President’s Message – December 2017

When we are tempted to magnify our self-importance, if we stop to contemplate the infinity of the greatness and grandeur of our Makers, our own self-glorification becomes sublimely ridiculous, even verging on the humorous. One of the functions of humor is to help all of us take ourselves less seriously. Humor is the divine antidote for exaltation of ego. [Paper 48:4.15, page 549.2]

In the United States, the end of the year is the time for charitable giving. The holiday season combines with income tax season leading to a great call for support from those dedicated to “good deeds.” We exalt the fine work of the past while promising more good work in the future. We make it seem like this is the most important work on the entire planet.

In this and other editions of Tidings you can read about the many grand achievements from these last few years, you will read about our wonderful ongoing programs, and you will read about our plans for the next three years.

But as The Urantia Book points out above, we must not take ourselves too seriously. Yes, we are charged with coordinating the spreading of these Urantia teachings, an epochal revelation to the world, but we are not alone. Light and Life is not only a spiritual achievement, but a cultural and physical one as well. All of those working to bring food and clean water, shelter and infrastructure, education and harmony and, yes, spiritual awakening; all of those efforts are made by people on the same team, pulling together to lift our entire planet out of darkness.

We live in an era of service with opportunities our ancestors never dreamed of. If we take ourselves too seriously it will overwhelm us, but The Urantia Book provides us with a perspective and a vision of the universe and our ascension careers within it. Morontia Mota number 24 tells us:

The destiny of eternity is determined moment by moment by the achievements of the day by day living. [Paper 48:7.26 24, page 557.10]

Here is the honest reality of our year-end pledge drive: everyone’s fair share is US$100. If everyone who reads this were to donate US$100, then the Association would be fully funded for the next year of service. That means conferences in Europe (Amsterdam) in Africa (Accra) and in Latin America (Sao Paulo.) It means 1000 copies of The Urantia Book placed into the world in places like libraries, universities and hospitals. It means weekly leadership training in multiple languages. It means 200 brand new online study groups. It means reader services in 22 languages. I hope you can visit our website and contribute to our global work today!

The holiday season is a time to look ahead and gather together to look back upon the past year and dream about the years to come. Thank you for the year of service and the lifetime of good works we have ahead of us!

I wish you all a delightful season and a productive New Year.

Chris Wood
President
Urantia Association International
urantia-association.org/donate