© 2016 Olga López
© 2016 Urantia Association of Spain
| Luz y Vida — No. 44 — Presentation | Luz y Vida — No. 44 — June 2016 — Index | The ascension race from a bird's eye view |
The XV Readers’ Meeting began on the afternoon of Thursday, April 28, at the Conde Duque de Bilbao hotel, located next to the Nervión estuary and a few meters from the Guggenheim Museum. It must be said that Bilbao was chosen practically unanimously in the previous meeting, which was held just a year earlier in Cartagena. And of course, the board responded to this widespread request. The north of Spain had always been somewhat left out of the celebration of the Meetings, so it was time to make up for that absence.
In total we met almost 40 people from Alicante, Barcelona, Burgos, Gerona, Mallorca, Madrid, Murcia, Malaga, Santander, Seville, Tarragona and Vizcaya. As in the previous Encounter, we had the pleasure of having the presence of the president of the conference committee of Urantia Association International, Antonio Schefer, who came from Holland to be with us. Thank you all for attending!
As in the previous Meeting, we repeat the formula of 3 nights/4 days that gives us so much satisfaction (one more day gives us more enjoyment). The theme of the Gathering was “The Way Home: The Ascension Race” and its purpose was to address all aspects of the upward career of mortals, as set forth in The Urantia Book: both space travel and space travel. it supposes for us as the progressive perfection that we are acquiring; both personal and non-personal help that we have at our disposal in this material, intellectual and spiritual journey.
In terms of format, different formats have been used: slightly longer presentations of half an hour together with “tripart” presentations of ten minutes each. We also had a workshop and a round table with a moderator and four participants. In the association we do not like to repeat ourselves!
On Thursday afternoon, Carmelo Martínez, the president of the association, formally welcomed all attendees. In his welcome, he explained what the activities of the Meeting were going to be and made a brief review of the history of the city, which led the participants to ask more about it. After dinner, we met again informally to participate in one of those massive gatherings that are organized spontaneously and that last until after midnight. You really don’t sleep much in Encounters!
On Friday the 29th in the morning, at 8:30, Mariano Pérez led a meditation session that was also repeated on Saturday the 30th at the same time. It was the first time that these sessions were done first thing in the morning and I have to say that they went very well to start the day full of mental and spiritual energy.
After breakfast, the activities of the Meeting began with an introductory presentation by Jaime Marco, vice president of the association. In it, he reviewed the path we must travel in our ascension career from Urantia to Paradise, illustrated by a presentation with images of Urantia “cosmography” that helped us situate ourselves and put the journey into perspective.
Next, and after the corresponding debate, there was a triple presentation in which the three types of aid that we have in our ascent to Paradise were addressed:
- Internal aid: Gines Avilés, from the Murcia study group, was in charge of them.
- External aid: Víctor Izquierdo, from the Seville study group, was in charge of them.
- Physical and material aids: José Manuel Duarte, from the Malaga study group, was in charge of dealing with them.
The debate began when the three presentations finished, to deal with the aid as a whole.
After eating, and before continuing with the Meeting activities, the group took a funicular very close to the hotel to Artxanda, a nearby hill that offers a unique view of Bilbao. Luckily, the weather was excellent, the sun was shining and the wind was hardly blowing, so we enjoyed a clear day to see the city and its surroundings.
At five in the afternoon, the workshop on document 112 (The survival of the personality) began, an important aspect on the ascending path to Heaven, since it is precisely the personality that makes us aware of our individuality during all the important transformations. through which we go from when we are flesh and blood mortals to pure spirits. The workshop was facilitated by Eduardo Altuzarra, who gave a presentation to discuss personality as defined in The Urantia Book. Seven groups dedicated to each of the seven sections of the document were then established, and after half an hour what each group had extracted from the corresponding text was shared.
There is no doubt that the concept of personality as defined in the book has different meanings than those we usually use in everyday life, so it is important to clarify it as much as possible so that the book’s teachings take on their true meaning. sense.
On Saturday morning there were two different activities. The first was a presentation by Carmelo Martínez entitled “El libre albedrío”, enlivened with some fun slides. In it, emphasis was placed on how fundamental this characteristic is for our ascending career, which the celestial beings who help us always scrupulously respect. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion.
Next, there was a round table moderated by Mariano Pérez, the person in charge of the association’s study groups, whose main theme was “The meaning of the ascension plan” and in which Miguel Bustos (from the Mallorca study group) participated, Ismael Gracia (secretary of the association and member of the Barcelona study group), Paula Requejo (from the Madrid study group) and Ana María García (from the Malaga study group). The round table was followed by a debate between the members of the table and the attendees which, as always, was very lively.
The round table was recorded with the idea of uploading it to the association’s video channel on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTXLLynKr61xQSPbZnxBSPQ). Stay tuned for news from the association!
After lunch, there were a couple of free hours for most of the attendees, which were used to organize a study group coordinators meeting. This meeting, organized by Mariano Pérez, was attended by representatives of study groups from the north, Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, Seville, Malaga and Murcia. It was the first time that a meeting of these characteristics was held and it was highly valued as it allowed us to share experiences about how to receive new members in a group and how to treat members who stray from the objective of studying the book. It is very possible that similar meetings will be held in future meetings.
At five in the afternoon on Saturday, the whole group left the hotel to take a walk around the city, following the Nervión estuary. Finally we end up in Plaza Nueva, one of the areas to eat pintxos accompanied by a good red wine or a beer (zurito). There we separated into several groups and we visited the different bars at our own pace. It was a very fun experience and the entertainment in the square was incredible.
At night, back at the hotel, we had the third of our spontaneous gathering sessions that lasted until dawn.
On Sunday, as usual in recent matches, there was a question and answer session. There were not many questions, but it is true that they gave rise to a lot of debate.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to be all together, Jaime Marco explained in a practical session how to enter the new Zoom virtual meeting platform, from which the virtual study group sessions (now known to all as GEV) are held. The change from the previous virtual room to the new one has caused many readers to have difficulties using the new platform, so this was an excellent opportunity to clear all doubts.
Next, an ordinary assembly of the Association was held in which, apart from presenting the activities that the association had carried out during the last twelve months, there was an important change. Ismael Gracia leaves his position as secretary on the board of directors and Miguel Bustos, from Mallorca, will take his place from now on. It was also decided that the president and the treasurer of the association will leave their positions within two years, and in this way the board will be partially renewed.
It was also discussed with the attendees what their preferences would be to celebrate the next meeting of readers. In this case there was no unanimity and three cities were considered: Toledo, Aranjuez (Madrid) and Zaragoza. The board of directors will assess which are the best options, taking into account all factors (means of transportation, location, prices, etc.).
After the meal came the saddest part, which is the farewells, although we all returned with our spiritual batteries fully charged and consoled ourselves thinking that there is less for the next one!
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/
| Luz y Vida — No. 44 — Presentation | Luz y Vida — No. 44 — June 2016 — Index | The ascension race from a bird's eye view |