25 readers of the Urantia Book from around Australia gathered together in peace and goodwill on the island state of Tasmania for a weekend of spiritual refreshment: fellowshipping, teaching, listening, laughing, singing, praying, and worshiping. We gave enthusiastic considera-tion to our theme: “Worshiping and Serving our Father —Attaining the highest levels of self-realization.” We marvelled at the superb example of our Master, Christ Michael, who lived a consecrated life of whole-hearted worship and service to his Father.
We discovered why the Urantia Papers so often link worship and service—they are inextricably tied together in the same way that breath-ing in and breathing out are essential and complementary elements of the breathing cycle. We looked at worship as a spontaneous moment by moment expression of divine adoration or as a more formal act of setting aside time and space to communicate with our Father. In addition, we ex-plored the possibility and place of group worship as a key component of our spiritual gatherings. In this regard, we read with awe and amazement the description given to us in Paper 27 of group worship on the Isle of Paradise.
And then on Saturday night, Urantia Master Mind challenged our ability to recall Urantia Book facts as we were allocated to one of three teams, Lanonandeks, Melchizedeks, and Vorondadeks and then individually put in the ‘hot seat’ to answer questions for our team. If my memory serves me correctly, I think the Vorondadeks won!
As well as all of the above, we were blessed with perfect weather, blue skies and sunshine, a spectacular location, and a very homely and hospitable venue. To all of you who journeyed to participate in this sacred event, a very big thank you; for me it was a foretaste of the Mansion Worlds and I eagerly look forward to seeing you all again at next year’s conference. In conclusion and on your behalf, I would like to thank our heavenly hosts, the Universal Father and his Son Michael of Nebadon for truly blessing us on this occasion.
With love, Julian McGarry
Worship is the highest privilege and the first duty of all created intelligences. [Paper 27:7.1, page 303.5]