In a few months We, the people, will again go to the polls to choose the leaders who will formulate our policies and direct our government. In the carrying out of this process, however, we have developed some habits of thought which make the task much more difficult, and a successful result much more doubtful than they should be. The process of selecting national leaders is approached by some people in a spirit of levity, others, far too many others, approach it in a spirit of belligerence, a battle to be fought to the last ditch. Neither attitude is conducive of success in picking the individual best suited for the job. (If large corporations used the same methods to choose their top executives, they would soon be as far in the hole as is our Federal Government and many of our states and cities!)

We must somehow remind ourselves that the presidency of the United States is not a contest prize, to be awarded to the applicant who puts on the best act, nor to the pugilist who wages the most deadly battle. The job was never intended to be a reward for raising and spending the most money, or for talking the longest and oftenest on radio or television.

If we were choosing a man to pilot an aeroplane which was to carry us on a long and dangerous flight into an unknown region, we would be foolish to allow ourselves to be unduly influenced by the personality of the applicant since personality is not necessarily a re-

2 UNDERSTANDING

flection of character. Our chief concern should be the character of, the applicant and his ability to pilot. This does not mean, however, that we must choose a candidate who has come up through a long line of political offices. Most of the serious problems facing the U.S. today result from the actions of professional politicians who sought power as an end rather than as a means.

In the coming months, as the time of decision draws near, we will be engulfed in a flood of oratory and exhortation, praising this man and denouncing that one. We will hear again the glowing promises that have been made in every political campaign since our elective system was established, and which have seldom been remembered afterward. We will find that the truly vital issues will seldom be aired, but we will be belabored with endless arguments on corollary subjects of comparatively little importance. Let us remember that the political party to which the candidate belongs is, at best, of only minor importance. We have enjoyed prosperity and have suffered economic depression under each of the two principal political parties now vying for power. We have been forced into war and have found the way to peace under each. The argument that the coming into power of one party or the other would pose a threat to our national welfare is a baseless one, as history has proven on many occasions. We should be slow to accept a candidate who devotes too much of his oratory to the condemnation of his opponent, remembering the classic advice given by a famous barrister to his law student. "If the law is on your side, talk the law. If justice is on your side, talk justice. But if neither law nor justice are on your side all you can do is lam- baste the opposition!"

We often hear statements to the effect that we, the people actually have little or nothing to do with the selection of our national president. That he is selected in advance of either party's convention and is then pushed through, first to nomination and finally to election, by the leaders of big business and power politics who, working together, have almost total control of the public media, and can there-fore mould public opinion in any direction they may choose. While there are some obvious and undeniable truths in these assertions, they in no way relieve the citizen of his personal responsibility to base his choice upon the best information available. It might also be wise to keep in mind the old philosopher's advice, "When a man brags about what he will do tomorrow, ask him what he did yesterday."

APRIL 1976 3

AN EASTER LETTER

Dear Jesus.

On this day when all Christendom puts on its spring finery and attends services to commemorate your resurrection, 1 often wonder what you would say to it all if you were here. You, who tried hard to teach us the importance of true inner beauty, are worshipped and eulogized on this day amidst a show of outward pageantry rivaled only by the winter festival that we celebrate in honor of your birth-day. Forgive us, dear Jesus, for too often making a mockery of your Teachings of Truth. Chasten us, and purify our hearts with Thy penetrating glance. We are but children, clamoring noisily to have all the wonderful privileges of being adults without stopping to realize that for every privilege is an equal responsibility.

You have given us a golden Key to the Kingdom of Heaven but how many have over-looked it! Thy Key is the gentle key of Love; open-minded, giving and forgiving love, seeking not its own, creating a small corner of heaven wherever it is allowed to work its magic. It makes the entire picture of life on this earth plane just that much brighter.

Give me courage, dear Jesus, to do Thy Will and the wisdom to recognize it. Let me pour forth per to attract the pollination which at once fulfills its purpose and causes it to wither and die. We know its loveliness is not lost, though it ceases to remain in its present form. Within are seeds that will bring into being new blossoms and ever more to infinity. But the lily has another form of immortality. It lives in the memory of those who behold it, and their lives are enriched thereby. Just so, then, let us make our lives beautiful, enriching the lives of all who behold.

Dear Jesus, we thank You for having come to live among us, for although we fall short of Thy teachings and example, our lives are better for your having been here. Thou art the germ of life in the kernel of wheat, the perfect picture of the fruit to come. Fill us with Thy Life that we may become faithful reflections of Thee.

As ever,

Your loving Lela

♦ ♦ ♦

A Whale of a Tale:

JONAH AND THE BIG FISH

When you hear the name Jonah, do you think of a whale? Most people do. Jonah's experience is one of the most dramatic and poignant of Biblical stories. It is one which easily captures the imagination

4 UNDERSTANDING

of children and adults alike. What is more exciting than trying to vive in the belly of a whale?

However, according to the Bible, Jonah was swallowed not by a whale but by a big fish. "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (Jonah 1.17).

Of course, to mistake a "great fish" for a whale is no misfortune. But it could be a misfortune to treat the Book of Jonah as simply a "fish story." It has a great message for all of us today. It is more than a vivid account of one man's most fantastic adventure into inner space.

You will recall that God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn its people to turn from their evil ways. Yet Jonah took the first ship in the opposite direction. The real question for the spiritual-truth seeker is not whether Jonah could survive three days in the belly of a huge fish. It is: Why slid he run away?

Jonah refused to help the people of Nineveh because he judged them to be unworthy. He wanted to see the wicked punished. As God's prophet, he knew that they would not be destroyed if they really changed. Jonah fled not only his duty. He fled God's compassion.

Jonah was inflexible. He preferred the punishment of the wicked to the possibility that they could not change. He wanted God's decrees to be final, not influenced by human endeavors. He seemed to resent and resist the reality of a basic principle of the Hebraic as well as the Christian faith. It is never too late to turn from evil to good.

Ultimately, Jonah realized he could not run away. When he was released from the big fish, the reluctant prophet went to Nineveh, accepting his mission, As Jonah had feared, the people of Nineveh heeded his warning. They fasted and put on sackcloth.

The king himself fasted and sat in ashes, declaring: "Let everyone turn from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty. Perhaps God will relent, and we shall not perish."

Because its people turned from evil ways to good in true repentance, Nineveh was saved. As you may know, in the Jewish religion, great significance is attached to the Book of Jonah. It is read in the synagogues on Yom Kippur, the most sacred day of the Jewish year. It is a day which climaxes the ten days of repentance and of turning.

But whether we are of one religious faith or another makes no difference. The Book of Jonah is an important tale for our time. It is about us. Nineveh and Jonah are now very much alive.

APRIL 1976 5

Injustice is everywhere. We see it flourishing on all fronts-social, racial, economic, and political. Many people everywhere try to run away from God and compassion. Some even make the absurd claim that "God is dead." Many judge others as being doomed or completely unworthy of salvation.

Like Jonah in flight, some would rather see the corrupt trapped forever than absolved and rehabilitated. They would rather wallow in anger and resentment or succumb to despair than reach for and celebrate the healing powers of repentance and renewal. They would deny the truth that God's justice includes compassion.

As the people of Nineveh perceived, repentance is not easy. It is much more than remorse. They were not saved because they said they were sorry. Nor were they saved because they wore sackcloth and fasted. Rather, "God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways......

God extends a welcome to all transgressors. He is ever ready to embrace those who turn in repentance. As we read and study the Book of Jonah, we can reaffirm the powers of repentance and compassion.

We can and should embrace the possibility of renewal and discard the inevitability of destruction. We can and should exchange cynical despair for resolute hope, as we pray both for ourselves, and for all the Ninevehs of the world.

We can rejoice in the glorious fact that we are human, yet with great spiritual endowments. We are not mechanical robots that need to be wound up. We are created "in the image and likeness of God. " -We can turn in repentance; we can cleanse our souls as well as our minds. It is never too late for us to change.

There is corruption today in some of the highest places, and in some of the lowest. There is malice in the hearts of many. There is prejudice and greed. But as we survey today's unpleasant scene, let us prayerfully consider the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "As I live, says the Lord God, I do not desire the death of the wicked, but that he abandon his ways and live."

-RUSSELL J. FORNWALT HEARING AND UNDERSTANDING (Sheboygan Press, January 12, 1976)

"All of us, whether we are young or old, want someone to under-stand us. And understanding is necessary for our life and growth. But

6 UNDERSTANDING

many times what people say and what they mean are not the same. They can't say what they mean. So, careful listening is a must for understanding," according to Jane Tybring, family relations specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

"But, we have to listen to what is not said as well. We need to listen with our eyes," she explains. Often people's actions show us what they can't say.

A grandmother remembers an incident where this happened. She was at a granddaughter’s first birthday party. Jenny, the baby's 4-year-old sister, was jealous. She saw her younger sister surrounded by cousins and grandparents. The baby had just ripped open a pile of prettily wrapped boxes. And now she had all kinds of new toys, as well as all the attention. Jenny felt left out. But she didn't know how to express her feelings.

Soon the grandmother noticed Jenny had crept up to her side. Wistfully Jenny rubbed her face against the grandmother's knee. She whispered, "I'm still four."

Grandmother didn't miss the point. She swept Jenny tenderly into her arms. "Uhuummm," she said, "and we've had four long years to learn to love you very much."

Jenny expressed her needs by her actions. Happily her grand-mother could read her behavior, But listening to understand is not easy. Too often a cry for attention, like Jenny's, is lost.

Grandmother could have said, "You're a big girl. Remember this is the baby's birthday-not yours." And she might have brushed Jenny away. It would have been easy to ignore the signs.

All of us need understanding. And learning to listen, with our eyes as well as our ears, is one big step towards that understanding.

Good listening alone can't solve problems,

Sometimes talking out a problem helps shrink it down to size. People have trouble dealing with problems when gripped by an emotional fever, Mrs. Tybring says. Talking can lower their "temperature " And at other times active listening can reveal problems at a deeper level.

Active listening is a way to help a person define his own problem. When listening actively, listen hard for the speaker's feelings and respond in a way that shows understanding. Don't tell how to solve the problem. Instead, show that you accept the viewpoint.

"Active listening can be painful," says Mrs. Tybring. "It's risky to listen hard to somebody. One must temporarily throw out his own viewpoints, in order to fully accept the speaker's world. And in the end, you may have to recognize what you believe."

For example, picture two women having morning coffee: One says

APRIL 1976 7

despairingly, "My husband is going to leave me. I don't know how we'll manage." Her friend may think she's better off without the husband. But if she's a good active listener she won't say so.

She can see that her friend is upset. And she wants to understand. So, she helps her friend define the situation by saying, "You're sick about this. There will be a lot of problems, won't there?" This type of response is better.

The wife can now think out her situation. She has a supporting friend who won't give her any quick, personal solutions.

Or, consider the case of Susie. She complained about having to go to school every day. She told her mother she wished she could be sick, like her lucky sister.

Her mother was wise enough to sense a problem. She didn't scold, but responded, "You feel you're getting gypped. You wish you could stay out of school more."

Susie could see her mother accepted her wish and was listening. During a long talk, Susie found her real problem: she had felt friend-less at school, but with mother's support she could look at ways to solve her problem.

Mother didn't blame, shame or probe. But by actively listening and accepting Susie's feelings, she could help. She gave her the gift of understanding.

Many people forget that a healthy marriage is a balance between two selves and a couple. They remember only the couple part. As a result, they think a happy marriage is built on agreement.

They try to hide differences and resentments' in an effort to help their marriage. Or, with the same goal in mind, they spend their lives trying to persuade and manipulate each other.

Actually, bland, passive agreement can't build a happy, growing marriage, according to Mrs. Tybring.

Instead, growth occurs when disagreements are honestly shared. A stable marriage is built by accepting differing opinions, and giving positive support in return. Understanding is the key.

Consider the man who confronts his wife with, "When you have a job, the house goes to pot, and I don't like it."

His wife is going to respond defensively to this complaint.

But if he has the courage to add his real feelings to the message, she'll understand. What if he adds, "I guess the real reason I don't like it is that you don't have energy left for us to have fun together." Her response will be different.

She may not quit her job, but some arrangement can be worked out. It's hard to stay mad at someone who honestly says you're nice

8 UNDERSTANDING

to be with. As a result, they may find time for fun after all.

Honesty, openness, and understanding are far more important to marriage than false peace and agreement.

Many couples spend their whole lives together without being close. They go to parties, do things around the house, play with the children. But they don't ever sit down for a good long talk.

"Sadly, we live in a society where some see just sitting and talking as an almost sinful luxury. We're supposed to be running round doing things, instead of wasting our time."

This means many married couples don't really know each other. Yet, learning to understand-or tune in to-another person is as important for his growth as it is yours, says Mrs. Tybring.

So, if a couple rarely gets beyond polite conversation they don't ever get to know how life really is for the other. They never explore each other's point of view in long rambling discussions.

It may be necessary to plan times to enjoy each other without the youngsters though, says Mrs. Tybring. Especially since a strong, healthy marriage is the best gift you can give your children.

A husband and wife have to practice telling their thoughts. They need to spend time taking walks, sitting over coffee cups, lying awake in bed talking and listening. With time they learn to know and under-stand each other.

"As always, listening is as important as talking. In marriage, we often forget to stop talking long enough to listen."

Listening is the way to encourage your partner to tell you how things are with him or her. And you need to try to see the world from your partner's eyes. Let him know you understand and accept him. Then share your feelings.

Understanding can't help if you lock up your thoughts and feelings inside you. Share your life with your mate. Deep understanding is worth all the time it takes.

♦ ♦ ♦

The remarkable thing about life is not that it exists in such a variety of forms but that so many forms manage to maintain their basic shape and integrity for so long in the face of the multitude of environmental forces that never stop trying to disrupt it.

- Lyall Watson

♦ ♦ ♦

If you can't sleep, don't count sheep-talk to the Shepherd.

-Anna Mae Johnson

APR I L 1976 9

Poet’s corner

COMPASSION

I wonder why it is I seek

crevices, from which I peek,

as people of the world pass by

too hurried when they hear a cry

of pleading for their sought hand.

Is it they don't understand?

Best I remain thus well apart,

nursing ills within my heart,

keeping to myself my sorrow,

none of which they'd care to borrow

to add to troubles of their own,

because of their compassion shown.

But my belief down deep inside

tells me that when people hide

true feelings, and sincere desire,

to lessen burdens that are dire,

and concern for others is not felt,

they're the ones who need the help!

♦ ♦ ♦

10 UNDERSTANDING

THE UFO PHENOMENON

The American Collegiate dictionary defines phenomenon as some-thing that impresses the observer as extraordinary. All those whom the writer has had the good fortune to meet who have observed objects flying through our skies that were obviously not made on this planet have certainly been impressed, sometimes positively, some-times not.

A program has been planned to discuss in all seriousness the sightings which have occurred over the past 200 years of American history. There will be speakers, some well-known, some not so well-known but who have stimulating thoughts to share with all who come.

Speakers who have been confirmed include George W. Van Tassel, Dr. Neva Dell Hunter, Gabriel Green and the Rev. Robert Short. Others who have also promised to come if at all possible are Orfio Angelucci, Carl Anderson and Merle Hockenbury. Still other speakers who have been invited and whom we hope will be here include Russ Michaels, Dr. Allan Hynek, William Spaulding and Travis Walton.

Travis Walton is the young man who states he was taken up into an extraterrestrial craft from Heber, Arizona. There is every reason to believe him and little to doubt. Having him share his experience with us should be a very inspiring experience. William Spaulding is Director of the Ground Saucer Watch in Phoenix. Dr. Allan Hynek is the Director for the Center of UFO Studies in Illinois.

The President and Founder of Understanding will be the keynote speaker on Friday evening, April 23rd. He is assembling data from as far back as 1000 years ago from the rare books in the Understanding Library.

Panel discussions and small group exchanges are planned as part of the three-day experience.

General Information: The fee for attendance has been kept low to allow anyone interested in coming to do so. $2.00 per day per per-son. There are no rooms available at the Center and if accommodations other than camping out on the desert floor are desired, please write for such information. It is available. Address Mrs. Daniel Fry, Star Route Box 588F, Tonopah, Az., 85354. Or call 602-386-3832, or 386-3912.

Food will be served at a snack bar at reasonable cost. Buckeye, 20 miles distant has three restaurants and 3 motels. Goodyear, 34 miles has a Ramada, Litchfield, 40 miles has a Sand and Sage motel. The latter two have large units. Gila Bend, 50 miles has many motels

APRIL 1976 11

with large units.

There is a landing strip adjacent to the Center; it is north of the president's house. A couple buzz efforts will result in a car departing for the strip to pick you up. And speaking of landing-if a space craft doesn't land here during this convention it won't be because the ground crew is unprepared!

♦ ♦ ♦

THE ORIGIN OF GOD

THE BEGINNING

God said, I am the Alpha and the Omega-the beginning and the end. Since man's conception, he has questioned God's beginning. Feelings of uncertain shame leak from his subconscious into present thoughts. Fear of questioning one thing that most set aside for reasons of a standard moral belief built into an educational and religious descent through generations of evolution. Others possibly never enter into such thoughts for reasons of living only for today. Then finally, some dismiss this reality for reasons of belief in a scientific evolution.

We were created with individual minds with thoughts which do not dissipate at a push of some special physical manipulation of one's mind. We must remember Our Creator gave us the mind of intelligence that questions, reasons and evaluates. If he didn't intend this it would not be so. Therefore any conception that to question the origin of God is unfaithful, sacrilegious, or out of place should be considered a fallacy. I have questioned and the answer is before those who use the logic that God has endowed us with. God created his children to make his earth more than a place for unthinking creatures going through a continuous undeveloping cycle of life without a creative meaning. God wished, as the Creator, something that is different, changing, unpredictable with knowledge, feelings and thoughts each as different as snowflakes. God created man to travel the roads of life he provided. In doing so, his is a creation of continuing interest to him. Only he could have conceived and carried through such an idea. Meaning for us to multiply and populate his dream was that many men and women would develop an invention of eternal interest. To him, his vision was for his children to develop, improve and to enjoy his world with the mind which we have been endowed. In doing so God knew his creations must be able to communicate that which comes from the mind, heart and the soul. So God gave us a voice to produce words that come from within. God left the sounds of communicating to us; we know them as words. One word known as "beginning" to us is a word we know to mean where something

12 UNDERSTANDING

starts, comes from, originates or develops. In our world it is understandable the need and explanation of such a word. With us all things begin and end. To God, our Creator, Supreme Being of all Universes, the word "begin" has no relative meaning to his existence. So, in the logic of man, we should know God knows of no beginning only in what he gives a beginning to. We, as his children, move throughout our lives and have been indoctrinated through our development and will not consider beginning to be only a word relative only to us as it is meant to be. In all things he gave a beginning. To God, there is no beginning. He only creates a beginning.

-EDWARD A. HOLSCLAW

♦ ♦ ♦

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR TONOPAH

For those wishing accommodations other than a sleeping bag on the desert floor, motels in near-by towns are listed. Please contact them directly.

For information about sleeping space in the cottage on the Center, or cot rental, please call Mary Ellen Curtis (602) 386-3912, or the Fry's number, 386-3832.

BUCKEYE, Az., 85326 .............................. 20 miles from the Center

Buckeye Motor Hotel: 22 units, swimming pool, phone (602) 386-4536. $9.36-$16.64. Some with kitchenettes. 202 E. Hwy 80. Kurve-Inn: 6 units, 2 persons, $14.00; 4 persons, $20.00. No phone. Rte. 2 Bx 15. East Highway 80.

Green Acres: 3 units, $8.00. Off E. Highway 80. Phone (602) 386-4207.

Westward Motel: 14 units. Some with kitchenettes. Phone (602) 386-4665. 902 E. Monroe Ave.

GOODYEAR, Az., 85338 ......................... 34 miles from the Center

Ramada Inn: 70 units. Some with kitchenettes. Phone (602) 932-3210. $2.10 extra for kitchenettes. Swimming pool. $4.20 for extra beds in rooms for adults.

LITCHFIELID, Az., 85340 .............................. 39 miles from Center,

5 miles from Goodyear. Sage and Sand Motel, 20 units. $10.40 singles, $12.50 doubles. Phone (602) 935-5810.

Multiple use of rooms reduces costs of some of the units listed above. Motor Pools will be arranged.

♦ ♦ ♦

The biggest step you can rake is the one you take when you meet the other person halfway.

APRIL 1976 13

UFO DEPARTMENT

CHARLIE'S STORY

This event occurred on the 10th day of February, 1976: the time, between 6:45 and 7:15 PM; the place, 15 miles west of Tonopah, Az. I was driving east on I-10 when on the horizon I saw beautiful rotating lights with all the colors of the rainbow sparkling brilliantly. The lights and an object moved toward me. I had never before seen anything like it. I became convinced that it was a space craft or UFO. It continued to fly toward me and soon it was directly overhead.

The energy and power I experienced was devastating. I felt as though my body was being healed and recharged at the same time. The craft stayed with me from 7 miles out of Tonopah on, continually charging me with an energy force I have never, felt before. My heart felt like an energy coil circulating an incredible power like electricity throughout my body. The car during this time started running incredibly smoothly almost under its own power as it had never run before. It also took on a red hue which lasted about half an hour past the time the craft left.

When arriving at the Tonopah exit I was passing another car and missed the turn-off I needed to take to arrive at the Understanding Cultural Center which was my original destination. The power kept getting stronger until a mile had passed; then suddenly I got over in the fast lane and turned around in the median. The car seemed to drive itself. My hands felt as though they were paralyzed and melted together around the wheel. I started back and exited at the Tonopah off-ramp then turned right onto Indian School Road. I recall here there were several smaller craft, one on my right and one on my left, a bright glowing formation which stayed with me all the way. I realized here they must have been part of the main large ship which seemed about 100 feet in diameter. The others were about 20 feet.

I felt they wanted me to go somewhere 3-4 miles down the road. I became confused, the energy was so great. I started stopping, turning around, going forward, backing up and finally stopping and asking directions to Daniel Fry's Church of Understanding. I turned off the car, which was still glowing red and felt the energy beginning to subside gradually to normal. I looked up and saw the main craft heading west, the two smaller ones, north and south and then noticed another large one heading east in the distance. I was left in total awe of something powerful and beautiful and inspiring. I then went and asked a lady in a trailer directions and was greeted with a shot-gun and a "I never heard of the place." I went down to a further trailer

14 UNDERSTANDING

and asked a man. He said 4-5 miles down the road. I went back and tried to start my car. It still had a faint hue of red but to my dismay it was completely dead.

I eventually got a jump start from the fellow I had asked directions of, then again, completely dead. Nothing. He then kindly drove me to Understanding Inc. where I related my story to Dan and Florence Fry. I can only relate the experience. The rest is within my mind. God bless the experience.

-CHARLES WILLIAM BROWN, JR.

P.S. We went back later that night and were able to jump-start the car easily and drive it to Understanding headquarters.

♦ ♦ ♦

LAKE ERIE TOWN LOOKS AHEAD-WITH UFO PORT

(Los Angeles Examiner, 1123/76)

LAKE CITY, Pa. (AP)- Or, July 4, this northwestern Pennsylvania town will throw the switch on what is probably one of the nation's most unusual Bicentennial projects, a landing site for flying saucers. "This is no joke," insists project director Jim Meeder.

The 2,300 residents of this community near the shore of Lake Erie apparently are taking the idea seriously. Since no tax dollars are involved, they'll be footing the estimated $6,000 bill to build the "UFO port" through contributions and money-raising activities.

Why a UFO site?

"Because we wanted to do something different," Meeder says. "Everyone else is looking back 200 years and restoring buildings and writing books. We wanted to look in the other direction-to the future."

The UFO idea wasn't just pulled out of the sky, so to speak. There have been several reported UFO sightings over Lake City, a suburb of the City of Erie, and some folks here figure the area has something that attracts them.

"Nobody knows for sure what was out there. But we thought if they actually were UFOs, we might as well give them a place to land." Not having the exact dimensions of alien flying machines, Meeder and his crew are guessing at how to build the landing facilities. Plans call for a 100-foot-diameter pad to be built on a secluded, one-acre site near Lake Erie.

♦ ♦ ♦

Success comes in Cans - Failure in Can'ts.

♦ ♦ ♦

APRIL 1976 15

16 UNDERSTANDING

Book reviews

TOWARDS HUMAN UNITY

Towards Human Unity by Anthony Brooke is an important contribution to understanding what is going on in our universe now. It is important because it clearly shows the responsibility of each individual who considers himself to be Christian to stand up and be counted. Either we are going to show in action that we are Christian and do believe in the practical aspects of that philosophy or we're going to be part of the chaff that will have to be eliminated.

Changes are occurring all over this planet and they will continue. We too must change if there is to be a life for future generations. Evolution must become an on-going process or it will degenerate into revolution.

Towards Human Unity consists of selected writings by Anthony Brooke as well as talks given by him to various audiences over a period of ten years during which time his travels took him to many of this world's countries. These talks and writings offer to the reader much serious material for really in-depth thinking.

Anthony Brooke is a descendant of Sir James Brooke who became known as the first White Rajah of Sarawak. Three generations of the Brooke family ruled the country as an independent sovereign state for just over 100 years until it became a British colony in 1946. Anthony Brooke as Rajah Muda of Sarawak ruled for a period in 1939 and after World War I I he campaigned constitutionally for five years with Sarawak nationalists against the transformation of the territory into a British colony.

Since then he has been associating himself with groups and movements concerned with focusing attention on human unity as an underlying spiritual reality and exploring ways in which individuals, groups, and communities in a network of linkage throughout the world and through inner growth and transformation may serve to make an essential contribution to universal world harmony.

♦ ♦ ♦

APRIL 1976 17

DOINGS ON THE DESERT

Understanding Inc. has undertaken a new project. It is called Desert Dinner-Theater! Dinner is served by the staff and a movie is shown afterward. The first such event on this Center was January 24th. Lela Maxwell prepared a mouth-watering menu of oriental food and the movie was "The Legend of Cougar Canyon." There were 20 neighbors and 23 of the staff who attended. The publicity wasn't as thorough as it should have been so the next event was given a lot of advance promotion.

The second event was February 28th. A month just made for cherry pie, valentines and American colors. So Lela prepared a traditional American country family dinner. Mashed potatoes, fried chick-en, buttered beans and cherry pie. There were somewhat more than 50 persons and the staff had to take leftovers. The movie was "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams."

The Understanding Center is almost the last outpost of civilization between Buckeye, Arizona and Blythe, California. There is no movie theater any closer than Phoenix, 55 miles. The one in Buckeye shut down some years back. So Understanding's staff decided to make entertainment for the 200 people who live here on this desert a project. We expect to make the dinner and movie a regular monthly event until June when hot weather will probably drive us to the coolers. In September however we will begin again if the rewards justify the effort.

♦ ♦ ♦

X- Ray Images By TV

(The Houston Post (TX), Aug. 28, 1975)

NEW YORK (UPI) -- Doctors are harnessing television technology to transmit x-ray images for viewing on a TV screen miles away.

Now why would anyone want to do a thing like that? Well, a doctor in a small town may have a puzzling x-ray film. Is that a picture of a normal or a diseased gall bladder?

Or is that coin-like lesion on the x-ray of the lung a precancerous condition? Or is it cancer?

The doctor may want a second opinion-from someone expert in reading x-ray films. The Dr. Expert is miles away. Speed is of the essence.

Well, then, the doctor from the small town falls back on teleradiology and Dr. Expert tunes in the x-ray on a television set, giving it a once-over. Then, he telephones his opinion to the small town doctor. Tests conducted in Boston recently show that acceptable diagnos-

18 UNDERSTANDING

tic accuracy is possible with teleradiology.

Easy-to-diagnose studies were excluded. The five physicians interpreting the teleradiographs were fully trained radiologists. None had any previous experience in teleradiology.

Tap the Superconscious

[Waterville (ME.) Morning Sentinel, May 24, 1975)

By GEORGE W. CORNELL, AP Religion Writer

NEW YORK (AP)- As the Rev. Paul Solomon sees it, each person is a double-one-self and a greater self-and the need is to integrate the higher potentialities with the ordinary, physical senses.

"We all have a greater consciousness than self," he says. "We're much less bound to our limited intellects than is generally recognized. We have far more creativity than is ever put to use."

A psychic practitioner and teacher with a widening following across the country, the Rev. Mr. Solomon says people need to learn to "break the limitations" of body reactions and thought to "tap the superconscious mind."

"Everyone has it," he says. He himself offers "readings" from it, gained in what he terms a trance in which he says his sensibilities roam time and space.

"I think anyone could develop this ability," he said in an interview. "It's much like the dream state in which we travel to some pretty exotic places."

As founder and leader of the Fellowship of the Inner Light, with its headquarters congregation in Virginia Beach, Va., and centers in a half-dozen cities, he travels about, teaching techniques to contact the "inner light."

"It's a sixth sense, a spiritual sense, beyond the physical senses," he said. His approach involves telepathy, clairvoyance and psychic phenomena.

The Rev. Mr. Solomon., a seminary-trained, onetime Baptist minister, began his special teachings after a 1972 experience in which a voice purportedly spoke through him while he was hypnotized. Since then, he regularly has gone into such states, led by an aide, with his messages spoken recorded on tapes.

He said that afterward he can recall little of what he envisioned or described. "I listen to the tapes to find out," he said. Published excerpts tell of various "planes" of existence from prehistoric times into the future.

APRIL 1976 19

Bulletin board

PROGRESS REPORT

Finally the Center is taking on the look of progress. A workshop for our Founder-President is almost complete. Painted inside and out but still needing a door. The hum of power saws can be heard during the day as Dr. Daniel puts pyramids together.

Another addition to the property is a walk-in refrigerator to hold the garden goodies which are now peeping up from the planted rows. We'll soon be having carrots, beets, radishes, lettuce, onions and a bit later corn, pumpkin and squash. The refrigerator is just outside the workshop.

20 UNDERSTANDING

ADDITIONS TO THE TONOPAH STAFF

The Reverends Robert and Lela Maxwell have become residents at the international Headquarters of Understanding Inc. They plan on making this their winter home and migrating to Washington for the summer months. Lela has taken charge of the cooking for the Desert Dinner-Theater events and Robert makes the care of our Center building his special joy. We are so happy to have them as part of the Understanding family.

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Be careful of the words you say, keep them soft and sweet;

You'll never know from day to day which ones you'll have to eat.

-ANON

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