first donation

Today is a special day...today Spirit First received its first donation, an unexpected $100 donation from my teen-aged friend Emmanuel. Emmanuel's gift is a pure offering, beautiful and inspiring to the dream deep in the heart of me. Emmanuel believes in me, he believes in Spirit First, and he wants to show his support by giving from the money he saved while working part time at a nearby cinema. I am honored, and humbled, by so beautiful a gift. Thank you, Emmanuel.

In about a week I will be opening a bank account for Spirit First and Emmanuel's contribution will be our first deposit. One hundred dollars is the beginning of the incredibly beautiful, peaceful world we seek to create on a Virginia mountainside. There's something about the first donation that makes this all seem so much closer to becoming something very real (it already is real).

I think I am going to cry.