© 2011 Line St-Pierre, Pierre Routhier, Éric Martel, Jean-Claude Lafrenière
© 2011 Urantia Association of Quebec
¶ Faith and beliefs
THIS SECOND THEME OF THE YEAR ORGANIZED FOR READERS BY THE URANTIA ASSOCIATION OF QUEBEC WAS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO SEE OR RE-SEE PEOPLE OF THE COMMUNITY AND SHARE WITH THEM.
How interesting it is to watch and listen to different personalities present on the same subject, but in a completely unique way and to bring out a multitude of facets. This is what Louise Renaud, Guy Breton and Robert Ezri did on Saturday, May 14 in Lévis. Faith and Beliefs was the theme.
The articulation and research work of each of these readers was absolutely enlightening. Even after reading and studying the faith for years, there is always something that either was not there in our understanding or that had escaped us.
Their divine wisdom was dazzling and my soul was filled with joy.
About thirty readers met there and discussed practical questions in the afternoon which helped us to grow, if not in knowledge, at most in fraternity.
Thank you to you who accepted this invitation and made this day lively and dynamic in your faith.
To love is to serve
Line St-Pierre
¶ Reply to John the Baptist
MY FRIEND, MY BROTHER, IT SEEMS TO ME, GIVEN YOUR ARTICLE, THAT YOU ARE MORE HEART/HEART THAN HEAD/HEART.
This is why the organizational side challenges your convictions, which according to you, “The women and men of God must not be like the teachers of the Old World.” Jesus was the great teacher of the old world (his time) and he had set up an entire organization of apostles, evangelists and disciples.
Jesus was a well-balanced person between head and heart and recognized the need for organization, something you don’t seem to recognize.
Everyone has their own point of view, and our point of view depends on our experiences. Since everyone has their own experiences, it is quite normal that our point of view diverges from the point of view of others.
The revelators have not only given us THE URANTIA BOOK they have also given instructions to the Contact Group concerning the protection of the Book, the Foundation and the brotherhood. The latter must work to establish thousands and thousands of L.U. study groups, and leaders are needed for this!
A leader must be a person who is well balanced between head and heart, a person in harmony to properly harmonize a study group. The 5th Epochal Revelation reminds us emphatically of the importance of group work. Study groups, conventions, Urantia associations, and Urantia Foundation are all group work.
Just because we have read this revelation once or several times does not mean we have understood all there is to understand, since our unique point of view only reveals one aspect of it. It is only by exchanging our points of view that we can broaden ours and reach a cosmic point of view… seeing from above rather than from below.
The leaders you seem to be mocking are avowed followers of Jesus traveling the second league. That is why there is a meeting of leaders in Chicago, to harmonize their participation in the work of the 5th Epochal Revelation.
The ego is oneself, as we are presently in the flesh, we do not have to fight it, but to educate it, to perfect it according to the desire of Our Universal Father: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The accomplishment of this wish will be eternally our task.
Pierre Routhier
¶ Placement of the Urantia Book in the library
IN THE FALL OF 2010, WHEN I DECIDED TO FORM A STUDY GROUP I PLACED AN AD IN A LOCAL NEWSPAPER AND SEVERAL ADS ON BULLETIN BOARDS IN BUSINESSES IN MY AREA.
From the newspaper I had about ten respondents, eight of whom did not know The Urantia Book. From the notices placed on the bulletin boards I had only one respondent who is now part of our group. I made contact with two other readers thanks to the list provided by the AUQ of people interested in being part of a study group.
Even in the age of the Internet I was very surprised to see how few people knew about The Urantia Book. Not having the crusade spirit at all I still wondered if I could do something and naturally thought about placing the book in a library.
I contacted the president of the AUQ to tell him about my project. He provided me with copies of the book and the address of a web page of the Foundation concerning the policy of placing books in libraries. It indicated where the book could be placed; municipal libraries, prisons, hospitals and public places, but no specific procedure, way of doing things or the type of difficulties I might encounter. So I had to establish an “approach” of how I would present the book? What questions might I be asked and how would I answer them? I also decided to take a lot of notes on how my library visits would go in order to share this experience with other readers and perhaps help those who would like to do the same.
I started by making a list of public libraries in my area. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to find the address and opening hours of most municipal libraries. You can also browse their computer directory to see if they have The Urantia Book and how many copies. This saves you from having to travel for nothing. Out of more than twenty libraries, only three had the book. I decided not to try to place books in prisons; perhaps in the future. As for public places, I have not found any that are conducive to this approach.
Since the library at my local hospital was not accessible via the internet, I called to see if they had the book. It was only when I got there that I realized that the library was reserved for employees of the institution. The manager then suggested that I offer the book to the hospital’s spiritual support service. I accepted. It was there that I received the warmest welcome.
¶ THE APPROACH
In the library I always started by saying that I wanted to donate a book to their institution and I asked if they had the book (in case the information obtained on the internet was incorrect). Each time I suggested the classification of the book by saying: the book is normally classified under spirituality or religion. From there, I just answered their questions without being too militant. Most of the interviews lasted only a few minutes.
¶ QUESTIONS
- Who is the author?
- Answer: This is probably the most difficult question. Given that there are several authors of the book and given their origins, I found it simpler, for the purpose of the exercise, to answer, — the Urantia Foundation.
- What is the book about?
It is not easy to describe The Urantia Book in a few sentences; no matter what one says, it is always reductive. Nevertheless, I have opted for the following description. — The book is about God, the origin and history of the universe, the origin and history of our planet, and the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Sometimes I explained that the book unified science and religion.
- Does the book belong to a church?
Answer: No, there is no church, no priest. There is a foundation that takes care of the publication and the integrity of the text and there are readers’ associations where everyone is free to interpret the book in their own way.
- Are you a representative?
Answer: No, I am here in a personal capacity, but the books are provided by the Urantia Association.
Twice I was asked if I would accept potential readers calling me for more information. I politely declined, suggesting that they check the AUQ and Foundation websites online. Sometimes I mentioned that the book was available online in several languages and in audio.
The book’s printing date (1994) sometimes seemed to be a problem; the book was considered too old. My interlocutors were surprised to learn that the book dated from 1955.
When I visited libraries I often spoke to volunteers who could not, on their own, accept the book; the decision was always made by the librarian. So I left my name and phone number in case the book was rejected. This happened four times and I had to go back to get the book. To avoid this, I would have had to do my visits on weekdays. Almost all of my trips were on weekends.
- The book with or without the box?
I realized that if I arrived with the book without the box, my interlocutors assumed that the book belonged to me, while if I arrived with the book in its box, it aroused suspicion; as if I had a mandate as a representative of an organization.
¶ THE WELCOME
The reception in the library is very variable, it depends a lot on the person you are talking to. I know from experience that most non-believers and even some believers are afraid of The Urantia Book. I ended up realizing that there were five possible types of interlocutors: 1- an interested believer, 2 - an indifferent believer, 3- a hostile believer, 4- an indifferent non-believer, 5- a hostile non-believer.
I also understood that some of them were resistant to the parts of the book dealing with eugenics, I was not asked about this, but that is what I felt.
In short, during my visits I was received very well at 35%, well received at 15%, received with reserve at 15% and received with reserve and suspicion at 35%. Of course, all this is very subjective, but it represents what I saw, felt and understood.
¶ REJECTED BOOKS
Four libraries rejected the book for the following reasons:
1- Unable to find the book in a computer directory.
2- Rejected by order of superiors.
3- Rejected because the book is too specialized and not aimed at the clientele of their establishment.
4- Rejected because the book is not interesting.
Of course I didn’t really believe their answers, but I saw them as a polite way of saying no. When I went back to get the books, I didn’t object or ask any questions. I simply thanked them. It’s worth noting that three of the four books that were rejected were rejected by the most important libraries I visited.
¶ FOLLOW-UP
Three months after my last visit I decided to check, again via the Internet, whether the libraries where I had placed the book were indeed in possession of the book. Three of them were not. In case the book had not been entered into their computer directory, I called, anonymously, to see if they had the book.
- The first one had the book, but it had not yet been rated or categorized. The book is still not available to library customers.
- The second one did not have the book listed in their directory, but the book was available to customers.
- The third one also had not registered the book in their directory and the book was not available at that moment because a citizen had borrowed the book. I confess here that I felt a great joy.
¶ CONCLUSION
I hope that the description I have made of this experience will be useful to other readers who might be tempted by this type of action. The only advice I can give is that you have to prepare in advance. Do everything possible to avoid losing copies of the book and accept, as in the parable of the sower, that the book will be rejected by some and that you have no power over that. The action is ours, not the result. On several occasions I have been looked at as if I were an alien, but I have not been offended; after all, there are days when I wonder if I am one.
Also, I realized that even though I took this step in a personal capacity, it is nonetheless true that I played the “role of representative” for the Urantia Association to all those people to whom I presented the book. If only for this reason, I made it a point to always be respectful, courteous and polite with the library staff. I enjoyed this experience very much and felt real pleasure in it. I felt assisted from above and from within. Furthermore, I discovered that my faith had grown even more in the process. I would especially like to thank my wife Louise for her patience for all the hours I spent taking care of this project.
Kind regards,
Eric Martel
¶ Announcement regarding the Study Group Portal
THE LEADERS OF URANTIA FOUNDATION, URANTIA BOOK FELLOWSHIP, AND URANTIA ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL ARE VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT OF COOPERATIVE SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY.
After two years of study, testing, and enthusiastic support from teams in all three of our organizations, the Study Group Portal is now operational. It has gained unprecedented joint sponsorship, for we affirm that almost everything of true value in the Urantia community has its origins in study groups, including The Urantia Book itself, which grew out of the original study group: the Forum.
A comprehensive study group database supported by major organizations has been a cherished ideal for many years, but that vision came to fruition at the Urantia Foundation Internet Strategy Meeting in the fall of 2008. The gathering attracted more than a dozen technically savvy leaders, some affiliated with reader groups and others not. The model of an interactive study group website was universally appealing, and Scott Brooks, representing UAI as webmaster, agreed to design and lead the project.
The Study Group Portal was built to encourage the creation and growth of study groups. But as an Internet resource, the portal is something new; it is a voluntary list guide that is always available for updating by those who host a group and it is a referral service that is always available to readers looking for a study group. As hosts sign up and the database grows, those who want to study in a group will be able to look for one where they live or while traveling. With an interface and protocol similar to that of social networking sites, the portal is easy to navigate.
The portal also contains an online library of Urantia Book study aids, including the new UAI Study Group Guide. These educational resources will tutor students in their understanding of the teachings and assist in the development of study groups through the sharing of models and successful experiences. The site will soon include multiple translations, making it a truly global service.
If you are currently hosting a Urantia Book-centered study group that is open to all readers and non-political, please register NOW by visiting: http://UrantiaStudyGroup.org
Beta testing has been completed so the Study Group Portal is now open to serve the Urantia community! However, it is still new and if you encounter any technical issues or have any other questions, please contact the administrator sbrooks@rightgood.com
We also need valuable study aids to expand our library, if you have any please submit them to us.
¶ 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
Picnic, Michael’s Party
Sunday August 21
Angrignon Park in Ville La Salle
Regional visit
Ter and 2 October
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.