Issue 17

NUA to Hold Election March 18

Absentees May Vote by Phone

Dear Urantia Book Readers of the Northwest:

Since last year's election had been in dispute the majority of the year, and has only recently been adjudicated, we have had to readdress our method for holding this year's election. We were informed by the Coordinating Committee as part of their Dispute Resolution Report that our Mail-In Election Process that we had begun to implement was invalid due to the fact that we had not sought prior approval for this written set of rules to supplement or amend IUA's Charter and Bylaws (Article 4 under Chartering of Associations). We plan to submit our proposed Mail-In Election process to the Coordinating Committee for approval soon after our spring election.

In the meantime, we did receive approval from the Coordinating Committee to hold our election this year in Portland on March 18 with the added provision for phone-in voting to those that due to circumstances and/or distance would not be able to attend the meeting.

THE NOMINATION/SELF VOLUNTEER PROCESS:

We will nominate candidates for the offices of Vice-President and Secretary (these are two-year terms) at the meeting on March 18. If you had paid dues to the association for the year 2000, you are eligible to nominate candidates or volunteer as a candidate. For those that will not be able to attend the meeting, you may e-mail this information to me (NUA President) at jeanetts@home.com with a cc to Janet Nilsen (NUA Vice-President) at jqnagog@peak.org. no later than March 16, or you may call in this information the afternoon of the election. Call-in time will be from 1:30 to 2:00 p.m. Phone: 503-656-8988.

ANNUAL DUES REQUIREMENT:

In order to participate in this election, dues for 2001 must be received on or before March 18. We have reduced the dues rate this year to $35.00 per person or $50.00 per couple. Make checks payable to NUA. You may submit your dues during the meeting or mail them in to our Treasurer, MC, 4025 NE Shaver, Portland, OR 97212.

TELEPHONE ELECTION PROCESS:

If you are interested in participating in this election, but will not be physically present at the meeting, please let us know by March 16 either by e-mail or phone call (Jeanette Schafer at 541-754-0385). We will then call you the afternoon of March 18 between 2:30 and 3:00 P.M. PST. You will be informed of the nominees and your vote will be heard over a speakerphone by all present at the meeting.

You will be notified of the election results via e-mail or mail, our next issue of the NW Urantian, and by our website: http://urantia.nw.home.att.net. We hope that you will join us for this important meeting and potluck.

Sincerely,
Your NUA Board,
Jeanette Schafer, president; Janet Nilsen, vice-president; Rebecca Oswald, secretary; MC, treasurer

Thoughts on Harmony

by Leonard Ablieter
Somewhere along the Coast of Mexico
leonardablieter@yahoo.com

Harmony is the language of Havona. What a concept. But on deeper reflection how could it be otherwise? Life on Havona is perfect; ergo communication there is perfect. And how could communication be perfect unless it were conducted in complete harmony? Not a word of discord, not a dissonant note. All thoughts, statements, responses harmonious. Difficult to imagine but possible.

Let's assume we were telepathic and could communicate our thoughts directly, without having to take recourse to the spoken word. Thoughts are vibrations, energy. So are musical notes. If we carefully, perhaps artistically, phrase our thoughts in such a way that their frequencies resonate harmoniously with the frequencies of the thoughts of our conversation partners, we have harmony.

How do we communicate a potentially conflicting idea? We find the elements which do harmonize as our conversation partner adjusts his thoughts similarly, until the original meaning can be expressed and received in harmony. On Havona this is possible since there we deal only with meanings and values and no egos or pride, and right and wrong and blame and credit are meaningless.

In an environment like this a negative thought cannot be expressed, or at least not communicated. Its frequency simply is incapable of inducing resonance. Not until it is so modulated that it is able to call forth harmonious resonance is it capable of conveying meaning. And so we have enduring peace and harmony.

Ask Dodger

by Dodger

Dear Dodger,
Here in the far north, snow is ever on our minds this time of year. I wonder when we get to the mansion worlds, how we will ever explain snow to those ascending mortals from planets not blessed with this curious stuff? --Yukon Cornelius

Dear Yukon:
We will have much explaining to do on the mansion worlds, the least of which is about snow. But as you frolic in it, curse it, and engage in strategic snowball fights, consider this: If it weren't for the peculiar properties of water existing in the three forms of solid, liquid and gas; if ice didn't float; if water weren't made up of two gas molecules--life such as ours would be impossible on this planet. Think of that the next time you sip a latte, and give a little extra credit to the planetary design staff.

Dear Dodger:
What three things would you like most to happen at NUA, or in the Urantia movement in general? --Roger Reader and Belinda Believer

Note: This is the second part in a series relating the concepts of freedom and necessity, and their integration through the philosophic idea of compatabilism. This series is being written serially, and in the first section I used the word "determinism" in a very different sense from how I will use it from now on. I apologize for the change, but I think it necessary to keep the usage more in line with the one most readers will be familiar with. What I previously referred to as "determinism" I will now refer to as "necessity."

In starting this section I should make note of my use of terminology. In trying to keep the terms I utilize as close as possible to both their popular usage and their use in The Urantia Book I am making a distinction between universal necessity and universal determinism. I am arguing for universal necessity but arguing against universal determinism. This may seem like a forced distinction, but I hope that my reasons for adopting it will become clear.

By universal determinism I mean the idea that all things happen in response to an essentially mechanical all-encompassing "law." Essentially this is the stance of a consistent materialist/determinist. (It is possible to be a materialist and not a determinist, witness for example many who are completely materialist in their philosophy yet hold to quantum indeterminacy). In this view both consciousness and volition are mere byproducts of purely physical agents operating by way of inescapable causal law. By universal necessity I mean the idea that, ultimately, all things and actions are connected and necessary. In this context those things need not at all be physical things or actions; love is a thing in the broad sense of the term, as are courage and humor and logic. A thing in this sense can be something material, mental, spiritual or personal or an action. The idea of universal necessity does not reduce all entities and actions to physical entities and their actions, though both it and the idea of universal determinism espouse a kind of universal lawfulness-though in racially different ways.

But why believe that a universal lawfulness can exist? I can think of no better explanation that the one offered at the beginning of this century by the philosopher H.W.B. Joseph, from his book An Introduction to Logic:

"�Yet if a thing is to have any determinate nature and character at all, there must be uniformity of action in different things of that character, or of the same thing on different like occasions. If a thing a under conditions c produces a change x in subject s�the way in which it acts must be a partial expression of what it is. It could only act differently, if it were different. As long therefore as it is a, and stands related under conditions c to a subject that is s, no other effect than x can be produced; and to say that the same thing acting on the same thing under the same conditions may yet produce a different effect is to say that a thing need not be what it is� A thing, to be at all, must be something, and can only be what it is. To assert a causal connection between a and x implies that a acts as it does because it is; because, in fact, it is a. So long therefore as it is a, it must act thus; and to assert that it may act otherwise on a subsequent occasion is to assert that what is a is something else than the a which it is declared to be."

By determinate Joseph does not mean, in the terms used here, deterministic. It only means that to be something is to be something specific. The book beside me on the table is a specific book and not somewhat book and somewhat penguin in anything like a consistent use of the terms. Again, the word "thing" is used very broadly here. To be is to be something specific, but that specific thing can be a thought, feeling, person, state, etc. The universe consists of specific things and God is a specific thing-a specific being. To deny the determinate nature of things is, of necessity, to deny the determinate nature of God. This has at least two immediate effects: to rob God of being something specific and thereby rob God of being at all and secondly, to destroy any rational concept of a dependable God.

How does this relate to the teachings of The Urantia Book? Interestingly, the authors seldom weigh in on technical philosophic issues in any kind of systematic way. Still, I think the view I am arguing for here is implicit, if not fully explicit, in any number of statements on the nature of divinity:

P.1299 - �1 The omnipotence of Deity does not imply the power to do the nondoable. Within the time-space frame and from the intellectual reference point of mortal comprehension, even the infinite God cannot create square circles or produce evil that is inherently good. God cannot do the ungodlike thing. Such a contradiction of philosophic terms is the equivalent of nonentity and implies that nothing is thus created. A personality trait cannot at the same time be Godlike and ungodlike. Compossibility is innate in divine power. And all of this is derived from the fact that omnipotence not only creates things with a nature but also gives origin to the nature of all things and beings.

P.1185 - �2 Nothing in the entire universe can substitute for the fact of experience on nonexistential levels. The infinite God is, as always, replete and complete, infinitely inclusive of all things except evil and creature experience. God cannot do wrong; he is infallible.

God can only do what it is in God's nature to do. I see no reason to believe that logic, or the authors of the UB, would think that it is possible for anyone or anything else to do otherwise.

Is this a radical curtailment of freedom of will on the part of God or any other person? In a word, no. The freedom to do the undoable is not a freedom to do anything at all. Still, there are many other factors that can shed light on the nature of freedom as it relates to necessity, and that will be the subject of the next section.

I am looking forward to a fresh beginning this year. My vision for us is to move forward with plans by setting meaningful goals and bringing them forth to fruition. But, it will take dedication on our part and all of us working together for our association to realize a greater purpose. Fostering and maintaining study groups is a very important aspect of our association. So is placing referrals into home groups, but we have the potential to do so much more. We have some wonderful resources within our association, some very talented people that we can begin to utilize more fully.

What we need is a project(s) that people can really sink their teeth into. We can make a difference within the organization and within our communities. Please take some time to consider the possibilities. I would like to talk with you about your ideas on what we can accomplish, and your thoughts on how we can begin to implement a project(s) that will both stimulate and excite us, as well as making a meaningful contribution. Please contact me at jeanetts@home.com or (541) 754-0385, I would like to hear from you. We've been given a wonderful revelation ... how can we increase the return on this investment?

IUA is a unique organization. It is the only association on the planet whose members have pledged their loyalty to uphold the provisions of URANTIA Foundation's guiding document, the Declaration of Trust. By so pledging, we IUA members have set ourselves a high goal of organizational behaviour and procedures in keeping with the spirit of The URANTIA Book teachings. IUA provides a choice to those readers who wish to join a Urantia Book based organization which focuses entirely on helping URANTIA Foundation disseminate the inviolate text of TheURANTIA Book. As long as IUA stays its designated course, steered by loyal and experienced readers, it will continue to be a necessary element in the spiritual economy of Urantia. IUA will persist and prosper despite any outside challenge.

Last March, certain inequities and errors in our own local UA procedures came to light. Examination of these procedural errors has since instigated the adoption of many positive changes throughout the whole global association. Many inconsistencies in the IUA bylaws were recognized and will either be removed or corrected in the new, improved bylaws, now almost ready for our inspection. Because IUA is so precious, all difficulties in obtaining just, clear and fair bylaws are worth any effort.

I'll always regard the 1995 NUA charter meeting as an important life event. Since then, it's been an honor to serve IUA as an NUA board member and newsletter editor. My very best wishes to the next Vice President of NUA.

The NUA Governing Board met by telephone conference on January 25, 2001. The primary order of business was to prepare for the upcoming March elections. Any changes to NUA's election procedure still in place since the election in March 2000 need to be approved by the IUA Coordinating Committee. There was only a brief window of time between the date of our telephone conference and the date by which meeting notices had to be mailed in order to be received at least 30 days prior to the meeting.

At the same time, we wanted to ensure the possibility of participation of all paid members in the election meeting. After considering several alternatives, we concluded that the best idea was to arrange for telephone call-in voting during the meeting itself, available to paid members unable to attend.

President Jeanette Schafer drafted a petition to that effect. By e-mail, each member of the NUA GB indicated approval of the petition. It was e-mailed to the Coordinating Committee, who promptly approved the phone-in addition to our former voting procedure.

A letter was sent by e-mail and US mail to the NUA membership in time to be received by February 11th, 30 days before the upcoming election meeting on March 11th. The letter announced the March 2001 election meeting, the annual dues requirement, and described the nominating and phone-in procedures.

Balance Received from Anne James, NUA Outgoing
Treasurer, 3/26/00........................................... $178.34

Expenses for Issue 17 coming up shortly. Deadline for annual dues is March 1. You may pay your dues at the election meeting on March 18. Dues for 2001 have been reduced: $35 for singles and $50 for couples. If you plan to vote by phone, your dues must be received no later than March 18 by the treasurer.

There are a myriad of worlds but one thought from which they grew
Its Law is order, which cannot swerve
Its creatures are many and all free to choose
The path to the One from which they were

All disorder they create,
Which in itself is pain
Then woe and hate and fear come forth
From recognition they remain

Yet the great one is a golden light It's not remote but near
Hold thyself within its glow And behold all things clear

With all thy breathing being One thing must be known
With thine own thought all came to be
With thine own thought all will be known.

From this disorder of imposed misery
Will arise an order of Peace
For man must create the grand repose
And cause disunity to cease

For his hearts desire cannot be robbed
All beauty and splendor he's known
The power is his to stand within light
And draw to himself his own

Let pass through your mind what you would desire
Take heed it will harm no man
Meditate then on the wish of the heart
And create all that one can acquire...

So, there we were: Brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, children, grandchildren, a few friends and our mother. Nineteen of us gathered together around the Christmas tree with its multicolored lights throwing soft reflections in the mirrors, windows and eyes. I look at my mom, at my brothers and sister, at our children. We are all living reflections of the life that gave us life. Multicolored light throwing off light.

We meet at our mom's house, like we do every year, to exchange gifts and catch up on the comings and goings of our all too busy lives. A rare event to find us all together under the same roof at the same time. A small miracle in itself.

Our table almost groans under the weight of the food. And presents from and for so many spill out from under the branches of the Christmas tree onto the floor and along the wall like a festive river in flood. We have our health. We have each other. We are loved and we love. We are blessed to have so much I think to myself and close my eyes for a moment.

I look once again at my mom. She is smiling quietly to herself watching her extended family making all this happy noise in her home. It has not been easy for her. My father died twenty-two years ago at the age of forty-four. He was career Air Force and we traveled extensively, living overseas and many different places here in America. He was also a musician. He always had a band wherever we lived. It was usually an eight-piece affair, including a four-piece horn section, playing rhythm and blues music. I grew up thinking everyone had an eight-piece band rehearsing in their living room. He once toured with Lloyd Price. The only white man on stage. He used to come on local TV every Saturday night when we lived in Savannah, Georgia. He played at the American Embassy in England and on stages in Morocco, Africa. Their lifestyle was different from almost everyone else we knew. They embraced it with a passion. But it came to an end with the death of my father. She never remarried.

She also never went to church except for family weddings, funerals and the occasional Easter when we were young and my father was still alive. And due to lifestyle and belief (or lack thereof), both she and my father abandoned the dogma of organized religion long, long ago. She wasn't concerned with Hell. She didn't believe in it.

All my early attempts to talk about the URANTIA Book never impressed her...as much my fault as anything else. Though over the last few years she would make comments like, "Steve and I kinda believe the same thing." And I would think, how would she know that? She doesn't really know what I believe. She never wanted to talk about God but in the most general of terms. She didn't really want to talk about death at all. We never got to the life after part. These things made her uncomfortable. There was a void between what she didn't believe and what she wished she could. She needed a bridge she could trust. Yet, I recognized the comments she made as a sign that she wanted to believe in something. At long last, she was looking. And I began to see it wasn't my words that impressed her but my actions: she began to question me about the conferences I spoke of participating in, the friends I had made from other states, other countries, my unswerving belief in "this book" over the years, and how these beliefs had changed me from the man I once was. She had seen the change.

Still, it took me by surprise, when earlier this year she said she might like to look at "that book you like to read." Normally, this would be THE SIGN I would look for. But between trying to make sure I did this just right and a hectic lifestyle on my part I actually put it off and then forgot she even mentioned it. Three weeks later she reminded me again: "I thought you were going to bring that book over." Is she serious? Is it more than coincidence she has asked twice? I started making plans on how I would handle her questions. At Thanksgiving, she said, "Hey, where is that book you promised?"

So, there we were: My family gathered around the Christmas tree and everyone is opening presents. Laughter and thank-yous fill the air. There is much movement, noise and merrymaking bordering almost on pandemonium filling up the room. Wrapping paper is flying. My son, Keegan, is the youngest of all the children present. His eyes are shining, full of light and innocence.

He is pulling on my sleeve trying to show me his baseball cards. I am watching my mother. She is the only one not moving. Voices began to recede and everything goes to slow motion. She is holding a book. It is opened in her lap and she is reading it. There are colored lights of green, blue and red moving and blinking on the white dust jacket and I am finding it hard to breath. I allow myself one last look before I have to turn away. Everything is blurring. The lights on the Christmas tree are elongating and the stinging sensation is hurting my eyes. Keegan pets my hand and asks if I feel OK.

When I look back she is smiling at me and mouths a 'thank-you' across the room. I wave a "you're welcome" back. A space has been bridged between us...between her and the unknown. She has taken the first step upon a new bridge...and I know it to be as solid as the rock where Moses stood.

Later, when I fumble an explanation of how hard the Forward is and if she just wants to thumb through the book at first and if she has any questions...she stops me with a hand on my sleeve and says kissing me on the cheek, "I'm going to read all of it." The sweetest gift, a mother's love.

So, here is wishing all of you, my extended family, a Happy New Year! May you and yours grow closer as the days on this planet grow shorter. Thank you so much for the many gifts and talents you have shared disseminating the teachings in your own special way. We are all part of the same family tree...multicolored lights reflecting God's love. Shine on

A reader from Portland: I have been reading over the charter of the IUA and am surprised to find myself feeling much more positive about it than I had thought I would. I like the many positive pronouncements that there are no leaders, that teachers will naturally emerge and not be chosen, that local societies are self-governing, that there's flexibility to amend some of the bylaws, and that the IUA as a group, avoids social, political, economic, or religious entanglements. I'm happy to see that there's no implication that members must police each other or report anti-Foundation activities of their brothers and sisters. I really like the strong wording that is meant to allow freedom of interpretation of The Urantia Book. However, I do have some questions regarding a few areas that I am confused about.

1. What do you mean by "holy books" when you say "IUA has no creeds, dogmas, priests, rituals, or holy books"? How is the Urantia Book different from a "holy book"?

2. You say that the IUA is "not a religious organization" although it is "comprised of individual religionists" and is "intended to foster" the spiritual fellowship of the kingdom of heaven." Since the IUA purposes are devoted to fostering a religion, studying, implementing, and disseminating The Urantia Book teachings - the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man" how is it that the IUA is not a religious organization? I can see how the IUA is not a religion, but it certainly seems to me to be "a religious organization." How do you see it as being different from one?

3. On the one hand the IUA is to "foster the in-depth study of The Urantia Book and the orderly dissemination of its teachings" and members will "carry encourage non-invasive dissemination of The Urantia Book and it's teachings" while in another place you say "the IUA is not designed to carry the teachings of The Urantia Book to planetary culture in its own name." Aren't these contradictory statements? How can the IUA avoid doing this "in its own name" if it is also "given the crucial task of representing to the public the name "Urantia," "Urantian," and the Concentric Circles Symbol"?

4. It is apparent that by providing broad access to The Urantia Book through bookstores and libraries without the interference of intermediaries, the Urantia Foundation wants to avoid the existence of official interpretations of The Urantia Book, and I strongly support this stance. As I understand it, the IUA's license to use the registered marks while it's members concurrently support the Foundation's trusteeship of the copyright and marks, stops others from claiming to "officially represent" the Urantia Book or its teachings. This is good. My question is this: Does this also, however, establish the Urantia Foundation and/or the IUA as the organization or organizations which can officially" represent the Urantia Book and its interpretation? What exactly does "officially represent" The Urantia Book mean? Represent it to whom?

5. Why are decisions to admit new members made by the governing board rather than by other methods, such as through a membership committee or vote of the entire membership?

6. Why are the Foundation and IUA encouraging the publication of secondary works, newsletters, etc. which might be taken as official interpretations of the Urantia Book and its teachings? Wasn't the philosophy regarding secondary works much more conservative in the early days of the Urantia Brotherhood because of the desire that there not be competition to the incomparable teachings of The Urantia Book? Why the change in philosophy now?

7. The IUA is organized geographically by locales, regions, nations, and even internationally. However The Urantia Book discusses problems of internationalism, helping us to envision one world government. Already we can see possibilities for the formation of Associations by such organization as Internet communities. Is the formation of Associations based on geographic and political divisions the wisest method of organization for a fellowship such as the IUA?

8. The Cordinating Committee puts the welfare of the Association ahead of that of the individual, in contrast to Jesus and the superuniverse government judges. Why? Is this really consistent with the teachings of The Urantia Book?

9. The IUA Bylaws say that members must support the teachings of The Urantia Book. What does "support" mean? Belief? Agreement with? Does this mean 100% of the teachings of The Urantia Book or some percentage?

10. What does "contribute annually to the Urantia Foundation" mean? Financial contribution or otherwise? Do the dues paid to the local Association, part of which are sent on to the Urantia Foundation, count as this contribution? By when must annual dues be paid? Can someone be considered an active member, i.e., part of the quorum for voting, if they haven't paid their annual dues?

11. "The act of a majority present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the group..." Does that mean a majority of paid-up members? What does "is present" mean...in person?

12. What is considered "too large" for an Association to become? Has "too large" precedence been set yet?

13. The Membership Committee is to make contact with applicants, but since the Associations are not self-promoting (or is that just the IUA?) I assume the local associations are not to promote the Association or otherwise actively seek members? That's all for now.