By Cesar Paulo Zapello, president, Urantia Association of Brazil, Caxias do Sul, Brazil
Regarding my search for answers to my spiritual and cosmic questions, I always had questions about God, the universe, and Adam and Eve, to name a few, but I never found the answers in institutionalized religions. Understanding the Bible—I was raised Catholic—never gave me the answers I sought.
For forty-eight years I had questions but no answers, until I had a very difficult time in my life: My small business went bankrupt, and I felt great stress. But the experience did cause me to turn to God and to ask yet another question: Why is life so difficult?
My spiritual hunger led me to evangelical churches, to Seicho-no-je, to shamanism, and to the Great White Brotherhood (Ascended Masters), but none of them gave me answers. They did, however, prepare me for my discovery of The Urantia Book.
On July 31, 2010, while searching on the internet, I found The Urantia Book. Looking through the Table of Contents, Paper 74, “Adam and Eve” caught my eye. The information in Paper 74 was so logical and made such good sense. I just knew that The Urantia Book was going to answer the questions that I had had for so many years.
Since then, with the help of long-time readers and online study groups offered by the Urantia Association of Brazil (UAB), I have not stopped reading The Urantia Book. My life has changed. My wife, after some resistance, also started reading the book. Today she and I have spiritual unity, and we are helping new readers.
Most of our friends are Urantia Book readers in Brazil and around the world.
I participated in the Study Group Symposium in Chicago in June 2012 and visited Urantia Foundation headquarters. I also made a lot of friends from various countries who motivated me to do the will of the Father and to serve my brothers and sisters.
When somebody asks me which part of The Urantia Book I like the most, I always answer that it is the part I am currently reading. But there are two paragraphs that have motivated me the most:
”Eternal survival of personality is wholly dependent on the choosing of the mortal mind, whose decisions determine the survival potential of the immortal soul. When the mind believes God and the soul knows God, and when, with the fostering Adjuster, they all desire God, then is survival assured. Limitations of intellect, curtailment of education, deprivation of culture, impoverishment of social status, even inferiority of the human standards of morality resulting from the unfortunate lack of educational, cultural, and social advantages, cannot invalidate the presence of the divine spirit in such unfortunate and humanly handicapped but believing individuals. The indwelling of the Mystery Monitor constitutes the inception and insures the possibility of the potential of growth and survival of the immortal soul.” (69.8) 5:5.13
“Social architects do everything within their province and power to bring together suitable individuals that they may constitute efficient and agreeable working groups on earth; and sometimes such groups have found themselves reassociated on the mansion worlds for continued fruitful service. But not always do these seraphim attain their ends; not always are they able to bring together those who would form the most ideal group to achieve a given purpose or to accomplish a certain task; under these conditions they must utilize the best of the material available.” (432.6) 39:3.5
In closing, let me emphasize that it is not enough to know The Urantia Book intellectually. The great value of its teachings is to put them into practice in our everyday lives. The strength of our pursuit is exhibited by the quality of our relations with other readers and with all our brothers and sisters.
I encourage all readers to participate in study groups. I know whereof I speak. I participate in online study groups every Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday through UAB’s internet conference room, and every Thursday at a study group at our home. And for three years, we have had a monthly regional meeting in the south of Brazil. Since I found The Urantia Book, I have also actively helped to organize national meetings.
I feel honored to share my “what The Urantia Book means to me” story with other readers.