It’s been thirteen months since I started the UBannotated:UBanimated project. We are now at 5900+ annotations. The 6000 mark would have been hit had the Topical Studies section not been introduced. Topical Study pages significantly reduce the number of annotations needed, while increasing the depth and breadth of the content. They also can take significant amount of time to develop.
One of the best illustrations of this is the Topical Study page: “Were the Alpheus twins subnormal?” If you have not had a chance to check this out yet, it provides a review of how “common people” is used by the authors. Review of this material suggests that “common people” is used to refer to the aggregate of subnormal and normal minded individuals. Because the topic of subnormals was left undeveloped in the “Eugenics, Race, and The Urantia Book” paper, working up this additional material was especially satisfying and enlightening. This week, I added new introductory remarks along with a passage about Jesus’ teachings on how to treat those with less intelligence.
Eleven years ago, when I started the UBtheNEWS project, I made a deliberate choice to work independently of the Fellowship and the UAI because I wanted to insulate the work from the influence of Urantia Book politics. On a group level, I noticed differing tendencies regarding some of the science and history issues. I just wanted to do scholarship and outreach, not politics.
Staying out of politics seemed like a nice idea at the time. This turned out to be year for considering whether an important part of the plan for the Revelation was to have the founding institutions foster institutions of Urantia Book-based cosmology. Though the issue has been around for decades, the Unity Treatise brought to light the importance of doing this in a particularly provocative way that helped me see how important this is to the issues related to the UBtheNEWS project.
Along with raising the issue of whether the founding institutions were supposed to foster institutions of Urantia Book-based religion, philosophy, and cosmology, the Unity Treatise also raised another altogether reasonable question for consideration: Do two publishers and two social groups indicate a departure from the original plan that constitutes a default?
One of the challenges often associated with reasonable questions about important matters is that reasonable minds differ on how best to answer such questions and respond to the situation. The last year was filled with this type of political challenge. In some cases, it has brought me closer to people. In other cases, it has caused problems. Often times, it seems to do both pretty powerfully. I guess that goes with living life more fully.
During this last year, the exploration of prophecy and “signs of the times” had similarly challenging social dynamics associated with it. Oddly enough, I had never undertaken much study of the subject from either a Urantia Book or Biblical perspective. Integrating the two was a thrilling learning process, a real eye opener. Punctuating this study with a trip to Bald Knob Cross of Peace for a spectacular view of the full solar eclipse on Jesus’ birthday certainly put a cherry on the top of the Sunday (notwithstanding that this year his birthday was on a Monday).
My study of prophecy and related matters in The Urantia Book and the Bible led me to believe that we will get some type of visitation between August 21, 2017 and April 8, 2024. It was nice to see that others also exhibited a passionate interest in the subject when I shared my research, thoughts, and beliefs. Being inclined towards beliefs consistent with the Chief of Seraphim, regarding the appearance of Melchizedek “any day or hour,” makes the next seven years all the more exciting. I pray everyone will find their own peace and peace with others regarding prophecy.
At this point, having now gone so far beyond UBtheNEWS related work, I am especially grateful to those who have continued to support my efforts to make a contribution to the progress of the Urantia revelation. Some of you even gave specifically for the political work I was doing, which gave me a new and very nice experience of life. My heartfelt thanks goes to the kind people who have supported my efforts in 2017! Your contributions have doubled, at least, the amount of work I could have accomplished on my own.
The coming year looks to be no less exciting. I am currently working on a rather large and layered topical study: Harmonizing Eternal Order With Evolutionary Democracy. And there are at least a half dozen other topics that are in developmental stages. Last time I checked, we still have two main publishers, two main social groups. The issue has not gone away; no doubt, there will be more to say. And for Jesus’ birthday in 2018, I still hope to be back out at Bald Knob Cross of Peace. Even without an eclipse or a visitation, it is still a beautiful and centralized location to celebrate Jesus’ birthday and work on political issues with like-minded souls, if sufficient interest develops to create an event.
Wishing you all the best this holiday season! May the coming year enhance your appreciation for and commitment to the deeper meanings and values of life!
In harmony,
Halbert