The Psychic Circles and Morontia Life

An archangel of Nebadon mentions:

You should understand that the morontia life of an ascending mortal is really initiated on the inhabited worlds at the conception of the soul, at that moment when the creature mind of moral status is indwelt by the spirit Adjuster. [Paper 48:6.2, page 551.7]

This quotation indicates that morontial life begins on our planet at the formation of the soul through a sincere moral choice, heralding the arrival of the indwelling Thought Adjuster. The joint formation of the morontial soul with the Adjuster provides access to morontia realities, and it is possible for a human personality to know and experience a taste of morontia life during his or her earthly life with the absolute conviction of being part of this great morontial family.

The Urantia Book gives us some information about the activities in the schools of education and training on the morontia worlds in Papers 47 and 48. These papers give us an opportunity to study and join these morontia schools during our earthly life. Man has the power to transcend time and space and live as if in direct contact with the Heavenly Father through his vast personality circuit and through the indwelling presence of the Thought Adjuster. “Man’s ability to transcend himself is the one thing which distinguishes him from the animal kingdom” [111:6.9].

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The Word, the Language, the Dictionary

In the Spring of 2018, I read of the new library in the Urantia Foundation’s building, dedicated to containing the works of literature assumed to have been used by the revelators in the Urantia Papers’ formation. Over the years, I have wondered about the origins of the Urantia Papers and reviewed such websites as Matthew Block’s Square Circles in his efforts to match The Urantia Book to human sources. The new library at the Urantia Foundation preserving such works is an invaluable collection, especially for future generations.

Having studied The Urantia Book for years, I am still amazed at the quality of the English language used in the papers. The Urantia Book is a masterpiece of prose literature with its poetic cadence, with each author representing their thoughts through the written word. The style of the Urantia Papers is exclusive from any human author’s works I have read. Even the style of each author is unique. Each has its unique writing style, from a Divine Counselor to a Solitary Messenger, Mighty Messenger, or the Midwayer Commission.

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Why a Study Group? (video)

This is a video presentation by Gaetan Charland, former President of Urantia Association International and former Chair of the Study Groups Committee of the ISB. He currently (2022) serves as an Associate Trustee of Urantia Foundation.

Gaetan’s passion has always been about the importance of the role study groups play in the mission of spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. He also believes that the study group is a good environment for the development of teachers and leaders who can assist others in understanding the concepts in the book.

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Mission, Philosophy and Goals of Study Groups (video)

This is a video presentation by Gaetan Charland, former President of Urantia Association International and former Chair of the Study Groups Committee of the ISB. He currently (2022) serves as an Associate Trustee of Urantia Foundation.

Gaetan’s passion has always been about the importance of the role study groups play in the mission of spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. He also believes that the study group is a good environment for the development of teachers and leaders who can assist others in understanding the concepts in the book.

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Creating a Study Group (video)

This is a video presentation by Gaetan Charland, former President of Urantia Association International and former Chair of the Study Groups Committee of the ISB. He currently (2022) serves as an Associate Trustee of Urantia Foundation.

Gaetan’s passion has always been about the importance of the role study groups play in the mission of spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. He also believes that the study group is a good environment for the development of teachers and leaders who can assist others in understanding the concepts in the book.

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Facilitating a Study Group (video)

This is a video presentation by Gaetan Charland, former President of Urantia Association International and former Chair of the Study Groups Committee of the ISB. He currently (2022) serves as an Associate Trustee of Urantia Foundation.

Gaetan’s passion has always been about the importance of the role study groups play in the mission of spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. He also believes that the study group is a good environment for the development of teachers and leaders who can assist others in understanding the concepts in the book.

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Methods for Facilitating a Study Group (video)

This is a video presentation by Gaetan Charland, former President of Urantia Association International and former Chair of the Study Groups Committee of the ISB. He currently (2022) serves as an Associate Trustee of Urantia Foundation.

Gaetan’s passion has always been about the importance of the role study groups play in the mission of spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. He also believes that the study group is a good environment for the development of teachers and leaders who can assist others in understanding the concepts in the book.

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President’s Message – September 2022 

Enrique Traver

Dear Friends,

I am impressed to know that so many of us are present and active in study groups. And many who believe the truth of this revelation have formed true family associations that are actively engaged in various projects of learning and disseminating the teachings. It’s just wonderful to see all this happening.

Many of us embrace the challenge of serving our Father and others by becoming workers for the kingdom of God. Those who love The Urantia Book revelation approach this purpose with great enthusiasm and true devotion.

When we act enthusiastically to attract more souls to the kingdom of God, there are many different approaches. But no matter which approach we use, we certainly want everyone to feel the same attraction to the revelation as we do.

However, I have observed that some of us are convinced that “converting our fellows  in favor of this revelation is a great grace and a precious service to others and to the Father. We often deliver impassioned speeches or go out of our way to build up arguments to demonstrate why others must change and how, upon discovering The Urantia Book, each of us must behave in the future. At times, some of us are astonished when faced with confronting situations caused by students of The Urantia Book that, according to our understanding, should not have occurred or are not acceptable. In some situations, our over-zealousness towards non-students of the teachings may cause the encounter to become argumentative when trying to convince that person to change.

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The Jesus Metaverse

Calling for Presentation Curators

What a transcendent service if, through this revelation, the Son of Man should be recovered from the tomb of traditional theology and be presented as the living Jesus to the church that bears his name, and to all other religions! [Paper 196:1.2, page 2090.3]

About the Jesus Metaverse and the Center for Unity

Gabriel Rymberg

The Center for Unity is currently developing a Jesus Metaverse app that is a strategic, technologically savvy and innovative way to share Jesus with young adults focused on the untold story of Jesus. Our core focus is “to transform the world by sharing a new revelation of Jesus’ life, creating experiences that produce spiritual transformations.”

The user experience in the Jesus Metaverse is based on carefully curated content, presented in a visually engaging and easy to use manner. The media presentations are the basic “building blocks” of the experience. The quality of the experience, the service we provide to our users, therefore relies on two main factors: 1) The quantity and quality of the content and, 2) the quality of the design and implementation of the software.

For a deeper view into the Jesus Metaverse, take a look at this presentation and the jesusmetaverse.org website.

We are currently looking for Presentation Curators who will be tasked with finding specific pieces of content for Metaverse “nodes.”

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3rd European Urantia Conference 2022 

20 to 23 October 2022 

Overcoming Materialism, Enlightening Europe 
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,  

This year we have prepared a dynamic and unique European Conference intended to be a light for our siblings from the continent. It will be held 20 to 23 October at Torremolinos, Málaga, Spain. 

Data shows that secularism triumphs in Europe and that biblical ideas are not well received.* However, there is a very important nuance: the majority still believe in God. Therefore, is there any opportunity for the teachings of The Urantia Book? Whatever: Let’s take it!  

In this new venture we have a plan. We will dive into the waters of self-mastery to gain a clearer idea of how to become better versions of ourselves. And we will do  this through practice in a series of workshops. 

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Prison Inmate Response Team (PIRT) Mission Statement 

PIRT’s mission is to enlighten the spirits and minds of incarcerated men and women by disseminating The Urantia Book to inmates and providing subsequent correspondence to support the inmate’s efforts to study the teachings. 

Drawn by a Texas inmate and printed with permission.

PIRT is a sub-committee functioning under the Association’s Dissemination Committee; 2022 marks this committee’s 17th year of service. Since the inception of PIRT, approximately 6,000 inmate letters have been processed, 2,800 Urantia books have been donated directly, and 400 books have been seeded into prison libraries.

This year, PIRT experienced the loss of its dear Chairperson, David Linthicum, who was Chair for 13 of its 17 years, with the exception being his term as Dissemination Chair. David left his mortal body for mansonia on June 1st, 2022. He is missed by all who served with him in their collective effort to “assist the Father in finding his lost sheep.” David was a tireless servant involved in many activities besides PIRT and his love touched countless souls.

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I Found the Key

How many of us are saddened to see the world today in such decay? I realize that we all have this need to feel comforted and at peace about what will happen after our time on earth. What will we leave as a spiritual legacy to our grandchildren and their children’s children? It may seem far-fetched to think like this, but it is so little when we know that life is eternal and that this earthly adventure must one day reach the era of light and life.

My greatest wish is that The Urantia Book will find its way into the hands of many souls thirsting for truth and that it will transform the person who studies it.

But how could this happen without a personal commitment from those who have found this treasure? As a fervent student of The Urantia Book and its teachings, I feel that these truths are a gift from heaven, an answer to my questions, the object that has given meaning to my life and answers to my many reflections. It has helped me feel better within myself, improving my health and general well-being; it has helped me to strive to be a better person and to be better at living my life and putting my beliefs into action. This book and its teachings cannot remain stagnant—they need to be shared. So, how to share it?

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Parliament of the World’s Religions

Faith & Interfaith Understanding

14 to 18 August 2023

In August 2023, the Parliament of the World’s Religions returns to Chicago, the birthplace of the modern interfaith movement, to celebrate 130 years of achievements. Parliament conventions attract participants from more than 80 nations reflecting over 200 diverse religious, indigenous, and secular beliefs.

It’s Mission: “The Parliament of the World’s Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.”

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The Urantia Uganda Conference 2022

THE BIRTH OF THE URANTIA BOOK TEACHINGS IN UGANDA

The Urantia Uganda Conference 2022 was the first ever in Uganda. The conference was to have been held in August 2020 but, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, limited funds, and leadership challenges, it was not possible until this August.

The Urantia Book and its teachings have finally arrived in Uganda, the pearl of Africa. It is with great hope and faith that the truth seekers here will greatly enjoy the teachings of the book as they enrich their ever-growing spirituality, guided by love and the will to service. This is but a start to a long journey of spiritual adventure towards Paradise but most of all for all Ugandans, it brings spiritual enlightenment that shall create unity and harmony (brotherhood of man) among Ugandans in their affirmation of God as the Father (Fatherhood of God) within them. We thank God it has come to pass that The Urantia Book and its teachings have been initiated publicly in Uganda.

Under the sponsorship of Urantia Association, five of us were funded to attend this conference and I do thank God we did because our attendance shaped the program and designed the conference to meet a Urantia Book conference standard. We were asked by the secretary Matte to help develop a program on the day we arrived. We designed the program and the next day we presented an introduction to The Urantia Book, its history, the Publication Mandate, and leadership structure worldwide. 

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3rd European Urantia Conference in Spain

20 – 23 October 2022

Overcoming Materialism – Enlightening Europe

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the 3rd European Urantia Conference to be held at the Sol Torremolinos Resort, Malaga, Spain 20 to 23 October 2022.

The Urantia Association of Spain, Urantia Association International, and the European Organizing Committee have been working hard to create this event in Southern Europe to unite our European Urantia Community once again for our next European Urantia Conference. 

Our last European Continental Conference was in Tallinn 2019 and attracted Urantia Book students from Europe and North America who all participated in that event. The aim of this coming conference is to discuss questions about Urantia Book readers working together to bring enlightenment to the European continent in the midst of a materialistic, secular world. Urantia Book readers from all around the globe are welcome to join us in this Continental Conference.

About the Theme:

According to the revelators, “…the worst of the materialistic age is over; the day of a better understanding is already beginning to dawn” (195:6.4, 2076.9), and “The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men.” (195:10.1, 2084.1).

But how can we leave materialism behind and be born of the spirit? How can we develop spiritually? Jesus himself said that “Self-mastery is the measure of man’s moral nature and the indicator of his spiritual development.” (143:2.3, 1609.4) Then learning the art of self-mastery seems fundamental to progress, both morally and spiritually. For this reason, at the 3rd European Urantia Conference, we will explore the various facets that seem most important for us to govern ourselves. With that intention, a series of workshops has been proposed under the common title of “The Route of Self-mastery.”

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Estonian “Brotherhood Day”

Estonian readers will start to celebrate “Brotherhood Day” every year, and we begin this year by holding the event on 2 October 2022.

Our purpose is to highlight the importance and significance of the concept of brotherhood—to encourage living in brotherhood with every person in our lives.

The two most important teachings of Jesus were the revelation of God’s fatherhood and the brotherhood of man. We constantly pray and worship God, but there is a brotherhood here on earth that has gone rather unnoticed and overlooked. This shortcoming could be somewhat alleviated by celebrating “Brotherhood Day,” wherein the importance of brotherhood is highlighted, presentations are made, races and nations around the world are thought of as brothers, the meaning of brotherhood is deepened and, and most importantly, a pleasant time is spent with our closest brothers and sisters.

In truth, beauty, and goodness,
Karmo Kalda

Living Morontially

From Information to Transformation to Application

This is a workshop being presented at The Urantia Book Fellowship’s Summer Study Session 21 – 24 July, 2022

…mortal personality, through its own choosing, possesses the power of transferring its seat of identity from the passing material-intellect system to the higher morontial-soul system which, in association with the Thought Adjuster is created as a new vehicle for personality manifestation. [Paper 112:5.4, page 1232.5]

“Living Morontially” is an SSS’22 experiential workshop designed to explore ways to consciously apply the teachings of The Urantia Book.  

Would you like to join others in a journey to take the inspiring words off the pages and into your life? Together we’ll share our experiences and encourage each other with a variety of strategies to discover how to reflect God’s will and way.  

This two-session workshop will be held on Friday, July 22nd in both morning and afternoon sessions. Pre-registration is required by July 10th; participants will be given a short assignment in advance of the workshop. The workshop is led by Bobbie Dreier, Sharri Gaines, and Sherry Cathcart Chavis.

To register, or for more information, send an email with your phone number to Bobbie Dreier at bdreier@earthlink.net.  

Graduation of David Linthicum

“A Mighty Oak Has Fallen”

Long time devoted Urantia Book student and servant David Linthicum graduated from Urantia in the early morning hours June 1, 2022. He was informed of cancer earlier this year and selected aggressive therapy, bravely giving his all, in hopes the healing process would emerge victorious over time. David kept a wonderful, positive attitude throughout the months of treatment, and met the trials of illness and impending death with a calm dignity, true courage, generosity, steadfast faith, and hope for eternal life.

David continued to his last precious days on Earth to give his time and resources to important legacy projects he had been involved with. He was a dedicated servant to mankind. Perhaps not too many people know that David wrote and self-published a book titled “The Emerging Recognition of Jesus’ Divine Nature.”

David helped charter the Spirit of Oklahoma Urantia Association, as well as serving as its president. He was a regular study partner with a group in Tulsa, Oklahoma. David served two terms as President of Urantia Association of the United States (UAUS), as well as Dissemination Chair for Urantia Association International. He helped found the Prisoner Inquiry Response Team (PIRT) and served as its Director for many years, as well as becoming a volunteer who personally answered letters and gave support to many prison inmates.

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Fearless Leader of PIRT — Ode to a Friend

The Prison Inquiry Response Team (PIRT) is very near and dear to me. Before it had the official title and an official Director (David), responding to prisoners was one of my duties at Urantia Foundation. As the Reader Services Manager, I was fielding lots of inquiries about The Urantia Book, including a growing number of letters from prisoners all over the United States. I decided to recruit my friends in Urantia Association to help with the workload, and a lasting service partnership developed between Urantia Foundation and the Association. The volunteers were eager to serve in a unique and valuable project.

Those “inside the walls” often sent stunningly sincere letters to the publisher; some were requesting pen-pals but that fell outside the office duties. Handing off the correspondence worked out well. Urantia Foundation continued to send the books after the volunteers had vetted an inmate’s level of interest.

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Eulogy for David Linthicum

(Editor’s note: David asked Rick to make his eulogy a testament to the teachings of The Urantia Book. He wanted those gathered to hear what his religious life was about.)

My name is Rick Lyon. I have known David Linthicum for many years. I am and always shall be his friend.

I first want to point out the design you may have seen that David had engraved on the headstone and the pin I am wearing. The cross combined with the three blue concentric circles. The cross represents the crucifixion of Jesus. The blue circles represent the Trinity—God the Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit. The cross represents the greatest demonstration of love this universe has ever known, and the blue circles represent the source of that love.

When Billy Graham was nearing the end of his time on this earth, he was asked if he feared death. His reply was: “Fear death? I look forward to it. When you hear that Billy Graham is dead, don’t you believe it.”

This mortal life is only a shadow, the beginning, of spiritual reality. What comes next is more real and more true, beautiful, and good than anything we can experience in this life on earth.

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