© 2023 Olga López
© 2023 Urantia Association of Spain
Newsletter of the Urantia Association of Spain
Light and Life — June 2023
¶ In this number
- Editorial – June 2023
- Works – our recommendations of the month
- History and teachings: Chronicle of the life of Jesus
- Children’s Guide to The Urantia Book: Jesus in Jerusalem
- Other spiritual growth books
- Recommended audio
- Navigating through life: The universe
- My favorite paragraph
- Urantia Questionnaire – Jan Herca
- XIX Meeting of readers of The Urantia Book in Spain
- UBIS “In Focus” Presentation Series
- About the Light and Life newsletter
¶ Editorial – June 2023
M. José Sánchez Santamaría
The perfect joy
Welcome, welcome, one more month to this meeting point that is the Light and Life newsletter. Make yourself at home, enter and rest from the incessant tasks and get in touch with your innermost being through a whole range of very interesting content. We are not alone in the process of spiritual growth, join us and we will enjoy together this fascinating journey that is life on this planet.
Oh, family, what a world we have had to live in! So full of immense transformations and profound challenges; a world that demands extreme focus on our values and priorities.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to keep up, right? Should we evade our responsibilities, our material experience through our spirituality?
Quite the opposite! We are not here to escape into the spiritual world, we are here, in the physical world, to bring the spiritual world and make this world a garden of Eden.
The incarnation of our beloved Creator, Miguel de Nebadon, is already a palpable sample of that divine desire to exalt material life, to face what it means to live in matter, not to run away from it. The prayer that he prepared in Nazareth for his brothers shows us this:
Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come; your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. (UB 144:3.3-6)
This desire to perfect the material world was by no means to end with his physical departure from our planet. His disciples had the task of continuing to expand that elevation of consciousness that was his message, something that “will make the old world new.”
““You have not merely chosen me, but I have also chosen you, and I have ordained you to go forth into the world to yield the fruit of loving service to your fellows even as I have lived among you and revealed the Father to you. The Father and I will both work with you, and you shall experience the divine fullness of joy if you will only obey my command to love one another, even as I have loved you.”” (UB 180:1.4)
Do you remember the passage about the return of the seventy ordained preachers in Magadan? The return of the disciples is marked by joy after having experienced their own power over the forces of evil: “even the demons submit to us in your name.” They were jubilant, elated, eager to talk about their achievements.
On Friday, December 30, while Jesus was away in the near-by hills with Peter, James, and John, the seventy messengers were arriving by couples, accompanied by numerous believers, at the Pella headquarters. All seventy were assembled at the teaching site about five o’clock when Jesus returned to the camp. The evening meal was delayed for more than an hour while these enthusiasts for the gospel of the kingdom related their experiences. David’s messengers had brought much of this news to the apostles during previous weeks, but it was truly inspiring to hear these newly ordained teachers of the gospel personally tell how their message had been received by hungry Jews and gentiles. At last Jesus was able to see men going out to spread the good news without his personal presence. The Master now knew that he could leave this world without seriously hindering the progress of the kingdom. (UB 163:6.1)
Jesus himself felt euphoric at these events, full of hope for his followers.
And it was at this time, just before partaking of the evening meal, that Jesus experienced one of those rare moments of emotional ecstasy which his followers had occasionally witnessed. He said: “I thank you, my Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, while this wonderful gospel was hidden from the wise and self-righteous, the spirit has revealed these spiritual glories to these children of the kingdom” UB 163:6.3
But we already know the depth of thought of our dear Creator, his spiritual insight, so the next day he gathered the seventy and gave them a very important key for them (and for us too):
And now, while I would not quench your spirit of rejoicing, I would sternly warn you against the subtleties of pride, spiritual pride. (UB 163:6.6)
How right Jesus was in warning them about it! He knew how to point out with certainty the origin of the fall of a high spiritual being, full of enthusiasm, boastful of himself and oversized in his ego.
Spiritual progress is predicated on intellectual recognition of spiritual poverty coupled with the self-consciousness of perfection-hunger, the desire to know God and be like him, the wholehearted purpose to do the will of the Father in heaven. (UB 100:2.1)
¶ Works – our recommendations of the month
Urantia Migrations (M. José Gaete)
As its author explains in the introduction: “This work deals with the Urantian migrations and settlements that occurred from the ancestors of the first human beings to the end of the migrations of the incipient human races and the participation of the descendants of Adam in the progress and planetary racial advancement. For this compilation I used and synthesized documents 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79. 80 and 96”.
Marriage and family life (Olga López)
The author begins with this paragraph from document 84: “In the ideals of married couples, women have finally obtained recognition, dignity, independence, equality and education; Will she prove herself worthy of all these unprecedented new achievements? Will the modern woman respond to her great social liberation with laziness, indifference, sterility and infidelity? Today, in the twentieth century, the woman faces the crucial test of her long existence in the world!” UB 84:5.10. From here, she briefly reflects on whether women of our time are earning the recognition and dignity that is being talked about.
Jesus, Inspiration and Friend (Ann Bendall)
In this short article, the author does a quick review of the wide variety of experiences that Jesus went through in his short life on Urantia. There is a specific paragraph of his exposition in which I think we will all agree: «Observing the life of Jesus, I do not believe that any other human being has ever been subjected during such a short life to as many adversities as those he suffered. My own experiences pale in insignificance in comparison, and I know that no matter what I went through, he went further than I did.
Life, death and eternity (Maurice Migneault)
As its author says at the beginning: «This text is aimed at people who do not know The Urantia Book, and its objective is to present to them in a soft and respectful way with their beliefs some concepts and teachings that this wonderful book provides us with. We must always be aware that trust must first be built before presenting knowledge. It is important to know what someone needs before offering them anything. It is structured in three parts, exposed in the very title of the article, where it offers brief but valuable insights into each of the three themes, inspired by the book’s teachings.
¶ History and teachings: Chronicle of the life of Jesus
JOURNALISTIC ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE URANTIA BOOK
We present to you the following installment of the chronicles of the life of Jesus, which on this occasion contains what the revelators tell us in paper 145 (Four intense days in Capernaum). Inside the PDF you will see a button from where you can access the text of the paper from the Urantia Foundation website.
¶ Children’s Guide to The Urantia Book: Jesus in Jerusalem
We continue to review the secondary work A Children’s Guide to The Urantia Book, by Mary Livingston. This is the next chapter, which deals with Jesus’ stay in Jerusalem for the first time in his life, and it begins like this:
Jesus was very excited to see the temple in Jerusalem. But as soon as he entered it, he was upset and sad about many things. First, his mother was not allowed to attend the ceremony. Only women were allowed to stay in a certain place in the temple. Women were not treated well."
Download the entire chapter in PDF format
¶ Other spiritual growth books
A path to freedom (Víctor Creixell)
Víctor Creixell is the nickname of F. Javier L.M. For almost thirty years he has researched in the fields of anthropology, psychology, and epistemology. In this book, he talks about how the exploration of meanings is a path to freedom, and he analyzes suffering and the influence it has on our vision of reality. He says: “We think what we think because we suffer. What would we think if we did not suffer? Would it be the same reality that our eyes freed from suffering would see?». What do we discover when we stop suffering, when we see reality through the eyes of freedom?
¶ Recommended Audio
¶ Reflections on Peace on Urantia, by Jaime Marco (Space “Light and Life” of Radio Urantia)
On this occasion, we recommend one of the ten-minute installments of Radio Urantia’s “Light and Life” space, which includes the comments of Jaime Marco, a veteran reader of the book, in which he transmits “his confidence in the final triumph of the will of the Father and the hope of achieving harmony in our world. It is useless to blame the sins of Lucifer, Caligastia or the fault of Adam and Eve. His folly and error certainly affected normal planetary development, but he also blessed us with the bestowal of our Creator Son, which made Urantia so special throughout Nebadon.”
Link: https://www.ivoox.com/reflexiones-sobre-paz-urantia-jaime-audios-mp3_rf_73605607_1.html
¶ Navigating Life: The Universe
Imagine
the beautiful universe
and fair and
perfect.
Convince yourself later
of this:
What it is
has imagined it
much better
than you.
(Richard Bach)
¶ My favorite paragraph
Monica Maldonado
The paragraph that I have chosen is due to the experience that I have currently had to live, like my brothers from the ICSS group and those who knew Paula Padilla in this life, who graduated on May 13 (in Chile on May 14 we celebrate mother’s Day). Personally for me this was of great impact; I thought a lot about what her husband, her mother, her children and grandchildren were feeling at that moment, imagining the immense pain that her departure caused them and all those who knew her for years and worked with her. I only met her and I was fortunate to work on some documents from The Urantia Book, in the year 2021, when I entered the ICSS (only a few months), as you can see, a very limited period of time. However, I was able to appreciate all his kindness, understanding, generosity and love in contributing and delivering his knowledge in his great work in spreading the fifth revelation. I am infinitely grateful to my beloved heavenly Father for this great opportunity to be part of this diffusion and to have met Paula, likewise, to have gotten on this train and to travel with all the people I have met until today, knowing that we are children of the same FATHER .
Due to the aforementioned and after thinking about many texts in the book, I have stayed with this one, imagining that this is what my dear Paulita is experiencing.
From the resurrection halls you proceed to the Melchizedek sector, where you are assigned permanent residence. Then you enter upon ten days of personal liberty. You are free to explore the immediate vicinity of your new home and to familiarize yourself with the program which lies immediately ahead. You also have time to gratify your desire to consult the registry and call upon your loved ones and other earth friends who may have preceded you to these worlds. At the end of your ten-day period of leisure you begin the second step in the Paradise journey, for the mansion worlds are actual training spheres, not merely detention planets. (UB 47:3.6)
I hope that when I graduate I can meet her to tell her that I was looking forward to the day that we had to work on the preparation of document 43 together with Wilson González, and that we would present it on Thursday, May 25. In the end, it couldn’t be…
As you can see, everything can change in an instant, that is why we must enjoy this beautiful life that has been given to us. I love you very much and I hope one day to personally meet fellow readers of this wonderful fifth revelation.
¶ Urantia Questionnaire – Jan Herca
I’m Jan Herca. I live in Valladolid, Spain. I am dedicated to digital cartography. I’m married. I have three children and a puppy.
- How did you get to The Urantia Book and why do you think you found it?
During my university studies, at a time of much effervescence of ideas and deep study of the gospels, I thought I had come up with a good theory about who Jesus of Nazareth really was. I elaborated this intricate theory inspired by books like Juan Salvador Gaviota and Caballo de Troya. However, my theory had terrible gaps that I could not fill. In the midst of this frustrating experience, I remember that one night I asked the Father for some kind of illumination to find an explanation for my insoluble questions. Just a week later, a friend, seeing many books on Jesus on my bookshelf, suggested that I should read The Urantia Book.
- What was your first impression when reading it?
I remember the day as if it were today. My friend told me that the first edition in Spanish had just come out. This was around 1993. I almost didn’t buy it. It seemed to me the book of a sect. But I flipped through the index and saw that a large part of the book was a year-by-year biography of Jesus. I stopped in a park and began to read while sitting on a bench. It goes without saying that since that day I have not been able to stop reading it every day.
- At what point in the reading (document, sentence, etc.) did you accept that The Urantia Book is really what it claims to be?
I have deep doubts that The Urantia Book is what it claims to be. I find these doubts somewhat reasonable since I understand that it is impossible, by means of a book, to find the absolute certainty of the things it tells. But that does not mean that I consider it absolutely true. I feel a certainty difficult to explain that has never left me since that first day I started reading it in a park. This certainty so difficult to explain means that, with few exceptions, it has never been able to attract anyone to read it.
- How has The Urantia Book changed your life?
First, it has given me a new purpose: I want to help spread the word and make the book more accessible. Second, it has given me a much longer perspective on life. Now I see this life as the beginning of a next one that I think about very often, remembering my relatives who have already left and imagining the life they will be living. But deep down, The Urantia Book hasn’t magically changed the way I am. I still have many flaws that I would like to correct, and the book has perhaps made me more aware of them, but not easily fixed. The Urantia Book, on the other hand, has brought me many conflicts in a very traditional family environment.
¶ XIX Meeting of readers of The Urantia Book in Spain
Urantia Association of Spain
Dates: from September 7 to 9, 2023
Place: Hotel Santa Cecilia, C/Tinte nº 3, CIUDAD REAL
Theme: The commitment to be a believer. Life practices in light of The Urantia Book
¶ Room reservation
Together with the hotel, it has been agreed to create a standard package called “Urantia Group” for the reservation of 20 double rooms on a P/C basis. according to the budget offered.
We recommend making the reservation as soon as possible to guarantee the economic price offered.
Each person who wishes to attend the event must formalize the corresponding reservation in the manner and manner described below.
continuation:
This will be done by sending an email to hotel@santacecilia.com and with a copy to urantiaesp@gmail.com or by calling reception from the hotel 926 22 85 45 where you must indicate, both in the emails and when giving the data to the hotel:
“Urantia Group”
- Names and surnames of the attendees.
- Total number of people.
- Day and time approx. arrival and departure day.
- Type of room (preferably double).
- ID number of the attendees or Passport number.
- Telephone Number.
- Email.
- Method of payment.
¶ Payment to the hotel
The reservation will be paid by bank transfer or credit card to the following account:
BANKINTER, account number: ES78 0128 0085 2505 0000 8566. Bankinter’s SWIFT or BIC code is: BKBKESMMXXX
Cancellations:
More than 15 days free of charge. Less, pay the reservation.
Between 7/14 days, wake-up call.
Less than 7 days, cancellation of the reservation.
Observations:
Children up to 3 years old, cot free of charge.
Maximum availability in double/single use rooms 10 rooms.
Availability of extra beds up to 6 per group.
Reimbursement of the reservation in particular cases due to justified cause, accident, hospitalization, illness, etc.
¶ Registrations
Those people who wish to attend the XIX National Meeting must pay an amount of €15 per person for common expenses originated from renting rooms, audiovisuals, water in rooms, stationery and other costs.
The deposit will be made by bank transfer, credit card, to the TRÍODOS BANK account.
IBAN code: ES86 1491 0001 2521 3206 5927
BIC code: TRIOESMMXXX
Account holder: URANTIA ASSOCIATION OF SPAIN
Name and address of the bank:
BANK TRIODES
C/ JOSE ECHEGARAY 5
28232 LAS ROZAS, MADRID
¶ UBIS “In Spotlight” Presentation Series
The Urantia Book International School (UBIS) offers a series of “In the Spotlight” webinars related to The Urantia Book or community of readers topics.
In the Spanish language, the sessions last between 60 and 90 minutes, and are held one Saturday a month at 6 pm (Madrid, Paris, Rome time). The presenter gives an introductory presentation on the topic at hand, after which there is an opportunity for attendees to engage in discussion.
This is the presentation scheduled for the month of June:
Day: Saturday June 3
Time: 6:00 p.m. CET (Madrid, Paris, Rome)
Title: From children to children of God
Presented by: Luis Alfonso Rojas Rosillo
Zoom Room: https://urantia-org.zoom.us/j/5136302555
You can see the video of the previous session at this link.
¶ About the Light and Life newsletter
Light and Life is the newsletter of the Urantia Association of Spain. From 2005 to 2016 it was published in PDF format and distributed by mail and email to the association’s reader list, but it is currently distributed in newsletter format from content in HTML format.
If you want to receive the newsletter in your email, contact the association to subscribe to the mailing list.
All papers and news from readers and study groups are welcome, so if you want to share any side work, writing, outline, image, etc., you can send it to the association and we will publish it previous evaluation of its suitability. Likewise, the Communication commission of the board of directors of the Urantia Association of Spain reserves the right to edit it so that it meets minimum spelling quality.
¶ References
- Article of the Magazine Light and Life Online: https://aue.urantia-association.org/newsletter/luz-y-vida-junio-2023/