President’s Report
I hope you’ve all been keeping nice and warm in this rather chilly and wet winter.
It’s very nearly August – just a couple of months away from our annual conference in Brisbane 3 – 6 October. Are you thinking about coming? If so, please start sending us your registrations. If you’re unsure about whether to come or not, there’s no substitute for interacting with fellow Urantia Book readers through person-to-person contact. For more information on the conference see the next article in this issue of the Arena.
We held our yearly National Study Day in June where several study groups came together to read Paper 101 The Real Nature of Religion. So much in this paper stimulated many thoughts that needed discussing and sharing! The social time together is always a pleasant drawcard on these occasions and is always enjoyed by all. Some reflections of the day can be found in this issue.
I have been receiving daily quotes from The Urantia Book in my email-inbox and this one caught my attention.
The restatement of the religion of Jesus must develop a new and appropriate symbolism … This enhanced symbol must arise out of religious living, spiritual experience. 87:7.6 (966.1)
I was wondering mostly about the ‘new and appropriate’ and about symbolism in general. What sort of symbolism or rituals have we used in the past, and which ones need to be replaced and developed anew? The rest of that section in Paper 87.7 is very helpful in finding out about what culture – or cult – means to a social group that provides cohesion and a sense of belonging for its members.
The cult type of social organization persisted because it provided a symbolism for the preservation and stimulation of moral sentiments and religious loyalties. 87:7.1 (965.5)
With the restructuring of societies all over the world in full swing, we can be glad that certain restrictive rules have finally fallen away and allowed much progress in various fields of our evolution and development. At the same time, we also notice that others are determined to defend their cultures at all costs. We only have to follow the daily news to see, that across the globe, certain peoples want the rest of the world to adopt what they believe – adopt what they consider is their right to keep and maintain. Others boldly invade, destroy, and make war amongst themselves, resulting in such distress to those involved and the onlookers around.
It’s such a big challenge for us to think through all this in order to make an ’informed’ decision and make our ever-so-important mental ‘choices’ in every situation for our adjusters to weave a new thread into our fledgling soul-fabric.
Part of the mission statement in ANZURA’s Bylaws states that we endeavour to:
Foster a global spiritual community that “produces an enlarged consciousness of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” (100:6.8) In so doing, ANZURA endeavours to increase and enhance humanity’s comfort, happiness, and well-being through the fostering of a true religion based on the life of Jesus, a philosophy of living, and a cosmology commensurate with evolving intellectual and cultural development.
As students of The Urantia Book we often ask ourselves how we can put such noble sentiments into reality in our daily lives. That is where more knowledge and understanding about the importance of an appropriate symbolism is vital when working towards renewing our civilisation. I am forever mindful of the quote about the ship that has steamed out of the secure harbour and is now on the stormy seas (99:1.3) and ask myself, what sort of skills do we need to steer this vessel into calmer waters again.
Since the global community is hardly agreeing on very much, we must find that true seed of purpose which we believe resides in everyone and allow others to express it in whichever peaceful manner they choose – for as long as it may take. Practicing Forgiving Tolerance, one of the spirit fruits, and some extra patience will be helpful in this endeavour. Unfortunately – we’re “not there yet”.
For those who may be interested in such a topic, the book of Henry and Regina Wieman “Normative Psychology of Religion” (1936) has a lot to offer. It was written nearly a hundred years ago and thought to be amongst the ‘sources’ the Revelators of The Urantia Book used for Paper 87. I found that Chapter 5, “The Cultus and its Emotional Accompaniments” is especially insightful about the importance of a cultus (as the Wiemans term it), even for the modern human of today. You can find a reader version of the book here: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001391483
What concerns some other forms of enhanced symbolism or philosophy of living, we might travel best with the inspirational faith of Jesus that he so beautifuly exemplified in his life. After all, we are called to strive for the intimate and personal kind of religious experience, one that is available whenever we are ready to receive it.
Maybe we can find our daily ritual easily by having a go at ‘sharing our inner lives’ and call upon the name of Jesus when we immerse ourselves within a ‘Friendship with God’?
May we be sincere and effective in our service to others in Jesus’s name.
The God-knowing individual is not one who is blind to the difficulties or unmindful of the obstacles which stand in the way of finding God in the maze of superstition, tradition, and materialistic tendencies of modern times. He has encountered all these deterrents and triumphed over them, surmounted them by living faith, and attained the highlands of spiritual experience in spite of them. 102:7.6 (1126.6)