NORTHWEST FOUNDATION FOR “A COURSE IN MIRACLES”
P.O. Box 1490, Kingston, WA 98346-1490 \ USA
There
is a saying that goes like this: "Divine Love always has met and always
will meet every human need." It doesn't say every human want, goal or desire,
but every human need. And the reason is that needs—real needs—are the threshold
of emerging fulfillment. Needs are the points
where expansion, breakthrough, is insinuating itself through artificial
limits—bondages—which you have created or accepted and then committed yourself
to.
I
once told Paul: "All of You is always present, all of You is always
available, and all of You is always functioning." And it is always this
Wholeness which is pressing against and insinuating Itself through the borders
of your tent which you hold very close to you.
Needs
are where tiny-ness must yield to Wholeness because
Wholeness is coming through. Needs
are where your comfort zone is collapsing in order to reveal the more of You
that has always been present, available and functioning.
The
purchase of the Foundation's new home was just such a "coming
through." It fulfilled need, rather than a goal—and the need was human.
The need was for sanctuary for Paul and Susan—a roof over their heads, warmth
and stability. In addition, there was need for adequate space to accommodate
the offices and staff to carry on the work as well as to hold Gatherings in,
since the place they were in had become inadequate.
However,
Paul and Susan were very comfortable in their "tent," and were slow
to acknowledge the need. “We'll hold Gatherings in Edmonds," they said.
And cheerfully they paid $700.00 per afternoon to hold them there—feeling very
expansive without feeling the need...yet.
Then,
one afternoon the Foundation's accountant, having received a notice of an
Edmonds Gathering, called to ask whether meetings continued at the house in
Kingston. "No," Paul said, "the house has gotten too
small." "Well," the accountant said, "the way things are
set up with the tax structure, you are required to hold public meetings at the
Foundation. You're going to have to do something about this."
And
so, with great equanimity, Paul and Susan, holding their comfy "tent"
around them, ordered new Australian toilets which use only eight-tenths of a
gallon of water per flush, which wouldn't overwhelm the septic system with 75
people using them, and resumed holding Gatherings in Kingston.
But
in spite of their happy ignorance of need, the breakthrough came because that's
the nature of Being. That's the nature of divine Love. Susan, out of simple
curiosity—or so she thought—stopped and looked at a nearby house under
construction, which was already sold. This simple, apparently inconsequential
act set into motion the purchase of the Foundation’s new home. Their comfort
zone collapsed because, whether they recognized it or not, it wasn't fulfilling
purpose.
I
will not belabor you with things you already know, it is my intent, however, to
convey the jewels that lie just behind needs, and therefore the great significance
of "need."
When
need is experienced, it's not new! It has been there all along. The border of
the tent has been where it has been—unnoticed until divine Love begins to move
it and enlarge your comfort zone. Need is always simple, basic, and is therefore
insulting to the ego that has put on airs. This is why I refer to it as a
"bottom of the barrel" experience and promote failing at reaching the
top once again.
Since
moving into the new home, there have been continuing collisions with the bottom
of the barrel. The gas boiler for the heating system became a raging (although
contained) inferno which, in due course, uncovered a poorly designed radiant
heating system that had to be replaced—at a cost of $13,000.00—with an electric
forced air system with a heat pump. This met a need for improved air
circulation in the office areas as well as the need to be able to air condition
the house during Gatherings in the summer—all with greater economy than the
existing system. The refrigerator failed and took two weeks to repair,
necessitating the purchase of a new refrigerator, but met the need for an
additional refrigerator to hold food for the Gatherings. The gas dryer
malfunctioned and the owner of the company installing the heating system
offered to take it and the matching washing machine in exchange for a brand new
washer and electric dryer—also
matching—at no charge.
As
each of these needs appeared, they were interpreted by Paul and Sue in many
ways:
1. A sign that they hadn't listened well to
guidance.
2. A sign that it was a mistake to have moved (left
their old "tent").
3. A reason for others to lose faith in them.
4. An overwhelming responsibility.
5. An impossible challenge.
6. A sign that there really isn't a God.
7. That they had been forsaken.
8. That none of this was worth it ("Stop the
world, I want to get off!")
9. Etc., etc., etc.
The
simple fact is that everything comes to us for the purpose of having its
divinity recognized. This is another way of saying, "Need is the leading
edge of fulfillment coming to view." One has to be willing to look beyond
his initial interpretation of events to see the more, not the less, that is coming to view at the hand of divine
Love. This is the way healing occurs.
As
I said to Susan a few days ago:
"Whatever
is not perfect, look forward to its perfection coming forth. Do not wonder what
you have done to bring imperfection into your life. And that is what has been
happening—you have been watching perfection come forth ever since you moved in.
Even at this moment, not a single nonessential transformation is
occurring."
It's
all very simple. The new home for the Foundation is a roof over the heads of
people consciously engaged in expressing the Father's Will in down-to-earth
daily ways. It is not some grandiose Course in Miracles Center, but a home
where people from all over can gather and be real, one-on-one with me—not to
learn high spiritual teachings, but to learn how not to be afraid to be
genuine, in touch with their needs, their human
needs, and allow into their lives the transformation, the fulfillment, that
their needs are announcing the entrance of.
At
the present time, a young man from Texas, an excellent finish carpenter, is
living at the Foundation enclosing the ducting for the heating system and
attending to the modifications that will make the new home functional for our
purposes. A young woman from Hawaii has taken six months to come here to help
with the move and work in the office. And although everyone (including Paul and
Sue) continues without reservation with the physical aspects of preparing the
home, no wages or bills are being paid because the bank account is really
"at the bottom of its barrel."
Fortunately,
all of them are watching for the breakthrough instead of engaging doubt,
considering the possibility where the ego says, "Impossible!" You may
not yet see evidence of movement, or evidence of a functioning Foundation, but
you will! They insist upon watching needs transform into needs met, because
that is the nature of the movement of Being—of divine Love.
In
this letter, I am not going to ask for your support. Rather, I will ask,
“What is your need?”
Rajpur
Kingston, Washington
October 20, 2000
PHONE:
360-638-0530
24-HOUR
FAX: 360-638-0531
E-MAIL:
info@nwffacim.org