A STORY OF CHARITY
As it is for many of us, life can bring hard challenges. So it was for one of our founding members. This story has been softened for the public, though some parts may still be difficult. If you prefer not to continue, please click the image to return.
It was the market crash and business stopped coming in. His wife blamed him for the decline in income. She judged the ambitious business decisions - that once benefited her - as foolish. Instead of working together she turned against him. This lead to divorce and broke his heart and spirit.
Obviously, he knew not what love was - so he read every book on the subject. He stumbled across several subjects like kindness, compassion, and even meditation.
Somewhere in this healing process he got the idea to form a nonprofit. A group of thriving artists helping starving artists. It was an exciting idea, but something felt off. He decided to meditate and seek clarity.
In the middle of one of these meditations, the phone rang. It was a college roommate he had not spoken to in some time. The friend did not know about that he was even considering a nonprofit. Out of the blue, he said, “I was reading a book and came across a quote that made me think of you.”
”Jesus said do not give to charity.”
When the friend said that, he explained what he had been meditating on. They both found it odd and then moved on, catching up on the time that had passed. But after the call the words stayed with him. He was not religious, though he had read a bit of theology and been raised Catholic. The line echoed in his mind in an unexpected way.
At first it made no sense. Why would Jesus say that? Where was it in the Bible? Weren’t the words love and charity supposed to be interchangeable? His friend explained it was from the Gospel of Thomas, but he had not even heard of that book. Which made it seem all the more strange, yet the timing of the call was impossible to ignore.
The philanthropic idea was put on hold as life moved on. The quote stuck with him and It took years before he made any sense of it. He never got around to reading the Gospel of Thomas.
Later in life he learned the full version of saying 14, which sounded even stranger. He never claimed to fully understand its whole meaning, but the one line that stayed with him was enough to change the way he thought about giving.
From that understanding grew a simple principle of mutual benefit and balanced giving with clarity and transparency of intentions. The foundation of our ethics and integrity.
Time passes as it does. Friends come and go, and new friends are made. One such friend was a beekeeper - a man who overcame his own struggles by caring for bees. His example was inspiring, and in time the bees themselves became part of the lesson, the purpose, and the healing. The two became best of friends.
One day, the beekeeper got a call to remove a swarm at a beautiful retreat center. The bees led him to the open arms of a woman deeply vested in the research of resonance, frequency, sound, and meditation. He immediately noticed the difference in his life and in how the bees responded. He was excited to share this part of his life and wanted his best friend to meet her, so he invited him to visit.
… to be continued…