© 2019 Rick Lyon
© 2019 Urantia Foundation
| Ways to Help Spread the Urantia Revelation | Volume 13, Issue 2, July 2019 — Index | Celebrating Moussa N'Diaye and Norman Ingram |
By Rick Lyon, Indiana, United States
Editor’s Note: After hearing the presentation Rick gave on service and CosmicCreations, we asked him to write about it in hopes that you would find it as inspiring as we did.
The topic of service seems to be on everyone’s minds right now. One of the service projects that my wife, Susan, and I are involved in is CosmicCreations—an online store that offers Urantia-related products with the concentric circles such as hats, tee shirts, coffee mugs, pens, necklaces, pins, and artwork. We also carry music and publications that readers might be interested in.
¶ How We Contribute
We believe that our biggest contribution is dissemination of the Urantia teachings. Using the concentric circles symbol and the word “Urantia” invites people who know nothing about The Urantia Book to ask: “What do those circles represent?” Or “What is Urantia?” We find that people are more open to having a conversation because they are approaching us rather than us approaching them.
One example was at the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City. I was wearing a shirt with the Urantia logo on the front and one of the inevitabilities quoted on the back. A teenage girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “Sir, can we take your picture?” I turned around, puffed out my chest, and said, “Sure!” To which she and her two friends replied, “No, the back of your shirt. We really like what it says.” The result, three young people learned about The Urantia Book. Also, when we were walking out of a movie theater wearing our tee shirts, someone yelled, “Urantia!” He then came up to me and said, “I read that book.”
Every morning Susan and I enjoy coffee served in one of our coffee mugs, and we contemplate how we are part of a very important project—the fifth epochal revelation of God—a project of Christ Michael. Each day we are reminded that we can change the world by changing ourselves, to be of service to others, to seek the will of the Father by spending time each day in meditation, prayer, and worship.
¶ Our Outreach and Publishing Efforts
We have a chance to talk to many people who know nothing about Urantia Foundation, the Fellowship, or Urantia Association. Those of us serving in these organizations tend to measure the community by those who are active and/or connected, but there are thousands of other students of the book out there.
Through CosmicCreations we have encouraged customers to find or start study groups, attend events (often for the first time), and sign up for mailing lists. Everything we send out includes a bookmark to find study groups through the Study Group Directory, a joint project of Urantia Association, the Fellowship, and Urantia Foundation. Our hopes are that readers will find study groups when they are ready to study with other readers.
We also publish a monthly newsletter for our customers. Recently we included an announcement for the upcoming 2019 Midwest Conference, and it turned out that a lady on our mailing list is a close friend of the event chair, Janet Guaderrama—but neither of them knew that the other one reads The Urantia Book. There are so many coincidences!
¶ Why We Do This
The personal benefit is sharing the wealth of hitting the spiritual lottery by finding The Urantia Book. CosmicCreations is a project that Susan and I can work on together, and we feel so blessed to have this service opportunity.
Jesus taught that service to one’s fellows is the highest concept of the brotherhood of spirit believers. UB 188:4.9
¶ Where to Find Us
Please visit our website and learn more about us at CosmicCreations.biz.
¶ References
| Ways to Help Spread the Urantia Revelation | Volume 13, Issue 2, July 2019 — Index | Celebrating Moussa N'Diaye and Norman Ingram |