GRATITUDE !!!

As the Executive Director of the Northwest Foundation for "A Course in Miracles" in Kingston, Washington, it is my pleasure to establish this GoFundMe account on behalf of a debt of gratitude which needs to be paid to a benefactor of the Foundation who made a personal loan of $500,000 thirteen years ago, and who needs to be reimbursed for it now.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with us, it is important to know that everything we do, and have done for forty-one years, has been done on the basis of Gift . . . gratitude expressed by those valuing what we do . . . with no charge ever having been made for anything.

 

This hasn’t just been an odd way of doing things. It has actually been a teaching by example. And here is the teaching . . . the learning . . . and the new behavior it promotes . . . summed up in one sentence, which I invite you to read a number of times, and quietly consider before moving on.

 

~~oOo~~

 

If YOU want what we have to give,

You must help us

Give it away.

 

If you want what we have to give,

YOU must help us

Give it away.

 

If you want what we have to give,

You must help us

GIVE IT away.

 

~~oOo~~

 

This means that there is no way for anyone to TRANSACT for what we have to give without giving it to EVERYONE! Even if one imagines that any “contribution” he makes is paying for what he gets, it’s just not true, because it will be there for him anyway.

 

Why? Because we are giving it to him. And because it has become important to others to be giving it to him by means of their gifts. And it will be there because somewhere mankind is comprehending the uniting meaning and healing import of Giving!

This is the way in which perceptions and behavior change, and GoFundMe is a sign of the times, as an avenue for such giving and for such a shift of emphasis to be accomplished.

 

I am inviting everyone to consider what I am sharing, with specific attention to this much-needed transition from the practice of transaction to the meeting of needs . . . as Love.

 

Now, as you may know, when the Foundation relocated thirteen years ago, it purchased a new residence by means of contributions from students of the Course, as well as the loan from the benefactor already mentioned — making it possible to pay for the property in full — and from which the Foundation has carried on its activities ever since.

 

This loan was received with a lien on the Foundation’s new home as security until the original property would be sold. And then, by mutual agreement, the loan was extended yearly for 12 years.

 

Then in October of 2020 this benefactor indicated that he needed the loan to be paid off and gave a timeframe in which he needed the property to be listed for sale.

 

Six weeks later, before that could be accomplished, I unexpectedly entered the hospital, remaining there for two months before returning home for recovery. And during that time extensions of the deadlines were made with the donor.

 

Ultimately the house was listed for sale on July 27, 2021, and was finally sold just six weeks ago on December 27th — delayed by public fear associated with the pandemic, as well as a shaky economy and a real estate slump, among other things.

 

With the decrease in property values by the time the property sold, together with expenses incurred along the way, the amount left to repay the loan of $500,000 was only $69,330, even though the value of the property when it was originally listed had been ample to fully cover all of the expenses, including the lien.

 

And so, shortly after my informing the benefactor of this shortfall, the following email was received from his attorney:

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 20, 2023

 

Dear Mr. Tuttle,

 

[My client] is not interested in a partial payment after waiting 13 years for payment . . .

 

. . . the only remaining source of funds to promptly pay [my client] is the Vista Key house. [My client] will give you until March 15, 2023 to quick-sell or finance the Vista Key house, and pay him in full $631,672.56.

 

Please advise if this is an option that you want to pursue. If not, please advise and I will commence the foreclosure proceedings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Note: The Vista Key house is where the Foundation is now located.]

 

So, in less than five weeks, the house must be sold, or a loan must be obtained, or foreclosure will begin.

 

It calls for either reaction or miracle-mindedness, doesn’t it?

 

That is . . . if there really are two side-by-side experiences of different and apparently opposing ways “to have” which are described as: “To have, give!”. . . and . . .“To have, get!”

But our position is that Love is reflected in love, giving is reflected in having . . . and THAT is the antidote to the transactional mindset!

Thank you for joining us in our insistence upon keeping our benefactor whole and not allowing acts of Love to be turned into the loveless elements of profit, loss, and defense! We also invite you to enjoy everything on our website by clicking on this link: https://nwffacim.wpcomstaging.com/the-new-gathering-place/

Sincerely,

Paul Tuttle

NWFFACIM

Executive Director