The Spiritual Unity Booth

As many seasons of change begin, mine started with a call to serve. I was enlisted to do outreach for the Urantia Book and the Urantia Book Fellowship on a nearby college campus.

At the time I hadn’t seriously considered the benefits of public promotion of the UB and I grappled with the anxiety of feeling that I wouldn’t be sincere while doing my outreach. How do I advertise a book (let alone an entire epochal revelation) in which I was not fully versed? How do I promote an organization whose leaders I barely know and whose purpose is disorientingly vast? Who was my target market?

Well, I knew I wanted to help grow the Fellowship so I started there. I asked myself, what makes an active member in a spiritual community? Loyalty to the relationships in that community for certain. But when I thought about myself and others, I deduced that the root reason is that each community participant has also been in some way inspired. They have found a living source of spiritual sustenance and the community has become a vehicle for their personal religious quest. To me this meant I wanted a message that promoted personal relationship and enticed the mind and soul.

Fortunately, our buddy Jesus did the ground work here and is how this outreach booth got its title. What better foundation to build fraternal relationships on or excite the Thought Adjuster then with ‘spiritual unity’ – a message of social equality and universal love!

I knew I had a compelling message to attract truthseekers, but what to put on the table? The Urantia Book obviously, but what else?

And here I recalled Rodan’s insight that “If you are not a positive and missionary evangel of your religion, you are self-deceived in that what you call a religion is only a traditional belief or a mere system of intellectual philosophy.” (Paper 160)

I took this sentence quite literally and decided to put mementos of my personal religion as the content on the table. Anything and everything that I have read or experienced in which I know God personally, I crammed onto the booth. In its current form I have an interfaith poster of the Golden Rule, Rumi poetry, a quotes calendar of the UB and of Western religious traditions, two other books – the Alchemist and Love Poems From God, a printed chapter on spiritual living by Dr. Jeffrey Wattles, spiritual vitamins to pass out, a shiny copy of the UB (and my super worn highlighted copy), and various Fellowship print materials all neatly organized on 2160 square inches of table. It was time for field testing!

Long story short, it is fantastic. When a student stops by and asks about spiritual unity or anything on the table, I don’t have to give any sales answers, I get to speak from the heart. I get to be sincere, sincere, and more sincere about my message because when they ask about the booth, they are asking about me and my relationship with God. I cannot emphasize enough how easy it is to talk about the Urantia Book and its teachings starting from the perspective of personal experience and spiritual brotherhood. Where to start!

I’ve never seen Urantia Book fliers disappear so fast and I did not pass any of them out (I never said “Take a flier”) ! Apart from the dozens of seeds planted by the teachings and printouts shared, I’ve given out a number of book cards, sold a book, and gifted a few more. On top of that, the foundation of my message is the spiritual message of the kingdom first and foremost, and by and through that I have grown many meaningful relationships in this student community. Once strangers, now brothers and sisters, we have shared hours of philosophical dialog, exchange of personal faith experiences, prayer for and with each other, worship, reading of the Urantia Book together (as well as other texts), soccer, lunches, and so much more.

And the point of all this is to lovingly share with you how simple this can be. If you have ever felt the urge to live out your faith and share this epochal gospel, grab your Urantia Book, pull together all the things that have inspired you to know God, and send the Youth and Young Adult Committee (or me, geoff.theiss@gmail.com) an email. We are committed to getting Urantia Book booths out to as many campuses as possible and we need your help. Let your personality and inspired love for God be the light by which young truthseekers come to the Urantia Book!

If you have any thoughts, concerns, questions, or comments, please make sure to post them below, I would love to dialog further!

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10 thoughts on “The Spiritual Unity Booth”

  1. Dear Geoff,

    Thanks for an inspiring and excellent article! I share some of your questions and apprehensions, and it is great to know that speaking from the heart works! When I was part of the Cosmic Road Show, speaking with people was easier than I had thought. Today we are going to Arizona State University to speak about the Urantia Book with students, which will be intriguing. Life is an adventure, not a vacation!

    Cristina

  2. Thank you friends! I just got home from an epic evening on campus inspired by all your feedback. I was asked for 8 UB fliers, had 2 people read the UB with each other and dialog (and not with me!), had six people give me their name and email to dialog further and asking to start a club, met up with 3 friends from previous semesters, had three solid hours of excellent philosophical and theological dialog, made plans to do community service with a couple students, and had two students follow me to my car and help pack up the booth because of their sincere interest in my message. Thank you Jesus (and Teuvo for that first push so long ago)! Riding high right now 🙂

    1. Sara Blackstock

      Your personal sharing Geoff is an inspiring testament to the activity of the Spirit of Truth on campus. Your energy and dedication is being used by our spiritual friends. and we don’t have to hear any voices or see any visions because it is by FAITH that we walk forth, knowing that TRUTH is living. You are experiencing this.

      Love,
      Sara

  3. Thank you, Geoff, for your heartfelt loyalty to the Fellowship and your spirited enthusiasm for sharing your personal experience. Love this! “…each community participant has also been in some way inspired. They have found a living source of spiritual sustenance and the community has become a vehicle for their personal religious quest. To me this meant I wanted a message that promoted personal relationship and enticed the mind and soul.” Clearly you are growing the Kingdom of God among us — Bless you, Geoff 🙂

  4. Very beautiful article. This testament to the eloquent way in which you proceed to execute the will of our Father in Heaven, inspired me. I think I should set up a booth here at my local college in Colorado to further spread the faith among the citizens of this world. Every living human deserves to partake of the wonderful water of life that is to be found within these teachings.
    Blessings,
    Samuel

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