Personal Testimonial – Roland Siegfried
What I enjoy best about doing research for the Center for Unity is that I feel this project will make a huge impact on the world.
Serving the Revelation
A personal testimonial by Spirit Brother Roland Siegfried
What I enjoy best about doing research for the Center for Unity is that I feel this project will make a huge impact on the world and will let all people know the real Jesus, how he lived, and what he taught.
I was introduced to The Urantia Book at age 25 (1969). While working at Pratt & Whitney, in West Palm Beach, Florida, my co-worker Paul Herrick put the UB on my desk and said I might be interested in it and to read it as fiction. Before that event, Paul and I had several discussions about God, Jesus and other religious subjects. I had lots of doubts about organized religion, the Bible, God, atonement, virgin birth, the devil, Adam & Eve, the origin of everything, and the big bang theory, etc.
I read The Urantia Book for about a year. At first I thought it was fiction–like Adam flying on a bird, Jesus–a creator son, thought adjusters, mansion worlds, life after death, and many other things.
Eventually it all started to make sense so one night I went out to the back yard and had a talk with God. I asked if The Urantia Book is real. It felt like I got an answer that it was. After that I never looked back and I have been a believer ever since then.
I now participate in two zoom meetings weekly which has really helped me develop spiritually in realizing God is our Father and we are all sons of God; and therefore we are all brothers and sisters on an incredible upward journey to eventually be in the actual presence of God. Then we continue our service forever.
Yes, this is a way to reach the young people. For sure they are in the digital computer age which I think is great. I believe the spiritual beings were encouraging me to be a part of the CFU project. I followed their guidance after being shown a new way for me to be of service. Susan Lyon and I work together 2-4 times a month via zoom to enter my information into the database model (which Gabriel refers to as a knowledge graph). We live a few hours apart but sharing the screen online helps us to work fast and accomplish quite a bit in a couple of hours. Those people working on the online app know that we have signed on to a lifetime assignment; the (tentatively named) Jesus Metaverse will be a constantly expanding resource that becomes more valuable with each contribution.
My favorite research was for the locations of Capernaum, Bethsaida, Pella, and Jerusalem. I learned a lot about the history of those places and the significant events that happened there regarding Jesus’ ministry. I also enjoyed doing research when Jesus was in Rome. Jesus’ relationship with his father Joseph was also one of my favorites. I try to make my research as complete as possible.
Doing all this research for the Jesus Metaverse (21 assignments so far) has given me a much broader understanding and perspective of The Urantia Book. I have greatly improved my ability to share the UB teachings and thoughts with others. I feel I've grown spiritually and I'm learning to better do God’s will.
It takes many hours to complete a research project. Some take 30 hours or more (such as Jerusalem). Many events happened that involved Jesus, and many external links were found about Jerusalem. The images, videos and historic places help bring the stories to life in a meaningful way. I benefit from them and through this work, others will benefit also. I also spend time curating and referencing all quotes from the UB and from the Bible that add credibility and are relevant to the subject.
I have been reading The Urantia Book on and off since 1969. I am now much more receptive to ideas from the UB although there is so much to learn that I wish my understanding would be better.
Through my research, I had an idea for my own secondary work project. I developed a desk flip book with about 100 significant quotations from The Urantia Book. My wife and her daughter prepared it for printing and worked with a printing company to make copies. Rick & Susan Lyon sell it in their online store CosmicCreations.biz and it is titled “Divine Messages.” It has been well received.
I love doing this great service project and will continue to do so forever on Urantia. This is the time for the world to know Jesus, how he lived and his teachings about God, brotherhood, prayer, worship, life after death, and many more spiritual truths.
