Editor’s Note: In October, 2014, a women’s retreat was held at Urantia Foundation. The planning of the retreat began well over a year in advance. Women traveled from near and far to share the weekend and following are reflections from some of the attendees.
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After signing up to participate in the weekend women’s retreat, my husband joked several times that I was on my way to a knitting circle. When he asked me what it was really about, I could only answer that it was about women, and that it would be wonderful. Even after the first day of the retreat, I had difficulty wrapping my head around a good description of the retreat. I wrote a note in my journal that read, “We are not talking about The Urantia Book. We are not talking about the Mother Spirit. We are sharing ourselves. We are countering the intellectual emphasis that is often so dominant among readers of The Urantia Book.”
Of course, we did talk about The Urantia Book and about the Mother Spirit as well as the female strengths of emotions, intuition, and morality. But that was not the focus. The focus was on how these things work within our lives. We all took away something different. I took away a greater trust in the value of my emotions and intuition. Too often I have felt that these traits need to be suppressed, but increasingly I see that they add to a more balanced and healthy environment.
Please do not tell my husband this, but it turns out that all along he was right; it was a knitting circle. Through sharing themselves, the women at the retreat knit themselves together to form a stronger fabric in the community of Urantia Book readers.
~ Alice Wood, Wisconsin, United States
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It came down to what matters in life, what is meaningful, what resonates within me. My hope was twofold: first, to give a voice to women who are searching for how to express their God-given talents by a greater understanding of the divine in themselves and second, to give a voice to those who are determined to empower others to experience the joys of being a woman and to master the art of loving.
As a group, something happened when we connected the material and the spiritual energies; the consciousness of the group changed. It enabled me to see the beautiful quality of the other attendees and to see them as unique daughters of God.
I enjoy people and revel in the sharing of the heights and depths of doing God’s will. As women, we are very intuitive; we have a knowing of things unsaid.
It was truly an honor to be part of this weekend women’s retreat. Everyone who attended left a fragrant part of themselves with each of us that will always be remembered.
~ Doreen Heyne, Florida, United States
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On Sunday, I led the group in examining what The Urantia Book explicitly says about the differences between men and women, in consideration of the Urantia Revelation being addressed to an early 20th century audience. For example, we considered the significance of this statement, “Woman, however, has always been the moral standard-bearer and the spiritual leader of mankind.” (938.8) 84:6.4
The group also reviewed Jesus’ establishment of the women’s corps who accompanied the apostles on the third teaching tour.
And finally the group considered how emotions, as discussed in The Urantia Book, are presented as desirable and useful, in that higher beings seem to experience more kinds of emotions, and celestial artisans design new emotions. The goal of this discussion was for the group to envision the unique perspective that 21st century women can bring to uplift other women around the world to value themselves and claim their spirituality by balancing heart and mind. I suggested that we coin this technique of balance with a new term, heartellect.
~ Carrie Prentice, South Dakota, United States
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As the flower is responsible for providing its pollen to the wind and not watering the ground where it falls, experiencing with women this spiritual journey with an opening of heart enabled for better understanding of the self and enjoying every element that God constituted us with; the body, the consciousness, our personality, and the divine Spirit living within us.
Spiritual growth is a process of unlimited progress which takes time. We gave it a weekend to begin with.
~ Line St-Pierre, Québec, Canada