By Mo Siegel, President, Urantia Foundation, Colorado, USA
Please, we need your help!
Good things can come in threes. Right now there are three projects that seed the Urantia Revelation into the world, and to accomplish them, we need your help. The goals are simple, place The Urantia Book in 1,000 "alternative" libraries, write 1,000 compelling Urantia Book reviews for internet book sellers, and foster the formation of 1,000 active study groups.
Goal One: Place The Urantia Book into 1,000 Alternative Libraries
For years readers have placed The Urantia Book in public libraries. Another library placement opportunity - the alternative library - remains untapped. Alternative libraries are those informal libraries in hotels, cruise ships, bed and breakfast inns, youth hostels, restaurants, truck stops, hospital waiting rooms, nursing homes, churches, fraternity and sorority houses, and more. So next time you stay at, or pass by, an establishment that has a library, you might place a copy of The Urantia Book on their library shelf.
To make it easy and inexpensive for you to place books in libraries, we have created a system that allows you to buy books for $10 a copy, plus postage, if you agree to place them in libraries and not resell them. You can read about this program on Urantia Foundation's website: https://www.urantia.org/urantia-foundation/library-placement-policy [2].
Goal Two: Write 1,000 Compelling Urantia Book Reviews for Internet Book Sellers
The top internet book sellers provide a place on their websites where you can write your opinion of a book. Many books have over 1,000 customer reviews. For example, on Amazon.com, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has 1,145 reviews. Eat, Pray and Love has 2,078. A New Earth has 1,502. The Shack has 4,212. The Secret has 2,523. Three Cups of Tea has 2,284. The Urantia Book has 210. Google Books has 214, Barnes and Noble has 15, Borders has zero, Alibis has seven, Booksamillion has zero, and Chapters Indigo, the Canadian book vendor, has one review. We need to do better! Personal testimonials make a significant impact on people who are thinking about buying a book. People's individual stories and book reviews have amazingly persuasive power to convince others to read a book because their personal story feels real and authentic.
The goal is to have 1,000 books reviews on the internet. The more book reviews, the more credibility. Please share your thoughts with others by visiting book websites and submitting a review. Let them know how reading The Urantia Book has changed your life, how it uplifted your thinking, what you like about it, what you have learned from it, and why you recommend it.
Here are seven links where you can post your customer review. For those of you living outside the USA, I hope you will "localize" this list by using the best internet, book- review sites in your country.
1. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Urantia-Book-Foundation/dp/0911560513/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275072116&sr=1-1 [3]
2. Google Books: https://www.google.com/search?q=the+urantia+book&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1&gws_rd=ssl#tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Urantia+Foundation [4]
3. Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/urantia%20book [5]
4. Chapters Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/home/search/?keywords=urantia%20book [6]
5. Borders: http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0911560076 [7]
6. Alibris: https://www.alibris.com/booksearch?browse=0&keyword=urantia+book [8]
7. Booksamillion: https://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780911560510?id=4749823265646#overview [9]
Goal Three: Fostering the Formation of 1,000 Study Groups
The first generation of readers of The Urantia Book believed that the most effective way of building a secure social and educational community for the Urantia Revelation was through the development of study groups. So far, history has proven those early readers correct. We estimate that approximately 500 study groups now exist worldwide. While not perfectly suited for everyone, study groups provide readers a number of benefits. Attending study groups enhances one's understanding of the complex parts of the book, builds local communities of believers, creates an appropriate opportunity for group prayer and worship, stimulates life-long friendships, offers support groups for believers, strengthens one's faith, and safeguards one from isolation and doubt. Every functioning study group is a source of spiritual light in the world.
For those of you currently hosting or attending study groups, your involvement in these groups fulfills a vital role. For those of you not attending study groups, please consider the value to both you and your fellow readers of your participating in one. Make study groups a part of your weekly routine. If there is no study group in your area, start one.
For information on Urantia Book study groups, visit: https://www.urantia.org/contact-readers [10] . For information on forming and fostering study groups, visit: https://urantia-association.org/study-groups/find-a-study-group/ [11] and https://urantiabook.org/archive/readers/suggestions-for-study-groups.htm [12].
"You cannot experience real joy all by yourself. A solitary life is fatal to happiness. Even families and nations will enjoy life more if they share it with others." (1220.6) 111:4.7
"Spiritual growth is mutually stimulated by intimate association with other religionists." (1094.2) 100:0.2
You will receive updates regarding our progress in achieving these three goals. Please unite with your fellow readers in achieving these important tasks.
"Just as certainly as men share their religious beliefs, they create a religious group of some sort which eventually creates common goals. Someday religionists will get together and actually effect co-operation on the basis of unity of ideals and purposes rather than attempting to do so on the basis of psychological opinions and theological beliefs. Goals rather than creeds should unify religionists." (1091.6) 99:5.7