups to indoor games to videos to chatting to early in bed. The idea of a half-day bus excursion, though successful in 1988 (bus) and in 1989 (boat), was dropped in favour of private car trips on free afternoons, or evenings between dinner and entertainment. People grouped and re-grouped, and went when and where they chose.
“Social intercourse” was inevitably emphasised along with “Play/relaxation”. It was further emphasised by three unhurried sit-down serviced meals each day, plus half-hour breaks for morning and afternoon teas, and supper arrangements. It was prompted by the variety of settings to meet and chat, both indoors and outdoors. It was the focus of small group workshops, followed by a report-back to the whole group. (The question posed to each individual was: “What is social intercourse for you, or what does it actually mean to you now?”) A second question asked for URANTIA Book inspiration or insight in this area, but drew surprisingly little feedback most groups seemed to focus directly on their own experience.
“Group entertainment” saw a sing-along around the campfire on Saturday night, with guitarists Verner Verass and Kathleen and Trevor Swadling, and banjo player Richard Keeler (said to be a refugee from the great state of Wyoming). Several families sharing the site joined us for this highlight. Will Wentworth and Tony Rudd contributed some torchlight readings of Australian bush poetry.
The musicians fired up again on Monday night for an Australian bush dance, preceded by a recital by Trevor and Kathleen notable for Trevor’s own compositions including spiritual themes.
“Divine worship” was, in the end, largely left to the individual. We did precede our closing barbecue with a simple but sensitive direct reading of the remembrance supper, courtesy Sue Webb and Simon Barber. The three early-morning meditations were generously designed and led by Maggie Chandler, Richard Keeler, and Martin Myers.
Though the whole conference was blessed by the weather, my most vivid picture is of Monday morning’s meditation in the “fairy dell” on the hill, the sun about to break over the trees, and low clouds skidding across the stunning views of Mount Donna Buang.
Ian Esmore prepared and chaired an open forum discussion on world government, titled “Current Middle East Conflict and the United Nations”. Les Sheridan delivered a paper on “The Right and Left Brain”. Terry Hovaghimiam followed Les with a reflective presentation that shared his own life. Leith Luckett offered a reflection which seemed to summarise our weekend. Carl Sarelius presented a paper on his epic solo walk from Melbourne to Sydney. It was a fitting finale for the conference, interweaving physical and emotional experiences with mental observations and insights, in a real spiritual sharing by Carl. I thought that this symbolized what so many attendees brought to the whole of this conference.
Martin Mc Burney, Melbourne
Editors note:
Many people have asked me to again pass on their heartelt gratitude to Martin for the splendid way in which he organised the conference.