[This is a new Tidings series that features volunteers in our Association who are serving you–and serving the revelation–all over the world.]
Tidings: Welcome, Janet Guaderrama, to our new feature where we focus on our valuable volunteers! Please introduce yourself.
Janet: I grew up in a Catholic family in Toluca, IL, playing guitar at masses and loving CYO classes. I studied Eastern religion before I found The Urantia Book in January of 1975, right out of high school. I was 18 when someone asked me what I thought about the story of Adam and Eve. They then told me about the book’s version and it just clicked. I was ready.
Initially, I studied with the large Bloomington-Normal study group and hosted meetings frequently on the farm where I worked in Secor, IL. I moved to Boulder, CO in 1976 and learned a lot from their large and active Urantia Book community. When organized religion wasn’t working for me, Urantia Book study groups provided spiritual community and communion. A Godsend.
During this time I was led to become a nurse and worked at the community hospital there in Boulder. In 1982, I moved to Southern California and continued nursing work while hosting, attending, and visiting study groups and gatherings all over that area.
Tidings: You got an early start with the revelation! Tell us about your family.
Janet: I met Michael in 1986 and we married in 1988. We had our son, Vincent in 1989, who now lives in Chicago and will be married in the Guaderrama mountains of Spain this September!
We moved to central Illinois in 1996 and remain here now. I initially worked as a nurse, then with computer training, and then took a job with State Farm Insurance.
Tidings: Do you still attend or host a study group?
Janet: I have hosted my current study group since 2002 and our Illinois folks meet on Zoom with one person from Delaware, one person originally from Russia, and another from Bolivia, and with three people now currently living in Uganda! What a miracle!
I was the local host of the 2019 Midwest Conference here in Normal, IL, with the help of so many good folks from all over the country.
Tidings: Tell us about your personal and spiritual life.
Janet: I have a meditation practice and study with Dr. Joe Dispenza. I am in a ukulele group that sings and plays for free locally. I read (and listen to audiobooks and podcasts) and study voraciously on all kinds of topics. I have been studying Spanish since last July with a teacher and online apps.
Tidings: Are you still working?
Janet: No, but my retirement has been active! In 2016 when I retired from State Farm, I volunteered to help the secretary of Urantia Association with office work and took all the necessary training and became a member of our local association, GLMUA. I now volunteer as an assistant to the Central Office administrator and have moved up to handling all types of database entries and maintenance, phone calling campaigns for fundraising, thank you calls, and ad hoc work. I serve on the Fundraising Committee of the International Service Board (ISB). I also designed the three most recent bookmarks that are sent as a thank you gift to our donors.
Tidings: Wow… you like to keep busy!
Janet: Yes! Also, since 2016, I have been a volunteer for various organizations locally (The Immigration Project, The Ecology Action Center and The Humane Society, etc.) and have been active in Social Justice causes including Medical Aid in Dying, the Equal Rights Amendment, Not in Our Town, Voices of Reason, Moms Demand Action, and Illinois People’s Action for environmental and human rights causes. Some of this service work involves traveling to the capital in Springfield to lobby and visit with our representatives, plus leading groups into their local offices to get support on bills that are coming up for a vote. I am a lead in TerraCycle recycling, based in a local church; styrofoam recycling (driving it to recycling centers) and am an administrator on three Facebook pages for these various causes.
Tidings: It seems like the teachings of The Urantia Book about loving service have taken a firm hold in your life.
Janet: Yes, that is true. It’s an honor to be on the front lines of the newest revelation and I love that I can infuse its message into my life and my interactions with others.
And I like to think that I’m Just getting started…
Tidings: Thank you for being an engaged volunteer and sharing that spirit with us.