Bruce's Journal - Part 3

Sunrise, Maundy Thursday, 1972 at "The Living Word"

I don't know where, when, or how, but our new health centre (books, health foods and several related etceteras will be called "The Living Word". For a month we have been carrying Swiss Herbal Remedies which Rolf Zimmerman was good enough to leave on consignment. I am looking to this new impulse to help us with our task. Douglas and Else have been very generous in their financial support, But, since the rest of Gerrard Street West is being razed we are still unviable financially. I hope and pray that we can solve this problem soon.

[I should mention here that relations with Douglas and Elsa were becoming a bit strained. They had invited me to become a partner in the Steiner Book Centre, which I accepted. They then insisted (particularly Elsa) that I vote with them to have Mrs Grieve removed from the partnership. I refused. Since they were very rich they were used to having their way with any decision they made in the anthroposophical community of Canada. I therefore no longer was considered "their boy".]

March 28, 1973: Obviously, much has transpired since the last entry on Maundy Thursday of 1972. Here it is Passion Tide already and not a single entry into the journal for a year.
To start roughly where I left off last year: Mrs Grieve thought that The Living Word would be too easily misconstrued by people. Some would think it a sacrilege while others might think it a holier-than-thou ego trip. In either case the[ir] reaction would be inappropriate. [I immediately saw the wisdom of her words, but in my new-found passion for anthroposophy strongly resisted changing the name. Finally, after many days of deep meditation, I felt that "Living Seed Health Centre" would be a suitable compromise. [Curiously enough, the Rev Werner Grimm later criticised my choice, saying that it reminded him of sperm!] Anyway, Rolf was kind enough to loan me two thousand dollars and a generous supply of food supplements etc. on consignment. In April I found an empty store at the beautiful address of 181 Avenue Road. I enquired of the neighbours as to the phone number of the owner, called for an appointment and, along with George Wilson, went through the building rather quickly. It consists of a home converted into a store; seven bedrooms, a bath-and-a-half, a cellar and a small back yard. Rent for the building was $575/mo. Without even so much as a clue as to who would move in (George didn't even commit himself), I signed the lease with Jack Altman for 2 years with a 2 year option. I had no idea who would move in, but I knew that I would have to fill the house within a month or I would go under.
Amazingly, they appeared! First, Sue Brown - who helped out in the store for practically nothing; then George, then Ursula Ziegler, Richard Armour, and finally Ginger, whom I neither invited nor forbade. She took two rooms, one of which was no bigger than her huge king-size bed. [The saga of Ginger's and my relationship is beyond the scope of this narrative. Suffice it to say that she played a key karmic role in my life during these transformative years. I am eternally grateful to her for introducing me to Bill and Laura Findlay, who in turn introduced me to anthroposophy.]