Younger-Generation Generation Urantia Gathering October 14--16, 2011 Boulder CO
Background and news: I began focusing on seeking out young readers and working to galvanize and bring them hem together about fifteen years ago, after I went to my first conferences and experienced how there were almost no young readers to be found. As the years passed dozens of immensely rewarding young reader events were coordinated and a humble humbl and not-formallyorganized “UByouth” youth” family/network developed. Some of our most thrilling adventures were “tours” that involved groups of young readers traveling all over N. America and sometimes Europe and other parts of the world for months at a time. Among other joyous ous activities that fostered community and bonding during these tours, we attended international and regional conferences, had young reader gatherings and retreats, and engaged in creative outreach projects such as hosting osting Urantia camps at rainbow gatherings gs and placing books in libraries and hostels around Europe. Today, like many of my generation, I am no longer able to devote as much time to such efforts due to parental and jobrelated responsibilities. Nevertheless, we feel it is vital that we continue fostering community and activity among Gen X readers, in addition to youth,, even though we no longer are particularly young young. For one thing, some younger generation readers are less inclined to become and stay active wit with h a group of people their parent’s age, and having dozens of precious friends including many of one’s generation who are devoted to the UB’s marvelous teachings enriches and inspires immeasurably. Additionally, it is clear that there are still extremely few post-boomer boomer UB enthusiasts active in N. America (my informed estimation is that under 110% are under 55).. I believe doing all we can to cultivate dynamic and unified younger generations of readers and preparing for the inevitable “taking of the torch” in the coming decades is imperative. The YaYAs: Before getting into the Boulder gathering details, I want to spread the good news about how a dynamic team devoted to fostering Urantia youth and young adults recently formed and has begun doing service in leaps leap and bounds. This is the Youth and Young Adult (YaYA) committee of the Fellowship.. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time a reader organization has ever started a formal youth youth-focused focused endeavor like this. Several YaYA committee members will likely be joining the Boulder pow pow-wow Oct 14-16 and I am excited to have the opportunity to be part of their upcoming invitational just two weeks after the Boulder gathering - Nov 4-6 6 in Los Angeles! Find out more at urantianow.com! Boulder is outstanding in n beauty, progressive culture etc., but most important for us is its vibrant and comparatively large reader community. That is why Boulder was a favorite stop on the young reader tours and recently some of us aged “ubyouths” organized a younger-reader reader-oriented conference in 2009 in Boulder – which was amazing! My family and I are spending this fall in Boulder while I am on paternity leave since we want to be part of a center of 5th epochal culture. I think the sparse younger generations would benefit greatly from a center/centers of Urantia activity and
culture – I certainly dream of being part of one - and we hope to eventually move to Boulder for the longer term to pursue these dreams. After so many years of traveling thousands of miles to try to get groups together who all live so far apart, I really look forward to one day living closer to many of you and building up a dynamic local nextgeneration community together. The Details: This gathering will be rather intimate and informal (but not unfocused). Around twenty to thirty younger generation readers (mostly in their 20s and 30s) are expected to participate. The program will be well-rounded and designed to make most meaningful use of our precious time. As always, an underlying focus of this type of gathering is establishing, maintaining and strengthening friendships (I was going to write “lifelong” friendships but …we don’t expect them to be THAT SHORT!) In addition to sharing about our lives and spiritual strivings, the program will include outdoors activities, interacting with Boulder readers, UB study, and more. We will devote some time to the question of dissemination and outreach. Themes that we will explore will center around Jesusonian living as well as community. What are our goals? What is the best path toward the highest good for the future of our community? What might 5th epochal culture look like and how can we cultivate it? Costs, food and lodging: There is no registration or event fee. Participants will basically merely need to bring enough money to feed themselves – sometimes we will eat in town and sometimes we will pitch-in on home-cooked meals. We expect the majority of visitors to stay at the house that will be used as a base for the gathering or in other reader-homes in the area if needed. This option is wallet-friendly but could mean sleeping-bag-and-pad-on-floor-style. Inexpensive hostel and motel rooms are available for those who prefer. Let us know as far in advance as possible if and when you are coming and we will work out the details! We hope to be seeing you very soon! Your brother, Mike MacIsaac (The photo at the top is of younger generation readers at the 2009 Boulder conference, the pictures on this page are from when the young reader tour stopped through Boulder in 2003) Spiritual growth is mutually stimulated by intimate association with other religionists. Love supplies the soil for religious growth… (1094.2) You cannot truly love your fellows by a mere act of the will. Love is only born of thoroughgoing understanding of your neighbor’s motives and sentiments. It is not so important to love all men today as it is that each day you learn to love one more human being. If each day or each week you achieve an understanding of one more of your fellows, and if this is the limit of your ability, then you are certainly socializing and truly spiritualizing your personality. Love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. If each mortal could only become a focus of dynamic affection, this benign virus of love would soon pervade the sentimental emotion-stream of humanity to such an extent that all civilization would be encompassed by love, and that would be the realization of the brotherhood of man. (1098.3)