© 2018 Olga Lopez
© 2018 International Urantia Association (IUA)
The 17th National Meeting of Urantia Book readers in Spain was held in Zaragoza from April 28 to May 1. Zaragoza is the fifth most populated city in Spain and is located between Madrid and Barcelona. About 40 people attended and came from all the corners of the country.
The conference theme was “Living the Teachings.” This was a meeting that was primarily based on personal experience and was one of the most remarkable ever. Some volunteers shared their experiences based on the following four categories:
- Self-control and Self-mastery
- How We See Our Own Death
- Losing Our Loved Ones and Break-ups
- Forgiveness
After this sharing, the audience was invited to talk about their own experiences having to do with these subjects. It was very moving at times, and always inspiring.
There were also other activities. On Saturday right after the opening, Olga Lopez gave a talk on the Urantia Movement from 1955—the year The Urantia Book was first published—to the present day. This was followed by Javier Martinez, a reader from Madrid, who gave a captivating presentation about “A Transforming Revelation—the Personal Transformation.”
On Sunday morning we watched the movie “The Shack” which stimulated a very interesting debate. Even though this movie is mainly Christian in its approach, some of its dialogue could be considered “Urantian” which was the most interesting aspect of it.
A workshop was held on the “Power of Prayer” where attendees—in groups of five or six people including a facilitator—shared the way they pray and how beneficial prayer has been to their lives. Again, the focus was on our personal experiences.
On Sunday evening we played a game created by some members of the Spanish Urantia Association Board, named “The Race to Nebadon.” In groups of three or four people, readers had to answer questions that allowed them to make progress along the path to Nebadon. It was a lot of fun and we all had a great time. It didn’t even matter who the winners were because we all reached our destination!
On Monday afternoon we walked into the city and visited some famous landmarks. To strengthen our fellowship, we ended our walk in the very famous district of Zaragoza known as “El Tubo” (The Tube) which is full of restaurants and bars where we enjoyed good conversations and delicious food! On Tuesday, the last day, according to our usual tradition, the Urantia Association of Spain held its annual meeting. All conference attendees were invited whether they were members or not. This year we saw some changes to the Board: Carmelo Martinez and Eduardo Altuzarra stood down as President and Treasurer and were replaced by Ginés Avilés and Ana María García respectively. Keep up the good work guys!
After lunch it was the time to say goodbye—the hardest part of all—but we took with us memories of the wonderful moments we all spent in together. I cannot wait for the next time we meet again!
In friendship,
Olga Lopez
Urantia Association of Spain