What About Letting Go and Trusting?

AT LAKE ATITLAN

 

Bahia de Santiago

My family owns a farm by lake Atitlan, Guatemala, a lake considered one of the wonders of the world, located about 3 hours away from Guatemala city. We have had this farm for almost 40 years. There are several workers there that have kept the areas green, clean & in order, that have been working for us up to this day. What happens next took place quite some time ago...

A few years back I went to live to the farm for about 2 years. In my stay, I was able to build a beautiful organic herb farm of a variety of about 40 different kinds of culinary and medicinal herbs. I would cut them, dry them & package them neatly, making it a high quality product and giving it a fancy presentation. Then I placed them in the best hotels & stores where they sold well. They even reached stores in El Salvador. The project was beginning to be very successful. People used to arrive in helicopters and small private planes - for there is a landing strip in the farm - to see the farm real estate project that was for sale. They always stopped by to visit me and say hello, and once they saw the product of the herbs - their quality and presentation - they'd buy them and take the whole lot.

I also enjoyed helping the wives, children, and friends of the workers, who were peasants and indigenous - inhabitants of the area. I'd gift them with medicinal plants to aid them with their health issues.

The house I lived in was a two story stone home that was really nice. The house had all the basic needs, three bedrooms, dining room, living room, a big kitchen and kitchen supplies, etc It was surrounded by a unique and incredible beautiful paradise garden.

Suddenly, one day, something that happened was forcing me to leave back to the main city. I packed all my things in 2 days & with the help of the workers, we put it all in a big storage unit of the farm. I got on a car with my chow chow dog Kasha and went to the nearest dock to catch the next ferry boat to cross the lake to the other side, where my mother and aunt Peggy were waiting for me. We were going to spend a few days up in a cabin we have above Panajachel, a well known town at lake Atitlan.

Very early the next morning I got a call on my cell phone. It was the administrador and main guard of the farm,

"Miss, I have very bad news for you..."

"Tell me Jose," I answered. 

"They broke into the storage building and took most of your things!" he stated.

I felt as if a deep knife was cutting into my stomach & felt an empty echo in my heart bringing cold chills all over my body. It was an inmeasurable feeling of inner invasion and emptyness. I couldn't believe it!

"Okay, Jose... I will be there first thing tomorrow morning. Please gather all the main guards of the farm for me," I told him holding back my rage and my tears.

I knew who had done it. It was one of the workers of the farm, for no one except the workers themselves had seen that we had place all my things in storage the previous afternoon, except the workers themselves. I was surprised, for they had treated me kindly and were really helpful during my stay there.

In the middle of my tears I thought, "how am I ever going to be able to recover any of my things? It's an impossibility not only because the farm is huge, but it is located behind a big town, with a large population and for sure my things had been sold or sent to the next town already. They know how to move very fast. I was puzzled. 

My aunt Peggy, who was christian and a very spiritual person told me: "look I have an article that I think can be very helpful to you on how to deal with this situation in a very different way..." I thanked her, grabbed the papers, and left. I read the article on the ferry as I was crossing the lake back to the farm.

The article was about an African tribe. The way this tribe dealt with crime was very interesting. Something I had never heard of or thought of before. What they did was that when someone committed a crime in their society, what they did is they would put that person in the center of a circle. Then every person in the circle would tell this person all the positive things they could think of about them, they would applaud loudly, then make them feel loved.

As they experienced this, they would never commit the crime again. This was the way this African tribe dealt with and controlled crime and it worked!!! Due to this method among them the crime lessened or was almost nil. This made me think and gave me a few new ideas on what to do. I began to pray.

I asked God for guidance and enlightenment to deal with this matter in a serene and calm way. When I arrived at the farm, the administrator showed me the storage room. When I saw all that they had taken! My beautiful antique golden mirrors, some personal things, type writer, t.v., many things.... were... gone! It was not so much the monetary value as much as the sentimental value of some of the things that affected me so much. 

I took heart and gathered all the main workers, who were 7. We went into the main office of the farm and sat in a circle. I said absolutely nothing about the robbery. Not... one... word...

Instead I told them:

"I'd like for us to do something." They all gazed at me, listening.

"I would like for us to do a simple exercise, if that is okay. I would appreciate it if each one would tell your co-workers one by one a few positive and good things you can remember that you have shared in the past twenty some years that you have been working together. Is that alright with you?" They all nodded through their giggles.

I knew who was the most difficult one to deal with and who had done it, but I said nothing. Instead, what I did was when it was his turn to receive the positive input of his comrades, I asked them all to applaude even louder. Despite the feeling of rage I had had previously, during and after this exercise I felt a sense of peace for a moment and even enjoyed seeing the smile in their faces. I expected nothing in return. I never mentioned anything about the robbery. I knew God had sent me that article for a good reason. Before I left I thanked them and went my way. 

I crossed the lake back then went up to the cabin to be with my aunt Peggy. I had decided to let everything go. That night I slept more soundly and peacefully.

The next day... I got a call early in the morning.

It was Jose, the administrator of the farm:

"Miss, I am calling you to tell you that a lot of your things have showed up and been returned... come and see!"

~ ... in every decision you make you are choosing between a resentment and a miracle... ~ A Course in Miracles

~ ♥ Love, not punishment is the solution to human pain ♥ ~ BB

~ "Crime is naught but misdirected energy" ~ Emma Goldman (1869-1940)

~ To realize that every act of violence is an act that comes from lack of love is to recognize the key that will free the world of institutions, jails, crimes & punishments" ~ B. Brose