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Marriage and Family Symposium · Urantia Radio

0:13
Getting you in the mood and thanks again for joining me on
0:16
this edition of the Rancher Radio Podcast where we talk
0:19
about the book and some of the exciting things that are going
0:22
on in the rancher community. And in just a second, we're
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going to be joined by Joanne Strobel.
0:27
And it's a rare and I would even say an exclusive interview
0:30
because it's hard to get her to, you know, hop on the microphone.
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But we made it happen. And it's a very important event
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that the Urantia Foundation is putting on.
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The Urantia Foundation Education Committee is presenting a Family
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Marriage and family session symposium, and it's going to be
0:47
about marriage and family life. And from that there will be a
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number of presentators that will be talking about different
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aspects of the marriage and family relationship, how they
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intertwine, what it means for civilization, and of course,
1:03
what the the authors of the Urantia book want us to know
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about the importance of family. So it's going to be both
1:09
educational and I believe very, very informative.
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So with that, Joanne Strobel joining me now here on the
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Urantia Radio Podcast. Joanne Strobel is with us.
1:21
She's with the multiple associations that are involved
1:26
in Urantia symposiums events. And there's a very special event
1:30
coming up, the marriage and family adventure and online
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symposium that is scheduled for June 14th and June 15th, which
1:38
is right around the corner, literally.
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And I thought we'd have Joanne on to just talk briefly about
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what to expect, what's the purpose of it?
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And for those who may not be familiar with the Urantia book,
1:49
the Urantia book is very, very emphatic on the importance of
1:53
family and civilization. They dedicate multiple chapters
1:57
to this. The family ideal family is
2:01
represented and the Trinity as well as with Christ, Michael and
2:05
the divine mother. And so we here on Earth, we we
2:09
are fighting hard, really, Joanne, to keep the family
2:13
intact in the Western civilization.
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It's, it's it's facing a lot of different ideological struggles
2:18
and cultural struggles and ethnic struggles and gender
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struggles and all these struggles.
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So welcome just for briefly and tell us about this event that's
2:28
coming up and why people might want to be involved.
2:33
Well, thank you, Jim. I'm in the throes of putting the
2:37
final touches on it right now, so you've caught me at a good
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time. You know, about a year ago,
2:43
several of the trustees talked about this very topic, the
2:48
importance of family and the need to get the Rancho book out
2:53
there to support families and, you know, help encourage that.
3:02
You know what the book says. Civilization has to be retaught
3:06
with every generation. And anyway, there was talk about
3:10
having classes and because in the past I'd been involved with
3:15
several symposiums, educational symposiums with Urantia
3:19
Foundation, and by that I mean helping organize them.
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I was never a speaker, but I'm a good organizer.
3:28
So, you know, for instance, we did the science symposiums,
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three of them where people who are experts in a particular
3:37
field would come and they would share their knowledge and
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corroborate with what is in the book.
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So I, I thought, you know, we should have a, we should have a
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family symposium. I think that would be a great
3:48
idea. So the education committee
3:51
approved of that and we started planning it and, you know, sort
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of put the word out to board members and people that we were
4:01
familiar with through the foundation that that might be
4:03
interested. We we did put the word out to
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the general public and, you know, I don't think everybody
4:08
always sees these announcements, but anyway, we managed to get 9
4:14
presenters lined up and they're gonna be speaking on various
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topics within the book. We also have some wonderful M
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CS. I don't know if you know Bill
4:25
and Cher Beasley. Yeah, yeah.
4:29
So the yes, so Sharon Bill will be our MCS and of course, they
4:34
have a lot of experience getting workshops and retreats and they
4:40
have raised family and and grandchildren, you know,
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children and grandchildren. So and they're a lot of fun.
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So they were, they said yes. And we've been working together
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on this. So, you know, we've got a nice
4:56
array of topics. You know, we're going to start
4:59
with life on a neighboring planet and, and just sort of
5:03
take it from there. Yeah.
5:05
And. Yeah, for those who don't know,
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there's, there's a lot of, there's a section in the
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arranged book that that gives detailed information about a
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society similar to our own on another world.
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And in one of the sections they talk about the family life and
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the home life. And it's very different from the
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way with the we view things, some similarities, but there's a
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lot that we can gleam from that narrative.
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So that's exciting. Yeah, So for the readers, go, go
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read Paper 72 and and and then be prepared for Olga, Olga
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Lopez, who is a trustee who lives in in the Barcelona, Spain
5:44
area. She's gonna talk about that.
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And then we've got Joyce and David Anderson, who have been
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involved with the Urantia Book for years.
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And they, they just gave a great talk at the Urantia Association
5:59
International Conference at the end of March.
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So we invited them and they, they, they wanted to talk about
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marriage, marriage, what a partnership.
6:09
And they've had years of experience and, and their
6:12
parents, Ralph and Betty Zeer, who I've worked with for years
6:16
through Urantia Book International School, you know,
6:20
they both of their children are readers.
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So I'm always in awe of people who, who, who raised their
6:26
children to read the book because I, I certainly did not.
6:30
I tried. But yeah, it's.
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Like, no, nobody was. What are you gonna do, you know?
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Yeah, so they'll be speaking on Friday.
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It it starts on Friday, goes all day Friday and all day Saturday.
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And in between the the talks, they're not gonna be real long.
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They're gonna be about 30 minutes.
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But after each talk, there will be a panel discussion and we
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will field some questions from the audience, as many as we can.
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And the panel will, you know, discuss and respond to those
7:02
questions. So it should be fun.
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And then after marriage comes religious education for the
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entire family. Now that's Alice Wood and her
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mother, Vicki Arkans. Here's an example of a of a
7:15
second generation reader. Alice was brought up by Vicki
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and Bob Arkins and Alice is a reader.
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She married Chris Wood, who's a trustee.
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He's a reader, also a second generation reader.
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So we're, we're starting to get a feel for that, this whole
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family aspect, which I think is great.
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So then after lunch, we're gonna have a a therapist, Stevie
7:40
Schaefer. I don't know if you know Stevie.
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She's done a lot of speaking in Florida and elsewhere.
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And and she is a licensed marriage and child and family
7:50
counselor in private practice. And she also works for school
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districts. So she's gonna talk about the
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challenge of family conflicts. Yeah.
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And who doesn't have those, Jim? Right.
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Right. I know, that's all I see now,
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right? Imagine.
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Raising kids in today's world, how how challenging it would be.
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Not not, yeah. I mean, it's a far different
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world in the 1980s and 90s and, and in the 70s and the 60s, you
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know, so. I have literally said those
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words. I'm glad I'm not.
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Yeah, a newlywed raising children.
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Now I I truly AM. So anyway, after Stevie will
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come Brad Garner, who works for the foundation as well.
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He is our digital programs manager.
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And his wife, Ruthie Wildwanger, I don't know if you know her.
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She's she plays the cello. She's kind of well known.
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Yeah. And she's a second generation
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reader. Her parents, the Wingers, were
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readers. And Brad is a second generation
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reader, his mother, they live in Arizona and his mother is a
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reader, so. And they got married.
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So they're going to talk about the high ideal of marriage for
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lonely creatures so that they'll bring a little bit of humor to
9:08
that. And.
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And. And that's about it for Friday.
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And then on Saturday, we're going to start out with Guard
9:13
Jameson. You know, Guard.
9:15
You got him before. Yeah.
9:17
So Guard's going to Oh yes, yes. So Guard is gonna speak about
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the Trinity as the original family pattern, which I think
9:27
will be very interesting. And after Guard will come Marvin
9:33
Darin. And Marvin, you know, is a, a
9:36
therapist, a family therapist. And he's gonna be talking about
9:40
uplifting global culture with the family of God symbolism.
9:46
And yeah, that's it. Now, Marvin's traveling right
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now. He'll be coming to us live from
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Italy. And we're just praying that he
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is able to connect to the Internet.
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Not that they don't have the Internet there, but one never
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knows. One never knows, right?
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So then after lunch, we'll have two people that I'm sure you
10:06
know, Angie Thurston and her father, Chuck Thurston.
10:09
Great. People, I've never met him, but
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you hear so much about these people and what they're doing
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and great. I read stuff from Chuck all the
10:17
time. Chuck and Derek are always
10:19
putting together great videos at your ranch of films and just a
10:22
wonderful group of people. And Angie, of course, MIT,
10:25
Boston, smart person, does a lot of stuff with the community
10:31
there up there. And one day we'll meet.
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But what a great group of people.
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I know. So now we've got a, a father
10:39
daughter team and you know, again, Angie's second generation
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reader because Chuck and his former wife Claire, you know,
10:47
they, they were readers and raised Angie and her, I think
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she has two siblings, which I didn't know.
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But anyway, she, she is married and has a, a three-year old son
10:59
now. So they're gonna talk about
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encouraging spiritual curiosity in children.
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You know how? How do you do that?
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That's a good one, Raise. A child.
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Isn't that a good one? Yeah, yeah.
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And there's no cost to any of this, right?
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I mean, people can just how would they?
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Get information on Well, we've already sent out an e-mail blast
11:20
about it from your Rancher Foundation, and I'm getting
11:23
ready to send another one on Friday.
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Friday will contain the link and it's gonna be on a platform
11:30
called Zoom Sessions, which is, it's a little bit more than just
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regular old Zoom, which everybody knows.
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Zoom Sessions is, is webinar style.
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So you, for instance, will be in the audience, You'll click the
11:47
link, you'll go into the lobby, and then you'll see all the
11:50
different sessions and, and when they start, you're able to join
11:54
them and you will be in the audience and you will not be
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seen on the camera. So there's, you know, privacy.
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But you can submit questions through the chat box and I will
12:06
be fielding questions behind the scenes.
12:09
Yeah. And then after each, as I
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mentioned, after each presentation, there'll be a
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panel discussion. So Brad will be in the
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background working the Zoom sessions technology and then he
12:22
can promote people onto the stage to take part in the panel
12:26
discussion. And that'll last for another 45
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minutes. So each section is is 90 minutes
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total. OK, followed by a little break.
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Yeah. Now the big question is, for
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people who may not be able to attend or can't watch all of it,
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will there be a place that we can watch later if we want to
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enjoy it at our leisure? Absolutely.
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We will post all of the, the Foundation's YouTube channel,
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OK. And, and so Brad, he'll get in
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there and clean them up a little bit and, and hit, they'll all be
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available just as our like if you were to go in there right
13:00
now, see all the science symposium videos and, and you
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could just, you know, someday you just have a couple hours,
13:07
you could sit down and watch those just as we can watch your,
13:11
the spotlight that you did for Ubi.
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Yeah, right, Right. It's still there.
13:15
Yeah. They're all in there,
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absolutely. It'll be here for you.
13:19
Will always be young. You know, about 50 years ago I
13:23
did a voice over for a museum on the California Condor.
13:27
So I brag about it incessantly. Hey, if you're ever in Santa
13:30
Barbara, go to the Natural History Museum and you'll hear
13:33
me. 20 I I think I made 15 bucks voice.
13:38
I should have asked for royalties.
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You know, I think we all do have a very distinctive voice.
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I think you told me once nobody likes the sound of their voice.
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But no, when I think about how we will know, know each other
13:54
and be known throughout eternity, I often wonder, does
13:57
that include the voice? I wonder that too, because I do
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think that there that's a characteristic that is got to be
14:04
as unique as your personality. Absolutely so.
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And I was in a restaurant one time and I I was going to as I
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was leaving, I heard a voice behind me saying I wouldn't know
14:16
that voice anywhere. And I turned around and it was a
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a woman who was my best friend growing up.
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I hadn't seen her for probably 2530 years.
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And she and came running across the restaurant.
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Yeah, you. See.
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So yeah, there must be truth to that.
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All right, so again, information, you could probably
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go to the Urantia book or Urantia Foundation website and
14:41
and, and figure out how to watch it.
14:43
And if you want to participate, you can go to and maybe they can
14:47
even e-mail you if they have any questions.
14:50
Do you want to give? Sure.
14:51
If you have a question, yeah, I'm just Joanne, Joanne,
14:57
joanne@urantia.org. I'd be happy to answer
15:01
questions. And Jim, just let me tell you
15:04
about the the final presentation, which I think will
15:07
be very fun. Chris Wood, who is a trustee.
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Chris was raised by Mike Wood, who I worked with when I first
15:16
went to Chicago to your rancher foundation.
15:19
Mike raised six boys as a single father.
15:23
And they're all readers, if you can.
15:27
And how long was he earlier? Oh, forever, probably going back
15:32
to the late 70s, I think. I think he's about my age.
15:36
So they're doing, they're doing a presentation on Saturday at
15:42
2:45 Central Town, Central Time, called In Spite of Ourselves,
15:47
the Wood family and Urancha. And I think it'll be a hoot
15:52
'cause they're all, they're just characters, you know?
15:54
And yeah. And then at at 4:30 Central Time
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on Saturday, there will be a final wrap up where you, where
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the audience will become visible.
16:07
Everybody can see each other and, and it'll, we're calling it
16:11
the wrap up session. Not sure what it's going to look
16:13
like. I'm inviting people to, if you
16:16
want to post a picture of yourself from when you were a
16:18
kid or, or a young father or a young mother, if you'd like to
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post that as your Zoom picture, I think that would be really fun
16:25
just to share those memories. And you know, so that'll be the
16:31
end of it. But then, as you said, they will
16:33
be available to watch. Well, it's important even if
16:39
you're not a Urantia book reader, it's important because
16:41
the kernel of knowledge about family and you know, these
16:46
papers were written by personalities who know a thing
16:49
or two about how families evolve on different worlds and things
16:52
to look forward. They're giving us help and we
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need help. We need a lot of help right now.
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There's divine intervention is something that we get from the
17:00
Urantia book in many, many ways. So Joanne, you're very humble
17:05
and you do a lot for this organization and you've been a
17:07
part of the Urantia World community for many, many
17:10
decades. And I just personally want to
17:13
thank you on behalf of myself for just always being there when
17:16
I need something. And, and I know a lot of people
17:19
probably feel the same way. So.
17:21
Oh. Well, thank you.
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I appreciate that. And with that, we bid a
17:28
farewell. Again, thank you to Joanne for
17:30
joining us and thank you for taking time out to listen to
17:33
this podcast and all of our podcast that are archived for
17:36
you to listen to. And you can learn different
17:38
angles and aspects of the 5th epical Revelation and why it's
17:42
so important to me and to the global community of Urancha Book
17:45
readers. If you have a question or a
17:47
comment, please feel free to e-mail me
17:49
uranchabookradio@gmail.com, uranchabookradio@gmail.com and
17:55
see you next time. God bless the.