2007-10-28-Concept of Family
SE Idaho #152
Contents
• 1 Heading
o 1.1 Topic: Concept of Family
o 1.2 Group: SE Idaho TeaM
• 2 Facilitators
o 2.1 Teacher: Minearsia, Daniel
o 2.2 TR: Unknown
• 3 Session
o 3.1 Opening
o 3.2 Exercise
o 3.3 Closing
Topic: Concept of Family
Group: SE Idaho TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Minearsia, Daniel
TR: Unknown
Session
Opening
[Opening prayer not recorded.]
MINEARSIA: Greetings, my friends, this is MINEARSIA, stepping in ahead of Daniel to welcome you to this fellowship of sharing, this family, this place of love and caring. I am most pleased to be present this evening and a part of your group and its dynamic.
Exercise
MINEARSIA: I have an assignment I wish to propose. I wish for you to consider the concept of family and what it means in its many manifestations, from the broad concept of one family, God’s family, down to the more narrow concept of the nuclear family and then the extended family. I wish you to consider this in its ideal and in the ways in which human families fall short of the ideal. In your contemplation I wish for you to begin with the ideal.
The purpose of this exercise is to assist you all in becoming more effective family members at all levels of family functioning. This is a topic we will take up at a future date. However, the assignment is immediate and ongoing, to set the stage for further exploration in the future. Again, it is my delight to be a part of this family. I will take questions regarding this assignment if there are any before passing the microphone to Daniel who stands ready.
Student #1: I was going to ask you, Minearsia: “Are there any books to read?” But on second thought, I think you would say “The Life of Christ” would be a perfect example of what you are asking us to do. Thank you for your presence this evening.
MINEARSIA: : Thank you for your insight. There are other books as well, books that address connection and relationship. While I will not promote any one, I would ask you to be willing to be led, all of you, you inclusive, to these human sources that can augment and supplement the life of our Master who lived an exemplary family life, albeit, at a different time in history.
Student #2: Minearsia, I need to try to say back to you what I think we are supposed to do. And that is to look at the family in different dimensions. Of course “all human beings” is the family of God, and then groups that we belong to, that are in a sense our families. And then our nuclear family, and state how we can enrich those situations.
MINEARSIA: : Each person’s exploration of this topic will be different. I am recommending that you begin with the ideal. And you understand in the ideal what the family provides to its members, such as security, respect, and so forth. This is for your work and exploration. As you explore the various components of the ideal family and the benefits to its members and the responsibilities of its members to maintain this ideal organization and you then compare it to the functioning of the human families, the areas of difference will become apparent.
And through this exploration one will understand one’s own roles, benefits, responsibilities, et cetera. I do not wish to limit in any way your thinking on this concept at this time. We want it to be very broad, very free.
At a later date, through your own discussion, we hope to draw out, from you, those aspects of the ideal family. I purposely referred to you as family [this evening] so that you might think about what makes God’s family. The Urantia Book, of course, teaches that children are a necessary component of a family. This exercise is not intended in any way to contradict that perspective, but rather to enlarge it. Is this helpful?
Student #2: Yes, it is. Start with the ideal. That is very helpful.
MINEARSIA: : Yes. Are there other questions? …. My statements are not meant to close off in any way areas that might feel not right to you. If there are no further questions about this assignment, I will turn the floor over to Daniel. It has, indeed, been my pleasure to speak with you, and I do look forward to continuing this discussion after you have had time in contemplation. My love to you all. Farewell.
DANIEL: This is DANIEL, my greeting to one and all. Thank you all for making the effort to get to this meeting tonight. We appreciate your efforts in your busy lives to work us into your lives.
Closing
DANIEL: I have no further things to say regarding the assignment except to encourage one and all to take it seriously and see what you come up with. At a later time we will return to this subject. It is my sense that we are ready to close. Are there other questions or comments? ….Very well, let us stand in our usual manner. Is there someone who wishes to pray?
Prayer: Father, we know that the ideal family is only in potential. Help us as we face this assignment to realize what the ideal could do to our planet, to our nation, to our families and to ourselves. Help us to take it seriously. Guide us as we turn over our minds to you, that our hearts might respond with the kind of love that would feed information to our behavior and to our culture. Help us that we truly try to find the ideal in our lives. May we support each other and those who are willing to be a part of Your standards. Help us to reach for them. We thank You that we know one human being, that though He was God, was truly man, man that showed us the way. Help us to follow Him. Amen.
