Dynamic and Living Peace

From , By Moustapha N'diaye, Sénégal on

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 4:7]

O bestow on your people Israel great peace forever, for you are King and the Lord of all peace.  …  Blessed are you, Yahweh, who blesses his people Israel with peace. [Paper 150:8, page 1685]

Peace be unto you. And unto you, peace.

Introduction

Who among us has paused to reflect upon the familiar greeting and response, “Peace be unto you. And unto you, peace?” This essay draws on personal experience and understandings, the testimonials from those who collaborated in its writing, and an assessment of the religious literature of the Far East (particularly the writings of Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism), to do just that—pause and reflect on a dynamic and living peace. In so doing, this reflection explicitly relies on the teachings of The Urantia Book and the example provided by the life of Jesus as recounted in Part IV.

We have two goals. The first is to determine the extent to which human and superhuman agents contributed to this much desired peace, despite the unexpected consequences arising from the vicissitudes of our planetary history. And the second, to understand how our experience with the teachings of The Urantia Book reveal the myriad problems of the modern world, the relationship of those problems to a lack of dynamic and living peace, and the practical contributions this revelation can offer for their resolution.

Our immediate observation from this reflection identifies a deep-rooted malaise that characterizes modern times. This malaise, which we refer to as “stress,” has multiple and often unsuspected sources. It results from the external conflicts and internal disturbances that increasingly pervade both our individual lives and society at large. Globalization and the interweaving of economic, cultural, political, religious, and social institutions makes this malaise one the most widely shared perils confronting us today.

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Webinars & Workshops

Urantia Association International’s Education Committee produces educational programs to encourage study of The Urantia Book. One of these ongoing programs is to present a number of online workshops and webinars which are recorded. Most of them are now available on the Association’s YouTube channel.

For your convenience, we have embedded the English webinars and workshops below. Some of them have been produced with the help of the Association’s Study Groups Committee in an effort to improve the quality and effectiveness of study groups. We hope you find them interesting and helpful.

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International Service Board

From ,

Members of the International Service Board (ISB) are elected by a vote of the Representative Council (RC). The officers and committees of the ISB and the Executive Administrator plan, coordinate, and carry out the activities of Urantia Association that are international in scope and have been authorized by the Representative Council. They also serve as an information resource for the constituent associations by compiling and sharing information and experiences of other associations. Read on for the list and functions of the current ISB personnel.

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Italian-French-Spanish Conference 2019

By Danielle La Scala on

Hotel Europa Building24th to 27th October, 2019

We are pleased to announce the fifth conference in Italy for Italian, Swiss and French-speaking readers of The Urantia Book to be held 24 to 27 October later this year in Italy.  At Hotel Europa in Desenzano del Garda in Lombardy, on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda in northern Italy and not far away from the city Verona.

It will be an honor and a pleasure to welcome Italian, French and Spanish-speaking participants also. We intend this event to be a spiritually uplifting meeting as we come together in a friendly atmosphere to share our common ideals.

Program

The conference theme will be, “Spiritual Maturity” through character-strength and a unified personality realizing a life rich with enormous potential given to us by the Universal Father.

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President’s Message – September 2019

From , By Chris Wood, USA on

Religionists, as a group, must never concern themselves with anything but religion, albeit any one such religionist, as an individual citizen, may become the outstanding leader of some social, economic, or political reconstruction movement. [Paper 99:3.15, page 1089.7]

Indirectly, cultural civilization is influenced by the attitude of these individual religionists as they become active and influential members of various social, moral, economic, and political groups. [Paper 99:3.3, page 1088.47]

Whenever we gather as a group at a conference, there is a question that often gets raised: “What exactly are we as a group?” and “Is Urantia a religion?” In many ways we resemble a religion. We are a group of religionists; as a group, and as official organizations, we do not concern ourselves with the social, economic or political issues; we actively encourage each other and others to get to know God and to become more like him.

The difference is that throughout our history organized religions have become ingrained in the social, economic and even political realms. Group thinking replaces individual choice, and group ideas of deity replaces individual relationships with the Father. As a group of religionists, we need to actively work to keep our mission focused on God and our relationship with God.

But as individuals, we are charged with getting directly involved in society. We have the ability slowly to adjust the trajectory of the social, economic, and political realms with our spiritual and universal insights.

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2nd European Urantia Association Conference

From , Presented by Antonio Schefer, The Netherlands on

From 11-14 July 2019, the Urantia Association of Estonia hosted the 2nd European Urantia Conference at Tallink City Hotel with the theme “Sowing Seeds.” This event was the 2nd Continental Conference in Europe and took place almost three years after the Budapest conference. Eighty-seven participants celebrated friendship and brotherhood, in one of the best-preserved medieval cities of Europe, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Young Adults Pre-European Conference Retreat

From , Presented by Alex Hehlert, Germany on

(This is an extract summary on the Young Adults’ pre-conference retreat of Alex Heh’s personal testimonial of his experiences at the conference. Used by permission.)

In July I traveled to Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, to attend the 2nd European Urantia Association Conference. A number of young Urantia Book readers and I arrived some days earlier to attend the pre-conference retreat that was held from Sunday July 7 to Thursday July 11. This retreat was a joint event organized by Urantia Association’s UYAI (Urantia Young Adult International) and the Fellowship’s YaYas (Youth and Young Adults). I don’t exaggerate when I say that this event—held in a beautiful city and with lots of wonderful lovely people—was one of the most profound experiences in my life so far. By the end of the first night I felt I was able to leave my past behind and start a new life. It didn’t take long for me to stop thinking in my mother tongue (German) and start thinking (and feeling) in English.

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September Trimester of Urantia Book Internet School 

From , By Urantia Foundation on

Starting Soon!

This educational program of Urantia Foundation is dedicated to fostering and facilitating the self-discovery of newly revealed truth. UBIS offers courses for all students of The Urantia Book, regardless of culture, spiritual tradition, or geographic location. Whether you are a new reader or have been studying the book for years, there will be a course appropriate for you.

The sessions are ten weeks long and require a weekly commitment of approximately three to five hours of reading selected Papers and writing responses to several questions. Alternate weeks are spent in an online discussion forum, designed to encourage deeper understanding of the assigned readings through the unique contribution of each classmate and volunteer facilitator.

Registration opens Monday, September 9. Orientation begins on Monday, September 16.

Visit the UBIS for details of courses and registration at: https://new.ubis.urantia.org/moodle/

Feria del Libro de Bolivia 2019 – Santa Cruz

From , By Jose Ernesto Arias, Bolivia on

The twentieth annual book fair took place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia from May 31 to June 11. The fair had 200 exhibitors and more than 80 book presentations. More than 50 international writers and about 100 national writers attended it, with the presence of the European Union as Guest of Honor. In the middle of all this exhibition was also present the most important book to all of us volunteers attending this fair: The Urantia Book.

The volunteers of our booth spent twelve days explaining the importance of this book for humanity. Many children, young students, and adults were also present. Despite the normal skepticism of some people, there were 273 souls that were sensitive to the truths of this book and left us their contact details to receive more information.

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Ecuador Book Fair 2019

From , By Efrain Vivanco, Ecuador on

This year’s book fair in Ecuador was held at the Puce Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador from 3—7 June. Although we are not yet officially recognized as the National Association of Urantia Book Readers of Ecuador (AUEC), this year we participated in the Puce Fair as AUEC.

We were located at booth number 17, which we arranged with posters alluding to The Urantia Book and graphics of the Master Universe. We were joined by a collaboration of Urantia Book students from the Readers Group of the Garden of Edentia, the Valley of the Chillos, and the city of Quito.

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Guatemala Book Fair

From , By Gerardo Leche, Guatemala on

In the month of July 2019, from July 11 to July 21, The International Book Fair was held in Guatemala City. The headquarters was Foro Majadas in Zone 11 of the capital.

For Urantia Guatemala, it was the opportunity to continue presenting The Urantia Book, making it known to different population segments and sharing its content through conversations—to illustrate the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.

Our booth was Stand 101, in which during two weekends, our volunteers interacted with the general public, trying to establish contacts, especially with young people. We consider their curiosity and open minds to be fertile soil to present the concepts of the Truth of the Cosmos, the Beauty of the Universe, and the Goodness of our Beloved Father. During our days of service, we tried to make contact with children and young students who visited the fair.

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ANTFIL – an Alternative Fair in Peru

From , By Cecilia Barreto, Peru on

Why did Urantia Peru choose to participate in the ANTFIL 2019? When traditional systems continue to maintain obsolete formats that do not consider the changes that are rapidly being made in humanity, new avant-garde movements led by young people emerge. ANTIFIL (an alternative fair) has arisen in response to the traditional International Book Fair in Lima, Peru, and is entirely organized by young people.

A strong driver for the traditional book fairs is profit. Why is there an entrance fee, when the exhibitors and big publishers already pay an exorbitant amount for showing their products? And everything has a price tag: the stands, the arts, the culture, the exhibitions… that is to say the market of consumption is in the foreground.

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Study Group Testimonial

From , By Susan Hemmingsen, New Zealand on

(Editor’s note: This was written in response to a new study group attendee who wanted a group in New Zealand to study other spiritual works in addition to The Urantia Book.)

I have canvassed opinions of other members of our group, including those who didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting. The overwhelming response expressed, was that the purpose of our online meeting is simply to study The Urantia Book. That is our purpose and our “raison d’etre.” For us, that means we take turns to choose papers then read and discuss what we read. During the discussion, we all have an opportunity to share how particular passages impact our lives, discuss our interpretation of a passage, and make references to other parts of the book that add depth to our understanding.

Personally speaking, I have found over the years, that no matter how many times I read the book, I always find things I didn’t understand before—things I’ve missed, or things that need reinforcing—so for me, reading is a continuous mission and a pleasurable adventure. I feel that feeding my intellect enhances my spiritual quest as well as my understanding of the ways of the world and its people.

Every day I receive “Thoughts to Ponder” from Urantia Foundation, and this one on Wednesday seemed relevant regarding why we study The Urantia Book at our online and face-to-face meetings: 

Things are time conditioned, but truth is timeless. The more truth you know, the more truth you are, the more of the past you can understand and of the future you can comprehend. [Paper 118:3.2, page 1297.3]

I believe that my own personal spiritual growth is dependent on the choices I make, every minute of every day. I feel that every interaction with another human being, be it family, friend, or stranger, gives me an opportunity to do the will of God if I make myself open to the promptings of my Thought Adjuster. I can ignore a request for help or react in a less than positive way to someone, or I can listen to my inner voice that confirms my thought to help, listen or react positively. When I am choosing to do the right thing, I know I am serving God, and little by little will grow spiritually. I’d be stating the obvious when I say I have a long, long way to go…

Farewell Mark Bloomfield

From , By Kathleen Swadling, Australia on

Mark Bloomfield, just 54 years of age, died recently from injuries after a tragic incident in Swansea, Wales. The matter is under investigation with the police and a man has been charged. This horrific event made the British news because of Mark’s links with Mother Teresa. The BBC News reported: 

A charity worker who worked with Mother Teresa in India has died after an alleged attack in Swansea. Mark Bloomfield, 54, died on Saturday after he was found injured in High Street in the city centre last Thursday… The family of Mr Bloomfield, originally from Stratford Upon Avon, paid tribute to his charity work across the world saying he “had built a legacy”. They said that as a special assistant to Mother Teresa in Calcutta, he was an essential contributor to her mission.

Mark was a Field Representative of Urantia Foundation in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. He was highly skilled in placing Urantia Books in public libraries, seminaries, universities and other centers of learning. He was renowned in The Urantia Book reader community for his extraordinary and tireless service to the revelation by personally hand-seeding around 9,000 Urantia Books throughout the world. He was particularly inspired to seed the revelation in developing countries where he’d lived and worked for many years as a humanitarian missionary. Having experienced firsthand the heart-wrenching and atrocious plight of women and children, he decided to devote his life to treating the cause of the world’s problems rather than the symptoms, by getting The Urantia Book into the hands of educated people in places where innocent millions were caught up in the cycle of ignorance and poverty.

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Remembering Jesus on His Birthday

From , By Rick Warren, USA on

Happy birthday to Jesus of Nazareth, Michael of Nebadon our Creator Father, on this, the 2026th anniversary of the inauguration of his 7th self-bestowal, right here on Urantia. What might he ask for on this anniversary?

…Jesus wished to develop spiritual insight into eternal realities and to stimulate initiative in the originality of living; he concerned himself exclusively with the underlying and permanent spiritual needs of the human race…. [Paper 140:8:31, page 1583.5]

…Jesus wanted not only the mortals of this world but the onlookers of innumerable other worlds to know that, when doubts exist as to the sincerity and wholeheartedness of a creature’s devotion to the kingdom, it is the invariable practice of the Judges of men fully to receive the doubtful candidate…. [Paper 139:12:7, page 1566.6]

…Jesus wanted his children on earth to live as though they were already citizens of the completed heavenly kingdom…. [Paper 140:8:25, page 1582.6]

President’s Message – June 2019

From , By Chris Wood, USA on

This summer, the European Continental Conference will be hosted by the Estonian Association in Tallinn. The theme of the conference is: “Sowing Seeds—Qualitative Internal and Quantitative External Growth” and the conference will focus on the relationship between the internal growth of the individual and our external growth in service.

In our local study group recently, we read about Jesus going to John for baptism. The Urantia Book explains that the people being baptized were not doing so as a sign that they are ready to enter into Faith, which is how we use the baptism ceremony today; rather, they were submitting to baptism on behalf of their people, hoping that if enough people submitted themselves to God’s will then the trials of their nation would end. It was in this spirit that Jesus submitted himself to baptism, as the Son of Man, as a representative of his people—all humanity and all mortals.

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Comments on the ISB Elections

From , By Rick Lyon, USA on

Editor’s note: The following was written by Rick Lyon, Vice President of the Urantia Association of the United States (UAUS) to the Representative Council (RC) after the recent elections were held for the members of the International Service Board (ISB)

Greetings to the RC team!

UAUS wishes to acknowledge the many years of service by Gaetan Charland, former President of Urantia Association International and more recently the former Study Groups Chair, Susan Owen as the Association’s Secretary, and David Linthicum as Dissemination Chair.

Gaetan’s leadership served to put the Association onto a solid foundation and into a service-oriented direction when he served as President, and he continued to serve this revelation and all the people involved by his position as Study Groups Chair. I once introduced Gaetan as my teacher, mentor, friend, and brother. He is all that as well as a great leader of this revelation and this organization.

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2nd European Conference in Tallinn – Last Reminder

From , Presented by Conference Committee on

A reminder that the time for the 2nd European Urantia Conference that’s being held in Tallinn, Estonia, 11 – 14 July 2019 is almost upon us.

The theme of the conference is: “Sowing Seeds– Qualitative Internal and Quantitative External Growth” and the focus will be on how we can grow internally in spirit and externally in numbers. Students of The Urantia Book from all over the world are welcome.

The program will concentrate on spiritual growth potentials and on growing the numbers of readers. A variety of readers from different countries in Europe and other continents will present their experiences, examining what they have done to find new readers and to form new study groups.

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Pre-Conference – 2nd European Conference in Tallinn

From , Presented by Anna Zeven, UYAI Chair on

Sowing Seeds in Tallinn, Reaping Flowers in Vancouver

Hi Young (hearted) Readers!

Please come and join us at the Pre-Conference event of the 2nd European Urantia Association Conference in Tallinn this summer. We have an exciting and inspiring program ready for you designed to bring us closer together. If desired, sightseeing included!

The Association’s Urantia Young Adults International (UYAI) committee and the Fellowship’s Youth and Young Adult (YaYA) committee have joined together to host this event.

Why “Sowing Seeds in Tallinn and Reaping Flowers in Vancouver”? Because this pre-conference in Tallinn is the first joint event hosted by the two young adult committees; the next one will be in Vancouver in 2020.  

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Post-Conference – 2nd European Conference

From , Presented by Risto Mäntynen, Finland on

Hosted by Finnish Urantia Association Members and Friends

14 – 16 July, 2019

For those of you staying longer in Tallinn-Estonia after the main conference there will be a post-conference organized by the Finnish Urantia Association members and friends.

There are only seven weeks left before the 2nd European Urantia Conference starts and everyone on the conference planning committee is working hard to make it a great conference; they are looking forward to welcoming you very soon to Estonia.

To make the total experience more complete after the 2nd European Conference we are organizing a post-conference for additional socializing and sightseeing among Urantia Book students. If you are interested in staying longer after the event, then check this out!

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