This morning while getting ready for work a poem began to hatch in my brain (not in the little squishy azure blue brain-shaped-brain I received as a conference souvenier) and I sketched it out. I share this poem with you for our mutual edification.
Meredith
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Love Song
This is a love song for my brother Carlos
And my sister Rebecca into whose eyes I looked,
And those of my daughter Tamara and my son Jimmy,
And my brother Mario and sisters Sharron and Connie,
And my brothers Bill and Michael and Guy,
And daughters Linda, Judy, Suzanne and Lynn,
And those of Chris, Daryl, Dick and Mark,
Of Ralph, Betty, Brenda, David, Sheri,
Shari, Lee, Roslyn, George, Gard, Alain, Maria,
Seppo, Mary Tere and Helen, of Jan, Janet, Cathy,
Katie, Victor, Lynn, Peep, Merindi, Vance, James,
Jean, Jim, Lisa, Jane, Paul, Nancy, Barbara, Rich,
Carolyn, Tickie, Matt, Jay, Al, Christine and Dorothy,
Rick, Peter, Mindy, Benet, Phil, Jeff, Nick, Pio, Don, Terry,
Dan, Colette, Rita, Ginny, Svetlana, Attilio, Sofia,
And Shakyra, sitting patiently awaiting her unborn baby,
And Wanda, Joy, Gary, Greg and Mike, Kipp,
And Hilvania, Carrie, Jerry, Rhonda, Ellen, Jahn,
Will, Margo, Tom, Patricia, John, Gaetan,
Shirley, Kathleen, Sam, Richard, Costas,
Steve, Bob, Moussa, Bert, Dana, Erlene, Rose,
Chick, Istvan, Erica, Neal, Kenny, Tapio, Eddie,
Eija, Travis, Joanne, Patti, Ron, Paula,
And to all whose eyes I met a love song naming you,
Seeing you in the eyes of my mind,
And to all I cannot see and cannot name:
I thank you for being in my small space
For a love moment!
My eyes have seen the peace possibilities
Of love saturated souls,
Every name a Love Song.
—M. Van Woert
Aug. 2, 2004
WHAT A BLAST!!!
I returned from the conference energized, revivified and with a combined feeling of pride, privilege and appreciation in my heart, and I know it's going to remain with me for a very long time. It means so much to me to have made the acquaintance of the many beautiful souls who crossed my path this past week. I feel truly blessed.
The dedicated worker bees on the planning committee are deserving of so much appreciation for their efforts. The logistics of our conference were orchestrated with such finesse and grace that it all progressed like a rail trip through the sunny Swiss countryside. I'm usually reluctant to single people out, but this must be an exception I'm afraid. Guy and James, you were both outstanding contributors. A lot of hard work goes into making it look easy, so you must have both worked very hard indeed. Congratulations to all of you - YOU ROCK!
The speeches, lectures and workshops were beyond my expectations and just excellent, culminating in an awesome last plenary, all of which came straight from the heart of each presenter. What a send off!
How inspiring this all was, dear friends. I am now resolved to have more prayer and quiet communion with the Father in my daily life; to lower the barriers and share from my heart; to always remember to see God in everyone I meet. And so the work begins.
Love to you all, and let's do this again sometime.
God bless,
Terry Grier
Toronto
Well it is practically over for all of you who have organised this very inspiring conference. No doubt that there has been many challenges to face and resolve; but hey! This is how we grow. I came back home by the long way, driving and exchanging with my wife the highlights that we
had enjoyed during this whole week and you know what, everyday was a highlight to us. Yes every speeches, lectures, workshops, meetings we attended, new friends we made and old we rejoiced in seeing again was a highlight. We came home with a better sense of purpose for our engagement in the work we are doing for this revelation.
I hope that many peoples that were there will have or will take a decision to become sincerely involve with all of us in the work required to make this revelation an outstanding success.
Again, thanks to all of you who have dedicated many days of your life to make this a memorable conference and a class one experience.
Gaetan Charland
President IUA
Jeff has exquisitely expressed my perceptions also.
Let me just express from the national association UAUS the great joy we had at the tremendous quality of the conference. To GLMUA and all of those who helped plan and present, what a wonderful job.
The small sessions I attended were extraordinary! Patty McGrath's session on "The Beatitudes Revisited" opened many third eyes and was so well led, bringing in discussion from all of the small session participants. Georges Michelson-Dupont's session on "Worship as Communion" has infused my private moments with my Heavenly Father with a new sense of direction. Barbara Newsom's "Great Decision Makers of the Urantia Book" was probably the most intellectually satisfying session I attended, helping focus on how our decisions in this life impact and lead to our eternal careers. Eija Seppanen-Bolotinski's session on "Mind & Emotion: Psychological & Revealed Perspectives" was marvelous at exploring how our emotions, mind and spirit interrelate. Neal Waldrop's "Consciousness & Choice" will long be remembered by me for the wonderful quote that I paraphrase as, "More important than the directions on the points of a compass is the direction of change." Will Sherwood's "Living Loyally As a Tadpole" really moved us to a positive thinking frame of mind!
The plenary speeches were excellent. Barbara Newsom had tears streaming down my face! Michael Hanian had me rise to my toes with enthusiasm; and I wait with anticipation the IUA Journal that carries the text of his talk. Suzanne Kelly-Ward's amazing audio-visual presentation was so professional and written in poetry! Guy Perron who charmed his way into our hearts with his friendly manner and jovial companionship as our emcee had us quoting that this conference was a "Class 1 experience!" :) [I have to confess that I've started saying "eh" since I returned from conference.] Costas Diamantopoulos gave a wonderful PowerPoint presentation. Tamara Wood, Phil Taylor and Gaetan Charland had the audience in the palm of their hand combining the teachings and personal experience to make us feel the power of the spirit. And Linda Elum may have connected the most to my heart with the direct connection between service and spirit.
With Rick Lyon doing a masterful job on logistics, James Woodward's watchcare and unceasing efforts, Benet Rutenburg's support and coordination, the Little Savages rocking our socks off, Rebecca Oswald's gorgeous piano, James Woodward rocking and rolling on "Mind Arena of Choice," Al Lockett's great jazz and Patty Pearce on flute, this was a blockbuster conference. Barbara Newsom pointed out that it had been 30 years since we've had an international conference in Chicago. The difficulty with telling you what was so wonderful is perhaps leaving something out, but to quote Sinatra's tune, "It was a very good year!"
I will certainly endorse the new Little Savages CD! As a Urantia Book reader who loves popular music, I listen to numerous CDs to find one song that reflects the spiritual flavor of the UB, but they are so hard to find. Some Christian music is great, but for me is often too preachy, negative or in the mind rather than felt from the soul. So this set is a delight. "Rebecca's Song" and Lee Farmer's "Child of God" are instant favorites of mine. My daughter likes "Rainbow Connection" which sounds better with Little Savages than it did with Kermit the Frog. The $15 goes to help sponsor musicians to future Urantia conferences. While "Washed in the Blood" may make you do a double-take, Roselyn and I started giggling and then guffawing as we drove across northern Illinois on Monday morning. Contact Steve Shinall about how to get a copy. It's well worth it.
For those of you in the United States, our 2005 national conference hosted by HULA (Hawaii Local Urantia Association) is currently scheduled for August 4-8 and will leave from New Orleans and stop in Cozumel, Mexico. The next international conference in 2006 is going to be in Australia; so for those of you who have said you always wanted to go to Australia, take Kathleen Swadling's advice and start saving now! After such a lovely experience in Chicago, we look forward to our next time to bring the world of Urantia Book readers together down under.
Many thanks to all,
Lee Armstrong
North Carolina
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Jeff /Meredith/Terry/Gaétan/Lee