© 2011 Johanne Séguin, Cheryl Glicker, Marc Belleau, Jean le Baptiste, Line St-Pierre, Jean-Claude Lafrenière
© 2011 Urantia Association of Quebec
¶ Report of the Women’s Committee
ON THIS BEAUTIFUL SUNNY SPRING DAY, 6 BRAVE WOMEN UNDERTAKEN THE EXERCISE OF COORDINATING THEIR PERSONALITY ON A JOINT PROJECT.
I believe that our vision of service isWas present that day in Trois-Rivières; Line St-Pierre, Johanne Séguin, Ginette Kavanah, Madeleine Boisvert, Céline a friend of Madeleine, and Louise Charbonneau. The meeting began with a shared dinner, because many came from far away. Madeleine Boisvert had cordially offered us her hospitality in her pavilion used for her study group meetings.
We cannot ignore the extreme kindness of this couple who welcomed us with such charm into their family estate. We all fell under their spell without exception.
We continued the day according to the needs of some by going around the table to get to know each other better. It was a formative exercise, because in turn we witnessed the inner beauty of each one. The more we know a person, the more we love them and this was indeed the case for me. My favorite is Madeleine Boisvert and her family who live according to high values and give full meaning to the work that the Women’s Committee wants to do by supporting the expansion of the role of women and the family in today’s society.
The committee has not yet formulated firm objectives, although several projects are latent in our consciences. During the next meetings, we will move towards the development of more concrete projects and the achievement of short and medium term objectives. Several avenues are open to us, there is so much to do!!
Several points emerged from our discussions and these women see service to God in all areas of their lives. Whether it is with our children, our spouses, our friends, our colleagues, let us seize every opportunity to nourish their souls. We have identified so many needs in our Western world, no need to go very far… there are the elderly left to fend for themselves, neglected children, people at the end of their lives, idle young people, etc. All these cultural activities transmitted in daily life that are often left behind because parents are too busy working; sewing, knitting, cooking, growing plants, passing on our knowledge… the women say with one accord; there is so much to do!!
It is obvious that the committee will work in action and not only in the idealistic imagination. Reading some excerpts on couple life and family life in papers 81 to 84, it is clear that we will have to work in premarital education, in teaching the parental experience and in understanding the development of the child. The Urantia Book says it clearly; the core of our society is the family and we women are the torchbearers of its morality and the spiritual director of humanity. We must think carefully about it and finally assume these royal tasks that are devolved to us. It is this spiritual choice that these women make who will work concretely for the expansion of a more spiritual awareness of reality by raising to the pinnacle the dignity of being a woman.
Through this meeting, a divine fact emerged. By reflecting on the solemnity of trust, we understand that we must first be trustworthy before we are entrusted with a mission or increased service.
The Urantia Book expresses it well in issue 28, from which here is an extract: Issue 28, point 5.
The privilege of service immediately follows the discovery of loyalty.
Our meeting ended with a sugar shack activity on Madeleine’s own land where we were able to enjoy maple sugar and maple taffy on the snow thanks to the dedication of our hosts. We are happy to announce our next meeting which will take place on Saturday, May 28 in Trois-Rivières at Madeleine Boisvert’s.
Johanne Seguin,
President of the Women’s Committee
¶ Response to an article by Line St-Pierre
LAST FEBRUARY WHEN I PUBLISHED MY ARTICLE WHERE ARE THESE WOMEN? WHICH WAS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH AND SPANISH FOR THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD AND APPEARED IN TIDINGS, I RECEIVED A RESPONSE VIA MY EMAIL WHICH I TRANSLATED FOR YOU AND WHICH IS HERE.
Actions are ours, consequences are God’s! We can never know how the spirit through our words can touch the spirit of another.
So I encourage you to take action!
Hello Line,
I just read your article in Tidings. Well here I am!
When I met you and Gaétan at a convention in Nashville over 4 years ago, you encouraged me to become a study group host. Following your suggestion, my husband and I have been hosting monthly guests at our group ever since.
I recently joined GLMUA and was appointed Treasurer to fill Tamara Strumfeld’s term. I also volunteered to help with the online recording of the Leadership Symposium this summer and submitted a review of Deepak Chopra’s latest book The Soul and the Leadership for the GLMUA newsletter.
I look forward to seeing you again and serving with you this summer at the Symposium.
In friendship and in service,
Cheryl Glicker
¶ Worship: The Beauty of Service
FOR THE PAST FOUR MONTHS, WE HAVE BEEN REFLECTION ON THE THEME OF SERVICE. ALL THIS REFLECTION BEGAN WITH A WORSHIP ACTIVITY THAT I LED ON BEHALF OF A READING GROUP. I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU ONE OF THE TEXTS THAT WAS USED FOR THIS ACTIVITY SINCE IT IS THE SOURCE OF MY DISCOVERIES ON THE IMPORTANCE AND BEAUTY OF SERVICE. IT IS BOTH A WORSHIP OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER AND A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING.
¶ The beauty of service
I want to thank you, Heavenly Father, for this speech inaugurating the Kingdom that Jesus left us two thousand years ago. From this speech, I remember a very special phrase.
In the kingdom of heaven there will be neither Jew nor Gentile, but only those who seek perfection by serving. For I declare that whoever wants to be great in the kingdom of heaven must first become the servant of all (UB 137:8.11).
Great art thou, Father, for thou art in the service of thy creation. The Thought Adjusters exemplify this service as they work to create our surviving soul in collaboration with our human mind, as they direct our earthly steps along the path of eternity in accordance with our will while we yet live our incarnate lives. These majestic beings descend from thy divine abode to indwell the minds of material and imperfect creatures. In the case of our planet, Urantia, an unfortunate and rebellion-broken sphere, this service assumes a dimension all the more touching and remarkable.
You place at our service an incredible number of personalities to help us on the path that leads to you or to succor us in times of great distress. I think of the Melchizedeks, and of many other spiritual personalities who were sent to this part of the universe, during the Lucifer rebellion to redress the perilous situation of our planet. But, to me, the most beautiful and the most striking, the most striking image is that of your son incarnate in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, at the last supper, as he crouched to wash the feet of his disciples, he gave us this magnificent and astounding lesson on the beauty of service. It was not only Jesus of Nazareth or Michael of Nebadon who taught us this lesson, but it was you, also, our heavenly Father; is not the Son the expression of the Father? As I watch you act, I can no longer deny the importance of service to my incarnate brothers. It is also through service that one becomes perfect as you are perfect. It is true that when one performs the high service of the kingdom of heaven, one truly becomes like you. Yes, you are indeed in service to your creation; the work of the Thought Adjusters for the human soul is a striking example of this.
I am fascinated by the respect that these entities have for our free will, despite the misuse that we can make of it. You are a God who is not afraid, you are a God who loves a challenge, because you have decided to guide us through the mazes of our material life, limiting your action and giving us, by the same token, the freedom to refuse you. Despite our stubbornness and our wanderings, you are always present out of love for us. What humility that of such a powerful God submitting to the sovereign will of the human personality.
How majestic is your plan, Father. How intelligent in this way of transforming the errors and faults of your creatures into opportunities! I think of the agodontarians, those beings who have remained faithful and loyal to you during the rebellions that sometimes occur in your universe. They can believe without seeing, persevere in isolation and triumph over insurmountable difficulties, even when they are alone. Thus, from apparent catastrophes, you transform ugliness into beauty and from our errors, you give birth to truth.
I am inspired by the patience you are displaying in the whole process of creature evolution. I am convinced and happy in the thought that all this patience, all this love, all this effort, all this service, will bear fruit and will be crowned by an eternal relationship between you and each of us, a relationship whose bonds will be unalterable and indestructible, a fusion of our natures so complete, so perfect that neither the human nor the Adjuster can ever again be discerned from each other. Like you, my heavenly Father, I look forward to that day with increasing expectation.
If you have any comments, questions or objections about this text, do not hesitate to write to me. I will be happy to read you.
Marc Belleau
belleaumarc@hotmail.com
¶ Hello friends, readers of the Urantia Book
I RECENTLY RECEIVED FROM MRS. LINE ST-PIERRE, OF THE AUQ COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE, THE TIDINGS NEWSPAPERS, THE AUI NEWSPAPERS AND FINALLY THE QUEBEC REGIONAL NEWSPAPERS, LE RÉFLECTIVITÉ.
It was with great interest that I read these documents which all spoke about the way of serving, but especially about the leadership which will be discussed at the Symposium in 2011.
Following the writings that I sent to the Urantia Foundation and to certain readers of the great Urantia Book (The Ark of John the Baptist and Where is Satan), I thought I saw in the sending of these journals a question about my position regarding leadership. A question to which I will answer.
Leaders are generally men of action in a concrete, material world. Sociable, often gregarious, because there are many of them among them, these men and women feel good among their peers. They have networks of acquaintances and very early on they experience the advantages of the concept “strength in numbers”. Down to earth, often dominant, competitive, they love power. These men of action, I say men, because they are more numerous than women, are born organizers; creators of institutions. In the Churches, throughout the ages, they are those who make the substance transit to the form, the spirit of the letter to the letter. These men and women are excellent in the concrete, but the invisible concrete is often lacking. They are generally destitute on the emotional and qualitative level. In this type of individual, self-knowledge is often rudimentary…, they are too busy outside. The heart is where the eyes rest.
This ability of leaders to organize, direct and build their environment refers to the left brain. The left hemisphere is the brain of reason, mathematics and language. To use an image used in The Urantia Book, the left brain is the shell, essential for the development of concepts, for the construction of the chick, but once the chick is born, the shell is no longer of any use. It is the tool brain. Most leaders in this world have this dominant brain.
Alongside these organizers and leaders who see and build big, in the material concrete, there is the housewife (sometimes the man) who takes care of the emotional aspect, the inner life and the love to be given to the family. These emotional capacities, qualitative as opposed to the previous ones which are quantitative, refer to the right hemisphere. The feminine right brain is the channel of spirituality and intuition. It is through this brain that God communicates with us. Here it is not power that is sought, but harmony. Behind these dominant right brains, we find the artists, the qualitative psychologists (because there are also the quantitative psychologists… who are less successful), the social workers and the spiritualists among whom we find the great religious instructors who have traveled through History. More fragile, more sensitive, more emotional, the dominant rights are the antennas of society which capture parts of the future.
We all have these two hemispheres and we all lean a little more to one side than the other. There are men/men (head, head), men/women (head, heart), women/men (heart, head) and women/women (heart, heart). Some are more external, others more internal and these qualities are extraordinary on both sides. A big heart without a head is not much better than a big head without a heart. On the whole, men are a little more rational (the head) and women a little more emotional, affective (the heart).
Our adorable Master, Jesus, in all his perfection, mastered both the inside and the outside, the chick and the shell. For us, humble creatures, the path to perfection consists in developing, in addition to what is easy for us, our deficient side. The crossing of the famous psychic circles, which are spoken of in The Urantia Book, cannot be done without this knowledge, where we can recognize through our thoughts, when we are in intellectual mode or in emotional mode. To put it more simply, we must know when it is God who speaks inside us…, or our ego. The life of the spirit is these choices between our thoughts; not only once a day, a week or a month, but at all times.
The women and men of God must not be like the teachers of the Old World. To have a booklet of The Urantia Book read to us that we have already read, or to hear a lecture on things that we know, is the same language as that of the old priests or religious pastors. Jesus did not read the scriptures or read them very much. He loved! And it is this love that made Him the greatest leader of men. He loved and then he taught how one can attain this love in union with the Father who lives within us, the Thought Adjuster. The new teachers must teach the spirit of the letter, how to live in spirit, how everything passes through the observation of our thoughts. One cannot teach love, like that of Jesus, if one does not live it like He did. This is what is lacking in many readers and teachers, of good will, but who are too taken up with the outside world.
The true spiritual educator must teach psychic autonomy, the liberation that comes from the proximity of God in this incessant fight with the ego. A hundred times a day, we fall into the ruts of the ego, a hundred times a day we must know how to get up again. In this inner task the disappointments are great and multiple, but with this habit of the constant fighter, the day arrives when disappointments no longer have a hold on oneself, our will is that His will be done, whatever happens. This sign announces the proximity of the adorable day of fusion where the two, man and God, become one.
Let us not forget that we will be tested spiritually only by this work upon ourselves. Outer works may be great, but there is no progress through psychic circles without this work of pruning our thoughts. Our radiance upon others is inversely proportional to our degree of inner purification. Spirit living is only a concept until we live it. Our Adjuster adjusts nothing without our will. Spirit life does not come by itself, by waiting for it. It comes when there is a struggle with ourselves and we make divine choices.
Let us not forget this phrase of the revelators: “The Master of truth will demand an accounting in accordance with the truth entrusted to your care.” (P. 1918). This is saying something!
“Christianity even now willingly goes the first mile, but mankind languishes and stumbles along in moral darkness because there are so few genuine second-milers—so few professed followers of Jesus who really live and love as he taught his disciples to live and love and serve.” (UB 195:10.5)
The first league of the Fifth Revelation was successfully accomplished. The leaders of the Foundation published widely and with great generosity. The Book is translated into several languages and will be translated into many more. But the great Brotherhood of Man, the purpose of this book, can only come about if the teachers travel the second league. This great book is but an empty shell if we are not the chicks living this teaching. I will go further, The Urantia Book is not necessary if by our lives we radiate love, truth, beauty and goodness. A man starving for love needs to be fed before he can think about a 2000-page brick. And even after having been fed by the words of life, the book is still not indispensable to this soul who has found God, if he does not feel the need or does not have the capacity for it. Eternity will take care of teaching him everything. Our task is to bring souls to God, by our radiance, then the book. We must be more than witnesses of God or Jehovah, we must live the divinity a little more each day.
This choice between the human and the divine can only be made by discriminating our thoughts. That is action on oneself! If we do not radiate divinity, we are little more than book sellers.
The revelators knew and know the two psychic tendencies that we have examined above. The two-brained humans that we are, they have been studying them for a long time. For this reason, they separated the Urantia Foundation from the Brotherhood. To structure the shell that is The Urantia Book, and to make it accessible to the greatest number, they needed down-to-earth organizers, men and women generous with their time and financially capable of meeting the costs that such a publication entails. They had to take care of the form, the letter (the letter to be published, if I may say so). The revelators even specified that it was necessary to keep idealists away… for this task.
If the Foundation, which deals with the letter (The Urantia Book), required a structured organization, the Brotherhood must exist beyond all structures or organizations. It must not become, like all structures after a certain time, a prisoner of an outdated organization. Like the shell, the form is always transitory. Even the Fifth Revelation is only there for a time. One day it will be outdated. The Brotherhood, on the other hand, must be eternal.
If women and men of action are needed to structure the form, idealists are needed to transcend, to go beyond this form. Let us not forget that Jesus was a practical idealist and that all practical men and women must also become idealists, in order to exalt the ideals.
The real drivers of men are not leaders, but women and men with integrated psychic components, those who have made a longer journey in crossing psychic circles.
So stand up, my sisters and brothers. Let us follow our Beautiful, Great, Strong and Adorable Master, the Jesus of love who must live in the hearts of all men.
Every woman,
John the Baptist
¶ Dear readers,
In order to update the database and to communicate better with you, I would be grateful if you could send me your email address if you have one to: line.stpierre@gmail.com You do not have to answer me if you already receive correspondence from me via the internet.
Many thanks for your cooperation.
Line St-Pierre
¶ SURVEY
WHAT IS THE GREATEST MESSAGE OF THE URANTIA BOOK FOR YOU?
Having completed my third reading of the book, 1980, 2000, 2009, I thought I had finally grasped something essential. In a few words, tell us your point of view.
I will compile it all and share it with you along with my own response.
See you soon,
Jean-Claude Lafreniere
St-André Avellin
¶ Activities 2011
Thematic
Saturday May 14
Welcome to this day at the Hotel L’Oiselière in Lévis. The topic presented will be FAITH AND BELIEFS.
We will welcome you from 9:30 a.m. to start the day at 10 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m.
In the morning there will be presentations and the afternoon is planned for round table discussions.
Cost: $10
If you are interested in the topic and would like to meet other readers, but you do not have transportation, we may be able to accommodate you. Please contact me by email at line.stpierre@gmail.com or call me at 450-565-3323.
Picnic, Michael’s Party
Sunday August 21
Angrignon Park in Ville La Salle
Regional visit
October 1st and 2nd
The location will be communicated to you later.
Thematic
Sunday October 16
The theme and location will be communicated to you later.
Holiday Dinner
Saturday December 3rd
The place to come.
¶ STUDY GROUPS
THIS ACTIVITY ALLOWS MULTIPLE READERS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING TO SHARE AND STUDY THE TEACHINGS OF THE URANTIA BOOK TOGETHER. IT PROMOTES SPIRITUAL PROGRESS BY ENABLING PARTICIPANTS TO FIND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE TEACHINGS OF THE URANTIA BOOK IN THEIR DAILY LIVES. THIS IMPORTANT PRACTICE MAINTAINS A BROADER VIEW OF CONCEPTS OF TRUTH.
You wish to participate or form a study group; we will be happy to assist you. If you wish to have your study group appear in this list, contact the person in charge, via email association.urantia.quebec@gmail.com or at 450-565-3323.
Group: Découverte
Every Monday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Laurentians Region Gaétan Charland and Line St-Pierre
Tel.: 450-565-3323
Group: Étoile du Soir
Every Wednesday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Laurentides region
Carmen Charland
Tel.: 450-553-3601
Group: Le Pont
Every Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
South Shore of Montreal
Guy Vachon
Tel.: 450-465-7049
Group: Basses Laurentides
Every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Yvon or Irene Belle-Isle
Tel: 819-423-1240
Group: Mauricie Readers
Every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Three Rivers Region
Madeleine Boisvert and
Tel: 819-376-8850
Roger Perigny
819-379-5768
Group: Veritas
Every Tuesday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Montreal area, near the Church metro station
Lise and Pierre Routhier
Tel.: 514-761-2378
Sherbrooke Group
Every two weeks, Tuesday or Wednesday (to be confirmed)
From 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Helene Boisvenue or Denis Gravelle
Tel.: 819 569-6416
Group: The Ascendants
Every two weeks on Sunday from 13 h 00 to 3:30 p.m.
South Shore of Quebec
Guy LeBlanc
Tel: 418-835-1809
Group: The Agondontarians
Every two weeks on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. North Shore of Quebec
Guy & Rolande L. Martin
Tel: 418-651-3851
Group: Les Débonnaires
Wednesdays from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Montreal region
Julien Audet
Tel: 514-315-9871
Group: Urantia Fraternity
Wednesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Lanaudière region
Richard Landry & Gisèle Boisjoly
Tel: 450-589-6922
Group: Vers les Sommets
Friday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Regions Ormstown & Valleyfield
Louise Sauve
Tel: 450-829-3631
Group: The United Urantia Family
Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Montreal region
Mrs. Diane Labrecque
Tel: 514-277-2308
The Partners of the Supreme
Monday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Quebec region
Richard Lachance
Tel: (418) 614-2520 or (418) 933-0244 (cell)
At Maisonia
Every two weeks on Monday from 7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Quebec region
Gilles Bertrand & Louise Renaud
Tel: 418-871-4564
Group: Uni-Terre
Every Sunday from 9:00 a.m.
Lanaudière region
Eric Martel
Tel: 450-756-9387
Disclaimer: Any interpretations, opinions, conclusions or artistic representations, stated or implied, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Urantia Association International or local and national level associations.