© 2012 Olga López
© 2012 Urantia Association of Spain
| Luz y Vida — No. 29 — Presentation | Luz y Vida — No. 29 — June 2012 — Index | Leadership in the Urantia Movement |
The XI Meeting of readers began at 45:30 in the afternoon on Friday, May 11. Outside, the street was suffering from the effects of a heat wave from Africa, which caused the temperature to rise to an unusual 40 degrees for that time of year. In total we gathered about 33 people from Seville, Malaga, Madrid, Vizcaya, Burgos, Tarragona, Gerona and Barcelona. They must include visitors from other countries: Germany, Finland, France, Portugal and Canada, who wanted to share with us these moments of fellowship around the teachings of the book. My most sincere thanks to all of them.
At our inaugural meeting, we distributed the material that was going to be used in the Meeting, and we explained what the mechanics of the workshops would be. Then, without further ado, the three presentations on leadership by Eduardo Altuzarra, Mariano Pérez and Olga López began. At the end of these presentations, there was a free and moderated debate among the participants.
After dinner, a large spontaneous circle of attendees was organized, to chat about topics related to the book in an informal way until late at night.
The next day in the morning, we organized ourselves in groups of between five and seven people to talk about some proposed leadership values. In each group there was a moderator and another person who took notes of what the others said. These are the twelve proposed values, from which each group had to choose three to delve into:
- Faith
- Mission
- Patience
- Humility
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Sincerity 8. Fairness
- Disinterest
- Confidence wise and bravery
- Self-control
- Critical thinking
For each of these values, there was a brief introduction, and four or five questions that served to guide reflection. On this occasion, the attendees reflected on these values: faith, mission, patience, humility, integrity, self-control and critical thinking.
In the afternoon, these leadership values were walked through, and for each one, a representative from each group (the note taker) shared what their group had said about that value, if they had chosen one. This was followed by a free and moderated discussion about what had been said about those values.
After that joint meeting to share what was discussed in the workshops, the members’ assembly of the Urantia Association of Spain was held. In it, a tour of the activities carried out during 2011 was made, and the new board of directors of the association was elected, which will take the helm for a period of four years.
After that, and after dinner, we continued with the fraternization. At ten o’clock at night we celebrated a brief moment of prayer/adoration, in which each person who wanted to join her wrote their wishes for the coming year on a piece of paper. The papers were placed in a container, around which we all gathered in a circle shaking hands. For a few minutes we were silent, to finish, these passages from The Urantia Book were read:
During the psychologically unsettled times of the twentieth century, amid the economic upheavals, the moral crosscurrents, and the sociologic rip tides of the cyclonic transitions of a scientific era, thousands upon thousands of men and women have become humanly dislocated; they are anxious, restless, fearful, uncertain, and unsettled; as never before in the world’s history they need the consolation and stabilization of sound religion. In the face of unprecedented scientific achievement and mechanical development there is spiritual stagnation and philosophic chaos. (UB 99:4.6)
Now, rather, are the sons of God enlisted together in fighting the battle of reality’s triumph over the partial shadows of existence. At last all creatures become conscious of the fact that God and all the divine hosts of a well-nigh limitless universe are on their side in the supernal struggle to attain eternity of life and divinity of status. Such faith-liberated sons have certainly enlisted in the struggles of time on the side of the supreme forces and divine personalities of eternity; even the stars in their courses are now doing battle for them; at last they gaze upon the universe from within, from God’s viewpoint, and all is transformed from the uncertainties of material isolation to the sureties of eternal spiritual progression. Even time itself becomes but the shadow of eternity cast by Paradise realities upon the moving panoply of space. (UB 101:10.9)
Immediately afterwards, we went outside to burn the papers with the wishes. We then returned to the meeting room for another vibrant impromptu book meeting that lasted until almost two in the morning.
The next morning, we said goodbye to the friends with whom we had met at the Meeting, hoping that time would pass quickly until the next one arrives and we can meet again.
(Note from the editor: On the website of the Urantia Association of Spain, more specifically in the “general” section of “Jobs”, the results of this leadership workshop will be published)
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/
| Luz y Vida — No. 29 — Presentation | Luz y Vida — No. 29 — June 2012 — Index | Leadership in the Urantia Movement |