[tmtranscripts] Open Letter to Urantia Book readers

[B. Devine]

Recently questions have arisen and assumptions have been made regarding the Association for Light and Life (ALL), to which I want to provide clarification.

Having been a member on Truthbook for years, I took the time to share information from the spring ALL newsletter on the Forum, believing that since it was Urantia Book related that it was acceptable to post.  With no warning, Truthbook's forum moderator removed the information calling it Teaching Mission material although the newsletter was not about the Teaching Mission.  They have not responded to inquiries about this event by our Council.

Following this event another public comment on another forum was made that the conference this summer at Unity Village in June was a Teaching Mission conference, so I responded to clarify that the Unity Village conference was being sponsored by the Association for Light and Life, rather than the Teaching Mission, and the conference was open to all.  ALL is not a subsect of, nor does it sponsor other organizations.  We are supportive of all sincere spiritual seekers and we are an association of individuals.

Since then a few readers have been desirous of painting ALL as a Teaching Mission organization based on the fact that many of its members have been involved in the Teaching Mission before, and based on the evolution of our conversations and discussions on our members list over the past few years where we have had to make decisions on where we want our focus to be, ultimately creating an unincorporated non-profit association of individuals with varying beliefs who seek light and life as an ideal for personal, planetary, and universal attainment.

Those who have attended past gatherings recognize by experience that we are not coming together as UB readers, or TeaM people, but as children of God to recognize our siblinghood and explore ways to deepen our experience and move forward in service.  We allow each to have their beliefs without shame, and instead we focus on what we can do together.

The Association for Light and Life is wholly supportive of all sincere spiritual seekers. We love the Urantia book as most of us have been reading the tome for decades.  We support TeaM believers who believe in seeking within and exploring spiritual experience.  We also invite all other seekers and unaffiliated believers to join with us, as well... and some of them have.

By acting based on the fact that we are connected by our goals rather than our beliefs, we view this effort as truly an experience in finding and exploring unity without uniformity.  That is what the Association for Light and Life is.  That many of us who started the Association have explored the process of the Teaching Mission should not be a surprise.  That all of us who started the Association are Urantia Book readers may be the more difficult realization for those that want to see the separation.  

We understand the Association for Light and Life is not for everyone.  It is welcoming of those who would desire to be with their brothers and sisters in service, to recognize our siblinghood, and to forge new paths ahead, not based on beliefs but on the recognition of our spirit identity as children of God.  That means a wide range of personalities that won't fit tidily in a box.

It also means that we will face people and efforts to detract from time to time.  This is our clarification.  We'll keep moving ahead and sharing with those who want to share.

Sincerely,
Bob Devine
Presiding Officer
www.associationforlightandlife.org

Purpose Statement from Constitution:

The Association for Light and Life (ALL) is a spiritual organization with purposes solely and entirely religious, educational, and charitable.  The primary purpose of ALL is to engage in and support those endeavors which further the realization of Light and Life, and within that purpose we intend:

 

A. To foster awareness of the spiritual fraternity of all peoples as part of one universal family under the parental guidance and watchcare of the Divine.

 

B. To promote a deeper relationship with the Divine through the practice of worshipful communion, stillness meditation, prayer, and unselfish service. 

 

C. To facilitate group and planetary spiritual progress by nurturing and maintaining a sense of spiritual community that is characterized by a unity of goals and ideals, without requiring a uniformity of beliefs.

 

D. To support each individual's spiritual progress by encouraging a balance of physical, mental, and spiritual development through a lifetime of education, creative expression, inner reflection with the Divine, and an increasing appreciation of truth, beauty, and goodness.

 

The current Constitution can be read at http://all.lightandlife.us/Resources/Articles/All+documents/34412.aspx.
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