On August 21 and 22, Joyce and Dave Anderson hosted the Urantia Association of NY-Pennsylvania Jesus Celebration at their home in Niskayuna, NY. Ten association members gathered on Friday evening for a Remembrance Supper, dinner and fellowship, including a lively discussion of how to encourage more young people to read the book and become involved in study groups.
On Saturday morning, most of us met to walk or run along the Mohawk River. Our formal program commenced at 10 am with a discussion of the readings. We then shared favorite stories of Jesus’ life, from early childhood through to his final hours on earth. The focus of many of these stories was how Jesus encouraged people of various backgrounds to recognize truth. We also discussed how expertly he used narrative to impart his message, in ways that still speaks very powerfully to us today. Our discussion continued over a vegetarian lunch. We concluded with some uplifting music by Sweet Honey in the Rock.
A smaller group attended the final performance of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s summer season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday evening. As is traditional, the concert ended with a rousing version of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with an 18th century cannon and fireworks!
Our farewells were made easier by the fact that we will meet again in less than a month for our 13th Annual Fall Conference, details of which can be found on the Association’s website at http://urantia-association.org/events-list/.