© 2007 Michel Rouanet
© 2007 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
| Le Lien Urantien — Issue 41 — Winter 2007 — Contents | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 41 — Winter 2007 | Presentation of the Book |
Dear members of the French-speaking readers’ associations of the Urantia Book,
At the start of 2008, I would like to invite you to examine our era in the light of some historical events, which make me think that our civilization is on the dawn of a renaissance, such as our Europe experienced half a millennium ago.
The Renaissance was a time of great discoveries: discoveries of new land areas and new indigenous peoples (Christopher Columbus discovered a continent in the ocean that interposed itself between Europe and the Indies); awareness of the position of the earth and man in the cosmos (Copernicus, Galileo); understanding of the internal functioning of the human body through dissection (Ambroise Paré); common temporal rhythm thanks to church steeples and the religious calendar; invention of the political State (Machiavelli, François 1er); development of cities (towns); dissemination of knowledge through the invention and dissemination of printing (Gutenberg); rereading of ancient philosophers with development of the critical spirit and demand for the free exercise of reason in the face of institutional religious authority (Lutheran and Calvinist Protestant reform), etc.
But what is happening today? For the past ten years, space exploration has made it possible to identify other planets outside our solar system (around a hundred exoplanets listed to date), allowing man to question life in the universe and his own place in the cosmos; the genetic revolution is opening new horizons for the understanding of man and the improvement of his fundamental internal structure; the globalization of trade and means of communication is bringing together different peoples, cultures and religions, pushing them towards evolution and even convergence; the acceleration of trade flows and the pace of human activities are changing our perception of time; the development of urbanization and megacities is increasing social contacts; international, regional and global political organizations are attempting to peacefully regulate relations between states; the development of the Internet allows the instantaneous dissemination of knowledge and images and facilitates the exercise of freedom of expression (blogs, etc.).
I recently read an author who said: “The man of the Renaissance is aware of a change in civilization; he knows he is in an era of discoveries, of cultural renewal. This renewal is anchored in a rereading of the ancients. The idea then emerges of a community of spirit among all peoples regardless of time and space. We believe in the human community.”
The first book to be printed in Europe was the Bible, in 1456. By inventing the printing press, and especially by spreading it across Europe, Gutenberg allowed first the most erudite, then most of those who had access to reading, to access the source of the text and the history of Judeo-Christianity, which was previously the monopoly of the religious institution. This phenomenon was a fundamental factor in the evolution of Christianity.
Exactly five hundred years later, in 1955, The Urantia Book was first printed in the United States, the “new world” of recent history. It was then translated and, since the 1990s, widely distributed on the Internet.
A little common sense is enough to realize the immeasurable light that this modern text brings, compared to all the other ancient religious texts that are nevertheless founding texts of the different great religions of today, and are the subject of multiple interpretations. This shows the potential for religious developments that this extraordinary book contains, adapted to our times.
But ultimately, the common base of religions remains the religious experience of divine and fraternal love. This is somewhat the underlying theme of the various articles of this first Link of the year 2008: conjugal love, love of the relationship between man and his faithful Adjuster, love of the Trinitarian association with a view to the perfection of the universe, love of the revelation of God to man, love of the life of Being in the present, … fraternal love of the AFLUB meetings too.
Let us not worry too much about the risks involved in great changes, or about the cultural brakes which temporarily slow down the acceptance of the obvious. In the final analysis, man, inhabited by the divine spirit, loves progress, peace, truth and freedom.
For two years, the AFLUB has been engaged in a new dynamic: it plows its field and sows to the winds. National meetings now take place in the different regions of France, to better unite readers and make The Urantia Book known to those who want to pay attention to it. At this rate, it will take us another eight years (or barely) to finish a first tour of France. No matter, each of our meetings is a new wealth, experienced in the present.
But France plays an important role in Europe, and the AFLUB must look beyond its borders. Warning signs seem to indicate a renewal in our relations with our European brothers: the reinforced cooperation with the French-speaking Belgian association (the new Lien), the new will of the Swiss to relaunch a Urantian dynamic, the organization of an international meeting by our Spanish friends next year, the creation of a Swedish association in 2007, the installation by the Urantia Foundation of a European office for the dissemination of the UB.
Europe
- dark gray: national associations (at least 30 members) France, Spain, Finland.
- medium gray: local associations (at least 10 members) Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia.
- light gray: offices (less than 10 ad.) England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria, Russia.
It seems that a European Urantian consciousness is on the rise, so we must support it.
The AFLUB board of directors recently mentioned the possibility of organizing a first European meeting by 2012, ten years after the last international meeting organized by the AFLUB (Dourdan 2002), and fifty years after the first French translation of the Urantia Book (The Urantia Cosmogony by Jacques Weiss). I think it should take place in Marseille, the future European capital of cultures and Euro-Mediterranean dialogue.
By this date, the AFLUB will have plowed and sown the most populated half of the national territory: in four years, a first harvest will be possible.
Next national meetings: see illustration below.
In 1508, Michelangelo began the fresco of the Sistine Chapel, which he completed in 1512. More humbly, and all things considered, the organization of a European meeting and the creation of a European association could constitute a fine French work for the next four years.
For now, I wish you a happy and prosperous 2008. It is up to all of us to ensure that it prefigures major projects for the near future, projects of which we are the architects.
While it is useless to be too early, you should not be late.
In fact, we must be in the present: in the time of the great changes that are taking place.
Warmly.
Michael R.
| Le Lien Urantien — Issue 41 — Winter 2007 — Contents | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 41 — Winter 2007 | Presentation of the Book |