© 2011 Michel Breton, J.C. Lafrenière, Maurice Migneault, Gaétan G. Charland
© 2011 Urantia Association of Quebec
¶ Service, my leitmotif
BEFORE BEGINNING MY PRESENTATION on the theme of this topic, I would like to clarify that I am not seeking any glory and/or wanting to amaze you by sharing with you my journey and my understanding, as to my way of making my contribution to making known to my brothers and sisters the richness of the teachings of the Urantia Book.
Paper 100, paragraph 4 of The Urantia Book says: The greatest happiness is inseparably linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth brings lasting joy, a peace that passes all understanding. UB 100:4.3
The challenge that I have set myself for a very long time is to be as much as possible a source of inspiration for my loved ones, and all those that my Adjuster at my request puts on my path. It seems extremely important to me to live internally and as intensely as possible, what The Urantia Book teaches us. I believe that above all we must be the reflection of what we want to share and make known.
Many people wonder how to be a source of inspiration? Personally, I believe that it is by living various experiences in service as The Urantia Book teaches us, that it is possible for us to acquire spiritual maturity. As far back as I can remember, I have always been pushed towards service, towards human suffering. Where there were needs, I volunteered. Without understanding what pushed me to want to come to the defense of the least, I made myself available.
Looking back, I thank my parents for giving me religious principles within the framework of institutional religion, however imperfect it may have been! It was my first immersion into spirituality. As an adult, like all of you, I put in order what I had received as baggage in order to move forward.
Spirituality has always interested me and I believe I have found in different schools of thought, several elements of an answer to know: where I come from, who I am and where I am going. I remain open to everything that can contribute to my progress. I discovered The Urantia Book about ten years ago. This book allowed me to put together what I had integrated until then and much more. I am still progressing…
Like many of you, the desire to exchange, share and make known the teachings of the Urantia Book appeals to me! But how can I go about making my contribution in this sense, while respecting each person in their beliefs and without invading anyone by thinking I hold the truth? Allow me to share with you how I see my contribution. As I mentioned previously, I attach great importance to living internally and putting the teachings into practice.
How can I gain credibility if this teaching is only in my intellect? In my everyday life, through my responsibilities, the vicissitudes of life, can I be a source of inspiration, someone who speaks with his heart, his guts? For my part, I work in this direction every day. I am succeeding more and more and I take responsibility for my failures. My failures teach me the points on which I must work.
How many people have wanted to start talking about The Urantia Book while being well-intentioned, but who have caused more harm than good? I do not judge them, it is an observation! Every day, I ask my Adjuster to use me where I will be most useful and believe me, I am challenged. My policy is to make myself available, if we want to talk about spirituality, but otherwise, I prefer to be the reflection of my spirituality (with my imperfections) and to be a source of inspiration for the people who gravitate around me! In certain situations, words, however well-intentioned they may be, do more harm than good!
Let me tell you a little more about myself (in all modesty) to share with you my way of being in the service… I come from a dysfunctional background and I suffered a lot in my early childhood from a lack of love and psychological violence from my father. My mother was very loving. This situation with my father made me know hatred and on the other hand with my mother, I knew love. Somewhere, I opted for love and believe me, I have never regretted it! Regardless of this context, my parents were the first milestones of my spiritual life
When I entered the job market, I went into social work. I have always worked with the most deprived. I continually felt a call to want to help and defend the most deprived. This context allowed me to give the best of myself, what The Urantia Book probably calls the fruits of the spirit! When I mentioned that I opted for love, I have been walking with my life partner for 36 years and I am still happy about it. She gave me two beautiful children and today I am the happy grandfather of four grandchildren. All these years as a couple have allowed me to live this complementarity as mentioned in the UB. I make gestures of love every day as a husband, father and grandfather. At least, I work on it…
I would also like to share with you another example of what service has brought me. As a couple, we took the step of welcoming a Vietnamese child in 1980 (at the time of the boat people). We felt called to do so. It was a wonderful adventure of love that still nourishes us today. What I would like to bring out of this experience is the fact that we can love another child as much as our own children. This experience allowed me to touch universal brotherhood. And to open my horizons even more. Being of Buddhist faith and over time, we had very stimulating spiritual exchanges; while respecting the differences in our beliefs.
Coming from a large family and being the youngest, I prioritize with this aging family to provide them with some support. None of the members have great needs! I also remain available to assist my own children when required! Recently, I asked them for permission to speak about God to their children eventually, which they accepted. I do not want to substitute myself in their place, but I realize that I can be a source of inspiration in this sense, and this in all modesty.
Being an inspiration also involves being as balanced as possible. With the help of my Adjuster, I believe I am achieving this more and more. Jesus is my greatest inspiration. He knew how to elevate and enhance the best in people, drop by drop. He always managed to find a positive element to illuminate the soul of that person. I have made this goal my own.
For several years, I have been involved as a volunteer facilitator with men experiencing difficulties at various levels. This experience allows me to better understand the depth of the human being and to feel useful. In addition, with respect, I try to revive their inner source when the opportunity is given to me.
If I have told you all this, it is to show you that in service, I have found my way, my leitmotiv to contribute to giving birth to the fruits of the spirit of God in my brothers and sisters, and thus to contribute to disseminating the teachings contained in The Urantia Book. It is through all these life experiences that I think I have acquired spiritual maturity and the motivation to be as much a source of inspiration as possible.
Together, let us make the decision to be a source of inspiration for the people who gravitate and who will gravitate around us. I relate to you a teaching from the Urantia Book which serves as my leitmotif (paper 160):
Religion can never be a simple matter of intellectual belief or philosophical reasoning. Religion is always and perpetually a mode of reaction to life situations; it is a way of behaving.
If something has become a religion in your experience, it is evident that you are already an active evangelist of that religion, since you esteem the supreme concept of your religion as worthy of the worship of all humanity, of all the intelligences of the universe. UB 160:5.2-3
In closing, my brothers and sisters, I thank you for your attention and may I say that you can all find your LEITMOTIV in service and thus contribute to the dissemination of the teachings of The Urantia Book. Assure your Adjuster of your motivation and desire and opportunities will present themselves.
Michel Breton,
Presentation on the theme
from March 13, 2011
¶ A Sunday in August
THE COLD RAIN OF THE 21ST DID NOT prevail over the warmth of the cordial human relations of the people present at Angrignon Park in Montreal, during Michael’s celebration.
A newcomer showed up who happened to be from my area. He had gone out of his way to find someone with whom to discuss The Urantia Book. What a wonderful coincidence for us who had just founded a Study and Reading Group there! A brief interview during the week and here he was, a happy participating member!
Those who had kindly taken us there wanted to make a detour on the way back to meet a gentleman from Senegal, a friend of theirs. They spoke of him as someone very knowledgeable about The Urantia Book and the wisdom he put into his answers to the questions asked.
In fact, what was my surprise to find that he did not answer the questions at all. I was astonished and disappointed. The next day I put myself in a state of receptivity with regard to this experience and here is what I understood from it:
Rather than asking me to descend to the level of your small concerns, which are part of your “current affairs”, raise yourself to the level of “Reality” to better see the whole picture where your problem is located and thus better understand its relative importance or insignificance, if you allow me.
And finally, a word on the “cult of personality.”
This does not necessarily depend on the person himself who is praised, but on those who revere him as such.
The messenger must not be greater than his message, Michael would tell us, having seen his apostles act in this way. Let us not repeat this regrettable error for the rest of things and we will have progressed from one Revelation to the Other.
J.C. Lafrenière
St-André Avellin
¶ SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS
GOD, WHO ARE YOU?
If God you are love, perhaps by trying to define what love is I will know you? But, defining what love is is as difficult as defining what truth, forgiveness, goodness or beauty is. It is not something tangible or something that can be discerned with the help of our mind. It is something that we must live through experience.
There are a thousand ways to define wind, but no definition is more effective than feeling the breeze on your skin. Similarly, no definition of God is more effective than the experience of living Him in your heart.
Our evolution is only just beginning and our capacity to understand spiritual realities is still very limited. The recognition of love is a long journey that accompanies our growth. The small human love, which requires knowing before loving, must, little by little, give way to the great divine love, which wants us to love before knowing. This is unconditional Love. This love does not judge, does not control and does not possess. It is on these markers that we can recognize it. It is also on these markers that we can recognize the trace of God.
¶ Reflection on faith
We cannot constantly personally verify everything we are told. It would be like reinventing the wheel every day.
Without belief, we could not trust a calculator for our mathematical operations. We could not rely on a map to find our way. We could not trust the doctor’s diagnosis. Be careful, however, belief is not faith. Our life can be full of beliefs without us having faith. We can believe in luck, ghosts, astrology, supernatural powers, and even believe in God, without having faith. Faith is an experience that goes beyond belief or certainty. It is a spiritual reality that leads us to action. It is through faith that man becomes capable of establishing an autonomous relationship with God, without having to go through the twisted paths of dogma and ritual. It is in this way that faith frees man from material control.
¶ Reflection on eternity
If we consider eternity in a linear way, with the eternal past on one side and the eternal future on the other, we must admit that we are somewhere on this line. And if we are not exactly in the center, it would mean that we have more past behind us than future in front of us, or vice versa. This would be proof that eternity would one day have an end. That does not hold up! If we want to access eternity, it is through the present that we will enter it. Eternity is perhaps an eternal present, without measurement of time, there is no difference between a small moment and eternity. But we are still talking about time here! What if eternity were a state of being, an expression of endless love rubbing off on everything?
¶ Reflection on the soul
The human mind is a wonderful tool, but it is still a mechanism. Intelligence refers to the brain’s ability to organize information through synthesis or analysis. The word mind is very imprecise and can take on a thousand meanings depending on the context. On the other hand, the soul is something very special, and here is why.
Even if an organism is functional at the biological level, the life inside it is no different and independent from that outside it. If we stopped our interaction with the environment, we would stop living, or to be more precise, we would stop participating in life. Physical life manifests itself through an interaction between the organism and the environment, rather than just within the organism.
The existence of an organ only makes sense in relation to the organism of which it is a part. What use would a heart beating only for itself? Any organ or organism, whether animal or plant, is part of some ecosystem within which there is continual interaction with other organs or organisms. This is a fundamental and universal characteristic of life.
If the reason for the existence of an organ can only be understood in relation to the organism of which it is a part, the reason for the existence of the organism itself must respond to this same logic. Man is not an end in himself, but a means, a step towards something greater. What would be the use of his existence if he lived only for himself? Man must be part of an organism immensely greater than himself. Could this be what we call Creation?
When we observe life and evolution on the scale of Creation, it becomes necessary to change our standards for measuring distance and time. Eternity becomes our horizon and in the face of such an amplitude, the lifespan of a man no longer represents anything but the shadow of a speck of dust. How then could a human being serve in a meaningful way this organism that is Creation, if his death followed almost instantly after his birth? And how could this ephemeral life give him time to participate constructively in this great cosmic project, if in addition his body were deficient, sick or diminished by old age?
There must be within man something which is proof against this corrosion of the flesh and the corruption of thought, something which contains only that which must last, only that which is good, - the soul.
Every man receives from God for his growth, four gifts:
- a body to participate in life,
- a personality to express it in an original way,
- a real fragment of the living God to guide his heart
- and free will to have the right to learn from one’s mistakes.
Man, in return, offers to God what he has built using these tools - his soul.
“Knowledge is possessed only by sharing; it is safeguarded by wisdom and socialized by love.” (UB 48:7.28)
Maurice
¶ Urantia Association of Quebec
Dear Host Friends and Study Group Members,
It is with pleasure and enthusiasm in connection with the mission of The Urantia Book that I invite you to a meeting on study groups and their important role in this mission. With reference to the Publication Mandate containing the directives left for us by the Revelators, this meeting will be intended to be an exploration of the meanings and purposes sought by these directives within the framework of study groups.
If you want your study group and your approach to reflect greater coherence with the plan and mission of the revelators and The Urantia Book, you will certainly want to deepen your understanding of the goals proposed by these guidelines and the actions of the approach that flow from them.
A copy of the Publication Mandate is added to this message so that you can meditate on its contents in advance and thus be a little more prepared for this important event.
This meeting will take place on Sunday, October 30 and will begin with a Brunch/conference starting at 11 a.m. at the Best Western Hotel in St-Jérome at 420 Rue Mgr. Dubois, St-Jérome, QUÉBEC, J7Y3L8.
You must confirm your presence for the brunch before October 26, by email to: association.urantia.quebec@gmail.com or by telephone at 450-565-3323.
We look forward to meeting you on this important day for the mission of the Urantia Book in Quebec.
To love is to serve
Gaetan G. Charland
President AUQ
¶ Activities 2011
Thematic
“The social heritage carried by women”
Sunday October 16
Comfort Inn Hotel, St-Jérôme
We will welcome you from 9:30 a.m. and start the day at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.
There will be round table discussions in the afternoon.
Cost of 10$
Welcome to all
Meeting October 30
See the article by Gaétan Charland
Holiday Brunch
Sunday December 4th
Place to come
¶ Truth
WHEN SOMEONE DISCOVERS The Urantia Book and adheres with all his being to its statements, it is easy to understand his reaction: “I have found the Truth!” The problem is that the same reaction is found just as well in someone who discovers a new system of thought or a movement of some kind; he will also say: “I have found the Truth!”
All these often contradictory truths lead us to ask the question, where is the whole Truth? I believe the solution is contained in the statement itself.
Not to say, “This is the Truth, but rather this is my Truth.”
Obviously, everyone will believe that theirs is much better than the other’s. Let us recall this article from “Contribution to Peace”. I contribute to peace when I do not seek to impose my conception of God on others.
All human systems possess a part of truth and dangerous is the system of thought which believes it possesses all the Truth to the exclusion of all others.
Listening to what others have to say, reading something that at first sight seems contrary to what one thinks oneself, cultivates the spirit of analysis and tolerance. We all know the expression “Fans of God”, this applies equally to holy people or to terrorist fanatics, doesn’t it?
A final word, let us prevent a possible relaxation which could lead to total abandonment and complete rejection caused by too much mental fatigue due to too much and too prolonged concentration.
Deep peace.
Jean-Claude Lafreniere
St-André Avellin
¶ 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: 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
Group: Laurantia
Every Sunday from 9:00 a.m.
Petite Nation region in Outaouais
Denise Charron & Jean-Claude Lafreniere
Tel: 819-983-2113
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.