By Line St-Pierre, associate trustee, Urantia Foundation, Ste-Sophie, Québec, Canada
“The greatest strength of women lies in their innate motherhood, in their creative, life-giving power. And this power can help women to bring about a far more significant change in society than men could ever accomplish.’’ (Mata Amritanandamayi, aka Amma)
Our heavenly Father sent the Life Carriers to implant life on Urantia. After the first humans, Andon and Fonta, were born, Fonta, of course, bore the children―as have all women since Fonta. Child bearing is just one of the many gifts that the Life Carriers have entrusted to women. These gifts have inspired a deep reflection upon what it means to be a woman, a daughter of God. To deepen this reflection and see how we can help one another grow, we have planned a retreat in October to be held at Urantia Foundation in Chicago.
We gathered again in Florida from January 9-11 to continue our plans based on the mission and vision statements we drafted last October.
Mission Statement: To enhance the status of being a woman dedicated to spiritual growth, intellectual advancement, and moral progress.
Vision Statement: To touch women's hearts by exploring the dignity of being daughters of God, by honoring their value and importance, and by co-operating with the divine spirit within to bring forth the bountiful fruits of the spirit.
Each woman at the seminar presented one gift that the Life Carriers entrusted to women. Our retreat in October will explore these gifts in greater depth.
Some of the insights and comments expressed at the seminar are the following:
Carolyn Prentice, in summarizing her assessment of the seminar, said:
“We explored how The Urantia Book has inspired us as daughters of God to live our lives more fully. We acknowledged our place on this gendered world, in which humans have used sex differences to divide people. We examined what The Urantia Book specifically says about these sex differences and about how women have slowly won rights and considerations from men through the ages. Recognizing that The Urantia Book is an artifact constrained by early twentieth century conventions and words, we discussed the nuanced understanding of sex difference presented in the Urantia Revelation, which emphasizes the benefit of having two forms of humans and proclaims the spiritual equality, dignity, and value of men and women.”
“We also discussed how the seventh adjutant mind-spirit, the spirit of wisdom, demands more than knowledge or information. Wisdom must include insight into the past and future, as well as recognize the emotions of human beings. We coined a new term for this joining of heart and mind: Heartellect.”
Katharina Becker summarized her thoughts about the seminar as follows:
“We reflected on and discussed Body—Consciousness—Personality—Sanctifying Life—Heartellect—and the Wisdom of God for Women. We were blessed to share the sacred and the mundane in one another, to witness the unfolding of our spiritual selves, to display tears of grace, and to feel the love of God.”
Doreen Heyne offered this review of the seminar:
“There was a sincere and genuine effort to engage in the sharing intimacy of our souls, which created an immediate acknowledgment of one another and reflected our Thought Adjusters’ loving expression.
The challenges before us as a team will be imbued with love and grace. It all comes from a place of love.”
Line St-Pierre, Katharina Becker, Share Beasley, Carolyn Prentice, Doreen Heyne