From the moment we put our old house on the market, the problems began. We found a buyer soon enough, but she made a ludicrously low offer, which we refused. She said she loved the house but wanted to carry out some expensive building works! We politely pointed out, via our estate agent (realtor in America), that her offer was far too low, and that we could not take into account what she might wish to do after the house was sold!
She then made a sensible offer, which we accepted, and we thought our problems were over. Unfortunately, the buyer turned out to be a truly tricky customer. She had a secret agenda. House-buying in England involves locking most people into a chain, where one person's sale is the means by which they buy their next property, and chains can comprise as many as eight buyers and sellers. It is an incredibly silly and ungainly way of buying and selling. We decided to remove ourselves from such a complex web by renting our next property, so that our own sale did not involve our next purchase. It should have made the sale an easy process.
Our buyer, however, wanted to delay completion as long as possible. In April, when we agreed to accept her more realistic offer, she said she herself would also like to complete the transaction as quickly as she could; she said she already had a mortgage offer in place, and was ready to move in a very few weeks.
This was untrue. Her first pseudo-problem arose when she said she had lost a vital building certificate and had to order a replacement. Then she said her own buyer had a similar problem. These two alleged losses cost us all two months' delay, but this was not the end. She complained that her boiler had broken down and that she had to get it fixed before she sold her own house, and when this was fixed, that she had lost yet another vital document which would take time to replace.
One problem after another meant that we were no closer to completion at ten weeks into the deal. A normal house sale takes 6 to 8 weeks. In despair, our solicitor and estate agent both advised us to put the house back on the market, which we did.
The next day, our buyer rang up in tears, complaining that we were "scaremongering". We took no notice. And then, miraculously, she "found" her lost certificates, her own buyer also "found" hers, and all their problems evaporated into thin air! The sale was completed one week later!
It emerged that both she and her own buyer were in collusion. They had school age children, and wanted to time their move with the beginning of the school holidays, at the end of July. Rather than take out bridging loans, which would have been the obvious solution, they both chose to delay and delay, prevaricating and obscuring the truth until our patience was exhausted. At that point, they realized they had to act if they were to secure the houses that both wanted. And so the sale went through, at last.
The next part of Second Force concerned our rented bungalow, where we're now living. So many delays, legal knots and miscommunications held up our agreement to the point that we were not actually sure whether we had anywhere to go at all! Eventually all this, too, was solved at the last moment and through apparently miraculous events.
But it has been the most difficult sale we have ever made, and our next house purchase will, we hope, be our last.
We've found the house where we want to spend the rest of our lives. It's in a beautiful seaside resort on the northwest coast of England, a cosy, Tudor-style house on a quiet street, with a large garden. This time, our purchase is proceeding at top speed. There are no obstacles, only the time-consuming legal form-filling and searches which accompany all property transactions in the United Kingdom. We are not in a chain, and neither is our seller, so all may be completed in four to six weeks.
Second Force seems at last to have been lifted. Thank God!
What have we learned from this? That the strength of Second Force can be extremely powerful, and tests our resolve to the limit. Had we not wished with all our hearts to move to the northwest, we might well have given up the struggle, at least for this year.
We carried on, however. Why? Because our desire to move house, our First Force, was motivated by a Third Force of a spiritual nature. And this fact gave us the necessary impetus to continue our battle and not to give in.
Had it been merely a Life motive - wanting a larger or smaller home, perhaps; moving to a more desirable neighbourhood; or simply wishing to free up money by downsizing, as so many older people do - we would probably have abandoned the project, at least for the foreseeable future.
Our Third Force stemmed from our Essence wishes, however, and carried us through the tidal wave of lies, manipulation and obstruction that we had to battle.
We wanted to live in a home that satisfied our Essence needs for peace, harmony and beauty. A safe and cosy place in which our spiritual lives could find maximum expression. Where we could be closer to our families, be there to help them out with their problems, and in our turn be helped by them when necessary. And in times of peace and plenty to enjoy one another's company, to deepen our relationships with the people we love most on Earth, to strengthen the ties which bind us all together.
We had found living in an isolated, rural area very limiting to our ability to participate in the Twelve Step Programmes which have played a huge part in both our lives. In our chosen home town, we will be able to sponsor new members, volunteer for group offices, and support the local recovery community. We'll also be able to take a more active role in our Catholic church community, since our new church will be much closer to our home than was our former church in the Fens.
We plan to join the North West Friends of Israel, an important and influential lobbying group which combats media inaccuracies and lies, and promotes peace education and informative programmes about the reality of Israeli life in local schools and religious organizations. My cousin is already a keen and active member of the movement, and the group includes Christians, Jews, agnostics and atheists, all in support of peace and against the terrible anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism which are now the scourge of Europe and particularly in the UK. There are, it is rumoured, even one or two Muslim members, though they have to keep a very low profile for fear of recriminations from their own communities.
For many years I've supported Israel and the Middle East peace movement in my own way, through my writing and lobbying efforts, but to be part of a united, ecumenical group will help tremendously to reinforce my own efforts, and I'll be able to use my communication skills to help this vital cause.
And our new house will give me my very own quiet office, a luxury I've never enjoyed before, so that I can continue blogging about the Work, and can write at least two more books on spirituality that I've been planning over the past year, but lacked the time and a peaceful space in which to complete them.
These motives are the Third Force for both my husband and me. Our Essences are united in these aims, and since we are both convinced of the benefits of our new house in this regard, we have been steadfast in sticking to the plan. Our Third Force is truly a Work motive, truly a reconciling force in so many ways, and we have felt the love and support of Conscious Humanity throughout our trials.
We're still in the tiny, rented bungalow - but hope in a couple of months to be gradually moving ourselves, our remaining books (still in the hundreds, if not thousands!) and our goods and chattels, not forgetting our beautiful, loyal Maine Coon cat companion, Tolstoy, into our new and permanent home.
God willing.
