Transforming
Our Relationship with Money
Dear friends,
I received this beautiful summary from my
step-mother a few days ago. The inspiring story at the end literally
brought tears to my eyes. May we all come to see money simply as a tool for
manifestation in our lives which flows just as it is meant to flow when our
hearts and minds are clear.
With much love and joy to you,
Fred
Lynne Twist
presentation at Bioneers Conference, 2003
Notes
by Jean Barker
Lynne has written a book called, The Soul of Money. It took
her a long time and much work to do this book. She said writing
it was the hardest thing she has ever done. Her purpose was to
transform our relationship with money. Lynne had been to
many places where people struggle just to stay alive. She spent 20
years working for The Hunger Project in places like Ethiopia, India, Senegal,
and Burkino Faso. People there are called
"poor." Yet she discovered that once she engaged with
these people (identified as those from less developed countries), there
was nothing "poor" about them! They are strong, courageous,
innovative, ingenious, gutsy, intelligent! The label insults
them. These people merely live in "resource poor"
conditions. She now calls their countries "less
consuming countries." Lynn commented, "these people have
been my teachers."
She went on to say that the "resource rich" have also
been her teachers. It is a sacred work to fund raise. It
is a great privilege to ask people for money! To demonstrate this, Lynne
shared the simple, yet powerful story of Gertrude:
Early in her life as a fund raiser, Lynne was asked to go to a large
corporation in the Midwest to meet the CEO. She was working for The
Hunger Project (started by Werner Erhart) whose goal and vision was to
bring an end to hunger around the world. She was nervous about
going to see this CEO. His company had made some bad decisions and had
a poor reputation. She had been informed that the CEO was going to make
a large contribution to the Hunger Project as a way of rectifying its poor
record.
Lynne arrives
at the company and takes the elevators to the top floor. She feels
scared. She meets the man in his large office behind glass doors.
She sits at a long conference table with him on the other end.
She gives her talk within the15 minute time limit given to her, and he
presents her with an envelope. Inside is a check for
$50,000. It is the largest single donation she has
ever raised. She thanks him, yet deep down she feels
unsettled.
Lynne
then goes on to NYC to meet with a black church group in their basement
meeting room in Harlem. The pastor has invited her to speak about
The Hunger Project. The rain pours down and she is late. She enters and
finds that rain leaking into the room is collecting in puddles and
spattering into pans placed around the room. She is surprised
to find about 75 people waiting for her. She begins her talk, and
eventually gets to the place where she is to make the pitch for money.
She pauses, wondering how can she ask these people to give, when their
own need is so great! She remembers that the pastor has asked her to
come and do this very thing, ask for money. She makes her request
and then stops.
There
is silence. No one speaks. Then a woman dressed in a uniform stands and
says, "My name is Gertrude and I like you! I don't have no bank
account or checking account, but I earned $75 dollars this week and I'm gonna
give it to you!" Deeply moved, Lynne places the check in
the same brief case where she had earlier placed the huge check from the
CEO. She then watches as one after another, people follow Gertrude's
lead and put in their contributions.
Later
that evening sitting in her hotel room, Lynne decides to write a letter to
the CEO. She thanks him for his contribution and for the time he took
to listen to her. She then says she has to return the check because
it did not come from his heart.
Four
years after that memorable day, Lynne received a letter from the
CEO. He said that he had been deeply affected by her letter, that he
had followed the work of the Hunger Project over the years, and that he had
seen that it was a fine organization. He had left his prior company
and gone on to other work. Now he wanted to send her another
contribution, but this one was from his heart. There was a check
for $250,000 in the envelope.
Lynne
said that she was not the one responsible for this huge change of
heart. It was Gertrude and her giving from her heart that had changed
both Lynne and this CEO. This man had never forgotten Lynne's
letter, a letter which eventually changed his life, and
which inspires us all, even now, to take a deep look at the soul of
money.
Explore the empowering
websites Fred coordinates:
www.momentoflove.org - Every person
in the world has a heart
www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the
Web of Love that interconnects us all
www.WantToKnow.info - Revealing
major cover-ups & working together for a better world
www.inspiringcommunity.org - Building a Global
Community for All
Educational websites promoting transformation through education and inspiration
