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| Community Newsletter |
October
2009 |
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Dear Urantia Book
Reader,
This new monthly electronic
newsletter is being sent for you by the
Urantia Book Fellowship for the purpose
of keeping readers like
you connected with the Urantia
community. In the upcoming issues, we intend to
focus on:
- Selected articles from the
Fellowship web archive-offering a synopsis
of an article to pique your interest, with a
link to the full article for your continued
reading.
- Societies at work-their
activities, future plans, membership, etc.
- Current Standing of Ad
Hoc committees of the Fellowship-with
updates on committee work (including
pictures!), and information to help you get to
know committee members better.
- General Councilor
members--spotlighting who they are, what they're
working on, what motivates them to service,
etc.
- On-going requests from
Committee chairs for volunteers to help with
specific projects, etc.
- Upcoming events for your
calendar!
- Giving you ideas about how you
can contribute and support the work of
the Fellowship (oh there are many
ways!)
With all of
this in mind, we are looking for articles
and ideas from all readers. Even if you
don't have an article, we enthusiastically
invite pictures, links to videos, etc.,
involving the Urantia movement. So, don't
be shy in sending us your ideas, your links,
your written work, and any comments to snickburns@aol.com. We could also use additional
assistance with editing and/or proofreading of
newsletter
articles.
This is a community newsletter, and YOU
can be part of it! We welcome
you!
Sincerely,
Robert Burns
General Councilor -
The Urantia Book
Fellowship
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A Word From The
President
![Michele Klimesh]() 130:8.6 Jesus
chose to establish the kingdom of heaven in the
hearts of mankind by natural, ordinary,
difficult, and trying methods, just such
procedures as his earth children must
subsequently follow in their work of enlarging
and extending that heavenly
kingdom.
I'm writing to this
to you during the first hours after returning
home from a visit to northeastern Iowa. In the
town of Spillville (population 372) where my
father grew up, I get online by walking to the
local library during limited hours on weekdays.
My cell phone doesn't work unless I stand under
the water tower at the top of the hill by my
cousin's house.
Life in Spillville
without technology seems like a visit to the
past: more insular, less hurried, more connected
to immediate neighbors, less connected to the
world at large. Ten days of tech deprivation
provided a glimpse into how life might have been
in the last century. It made me think about the
mindset this lifestyle would produce in the
early pioneers of the Urantia movement, and the
dissemination methods they might embrace.
We know that Jesus chose to use
ordinary methods to teach the people of his time
about God's love. We, too, are to use ordinary
methods.
But what do we consider
"ordinary" in today's world? In 2009, we find
information on Google. My baseball team
"twitters." My kids are on Facebook. Social
networks exploded into existence and have
radically changed the way people stay connected
with each other.
How fascinating
to live in a time when we can watch how these
phenomena will influence the dissemination
efforts of Fellowship
workers!
180:1.5 If you would share the
Master's joy, you must share his love. And to
share his love means that you have shared his
service. Such an experience of love does not
deliver you from the difficulties of this world;
it does not create a new world, but it most
certainly does make the old world
new.
To joy and
service,
Michelle
Klimesh
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Venice Beach Urantia
Outreach
By Richard
Omura
![Venice Beach]()
Norman
Ingram is back with his Urantia Book table on
the "anything goes" Venice Beach boardwalk in
Los Angeles, California, joyfully introducing
the revelation to people from all over the
world. Fellow readers were recently within that
throng, a small part of an every week-end mass
gathering, so diverse that could be likened to
the Capernaum crossroads of Jesus'
time.
What an opportunity to talk to
myriads of people from all over the planet about
the Urantia Book! Besides
international visitors, there are New Age
aficionados, L.A. locals, Christian
fundamentalists, henna tattoo artists,
Rastafarians, Hare Krishna's, Jewish observants
on their way to the Jewish Center, skaters,
bladers, surfers, rappers, conservative
businessmen, tourists, musicians, artists, store
owners, free speech activists, lawyers,
athletes, and every other type of person you can
think of--all this amidst the many stores and
vendors spread along the walkway in front of the
sand and sea. .
At the Venice booth one
can encounter truth seekers who are sincere in
their efforts to make some sense of this world,
as well as religious fundamentalists trying to
save our souls. To sit quietly at the booth,
shining forth the Father's love, being available
to anyone who wants to talk about Urantia Book
concepts, or philosophy, religion and
spirituality in general, is an act of service
that is both enjoyable and productive. It is
fruitful not only for those being introduced to
the revelation, but also for the volunteers who
tend the booth. The experience gives us a
chance to try to put into words and actions the
teachings we've gleaned from the
book.
One woman had the book but didn't
know where to attend a study group--and she was
from Chicago! We gave her the phone number for
the study group closest to her, which was 533
Diversey Parkway-Urantia Foundation
headquarters! Will they ever be surprised
to learn where she heard about their
group!
The UBLA Society
is sponsoring the Venice Beach booth, which
is up every Sunday from 9am to 6pm, right
where So, on Rose Ave., meets the boardwalk. We
are always looking for volunteers to help
out. Even if it is for just a few hours
once a month, this service opportunity is rich
with insights into life. All are to invited to
visit or drop by. Just to be safe, email
Norman at norlastar@aol.com Cell: 562
822 8316; Tel: 552 698 2122 first, to make sure
we'll be there on the day you plan to come. If
you are an artist or have a secondary work based
on the UB, you are welcome to set up right
alongside us to showcase your wares. This is one
of the most dynamic and interesting UB outreach
posts on the planet. If you like the sun,
the beach and people of all types, plus 10,000
to 12,000 folks passing by each week-end, come
on down!
Got extra books?
Poor students, the homeless, and the financially
handicapped often show interest in the book, but
can't afford the cost of a new edition.
If UB readers have extra's (old) UB's lying
around, contact Norman Ingram. Your unused
books can do some real outreach. After
all, we never know who will be drawn to the
booth. Think of the joy in learning (some
day) that your book donation was utilized by the
angels
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"But who say you that I
am?"
Reflections on the Bestowal of Michael,
Mithras, and
Mithraism
By
Dan Massey, Jr.
![Mithraism]()
By the time of Michael's final review of
the Urantian situation, just before embarking on
the bestowal, the Mithras cult had developed its
own, unique character and was spreading rapidly
throughout the Roman Empire. Mithraism had, in
fact, become the dominant, though unofficial,
religion of the Empire.
In his pre-bestowal planning,
did Michael choose to identify his mission as
Jesus with elements of the Mithraic story? What
is the significance of Jesus' question recorded
in Matthew 16:15?
The articlde is.(C) Copyright 1997,
L. Dan Massey, Jr. 10818 Fawn Drive, Great
Falls, VA 22066; and is used by permission on
the website.
Author's Note: Information in this
paper about the historic antecedents and context
of Mithraism is derived from the book, "The
Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries--Cosmology and
Salvation in the Ancient World" by David Ulansey
(Oxford, 1989). The historical data and
conjectures presented by Ulansey have been
reinterpreted in light of statements in The
Urantia Book about
Mithraism.
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| In His Name: Kathy Hughes
(Heart of
America Society)
By
Lee Loots
![]()
As Jesus said, good works done out of
duty imply that one hasn't entered the Kingdom
yet. Service is joyful and a gift to Father,
however, when it emerges from our love for
him.
What if a new reader in your Urantia Book
study group declared, "I just don't get
Jesus"? In this case, the reader knew some
of Part IV, but was confused about Jesus'
over-all context. Some of us when
hearing this might pause to consider the easiest
way to explain the purpose and origin of our
majestic Sovereign, and why he means so much to
this planet and universe.
When
Kathy Hughes heard this comment at her Heart of
America Society study group, it struck a chord
in her, and lingered. Before long, Kathy
found herself deep in study, tracing the details
of Michael's pre-Sovereign history, going back
to his beginnings on Paradise. The
revelation, of course, weaves in periodic
glimpses of Michael's early experiences.
Kathy's goal was to tell that story in a linear
progression, including the essential presence of
the Complemental Daughter.
As
happens so often with service impulses, Kathy
soon experienced her task as a blessing.
At subsequent study groups, while she continued
to research, she often expressed delight in her
on-going discoveries--such that many of us
(including yours truly) could hardly wait for
her to finish!
The night
Kathy presented Michael's early history, the
entire group was intensely engaged, despite the
group's varied levels of book
comprehension. Personally, I'd grown up
feeling close to Jesus, and later easily
connected to Michael. Even so, my inner
picture of Michael expanded astonishingly that
night, something I'd not quite
anticipated. Under Kathy's step by step
direction, I absorbed some of the
incomprehensible depth of Michael's earned
competence, including the stunning enormity of
its scope, and the mind-boggling eons of time
invested in his training. Before the
meeting, I had general head knowledge of
Michael's early stages. That night, however, as
I contemplated it in detail, my heart rose into
my expanding awareness, evoking splendid,
heartfelt worship.
We
know that Michael was created in
perfection. Yet, he worked tremendously
hard (and long) so he could likewise rule with
perfection, even while offering his sublime
companionship to each and every creature who
desires it. As such, he's the most
exquisite brother/father/friend who exists in
Orvonton. (Likewise for Mother
Spirit!) Kathy insightfully noted that our
Universe Sovereign did as much (or more) work to
earn the right to serve us in his universe, as
we ourselves will do in our extended
evolutionary process to equip us for eternal
service. Perhaps, she said with a smile, such
awareness could help counter the predictable
human tendency to whine (!).
Looking ahead, Kathy plans to
share her presentation of Michael's early life
with others. The first study group on her
list is the Heart of America group which meets
at the Independence Library, led by Ken
Raveill. Later, she'll do a presentation
to a Heart of America study group in Kansas
City, led by Barbara Heckathorn (a reader who
also offers introductory Urantia Book
classes as part of a community education effort
called
"Communiversity"). |
Correction regarding previous article on
UrantiaUniversity
David Nash has requested a correction
concerning the UrantiaUniversity article
which appeared under his name in the
Fellowship's recent Herald Magazine. The article
was not written alone by David Nash. It was the
collaboration of several dedicated Urantia
believers working together on UrantiaUniversity
and should have been listed as such.
Mr. Nash wants to make it clear that he can
take very little credit for the article. On
behalf of UrantiaUniversity, David hopes you
will excuse this mistake and know that the
entire project is absolutely a team
effort. | |
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