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Justice at the co-op
About 15 years ago, my wife and I bought our first piece of property: a unit in a large co-op building in Brooklyn, New York. Shortly after moving in, we discovered that there was a lot of “bad blood” between the managing agents, who owned about 70 percent of the building shares, and the resident owners. It wasn’t the best scenario, but we couldn’t afford anything better, and couldn’t back out. I decided to follow Mary Baker Eddy’s guidance from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Never breathe an immoral atmosphere, unless in the attempt to purify it” (p. 452 ). I thought, “Well, I can certainly try!”
To make a long story short, I decided early on not to accept any sense of sides or of an “us versus them” mentality—although the managing agents didn’t make it easy. They were quite religious but often seemed to feel that it was OK to treat people poorly, and even intentionally mislead them, if they were not of the same religious faith as themselves.
As time went on several resident owners convinced the management to at least follow state requirements, such as holding shareholder meetings. And shortly after, I found myself elected president of the co-op board. All this time I had been praying to know that man is honest and good, since in the spiritual creation story found in the first book of Genesis, God creates man and woman in His likeness. So we each have an inherent blessedness and a natural tendency to want to do what is fair and right. Each time I knew we would be holding a board meeting, I would spend extra time praying in the days leading up to it, knowing that there was only one divine Mind in control, rather than many mortal minds with opinions and vices.
Here’s what I was led to do: When the agents would act in an obvious violation of one of the Ten Commandments, I would call them out on it, reminding them of the divine laws they were professing to live by. I frequently reminded them that I tried to live by the same spiritual laws, and that put us on common ground. Whenever I did this, it always seemed, in a sense, to wake them up. There was never any comment about it, no judgment or self-justification—but suddenly we would be working together on a level playing field, where we could find solutions.
Pretty soon the building, which had been neglected for years, was getting the care it needed. The brick facades were repointed, a new roof was installed, maintenance was taken care of, and less desirable tenant behavior was no longer tolerated. Those resident owners who had been quite angry and vindictive calmed down and were willing to let bygones be bygones. Plus, units were starting to be sold again.
Shortly before we moved, the managing agents planned to sell an apartment that would tip the scale; once it sold, they would no longer hold the majority of shares of the building. They were apprehensive because they had treated so many people poorly for so long. But the mentality of the resident owners had changed so much that they soon realized all the “bad blood” was gone. Everyone just wanted to live in harmony. I’ve been in touch with some of my old neighbors, and as far as I know, progress continues to be made in the building.
I should also mention that the neighborhood, which had been on the fringe and struggling with violence and drug problems, has drastically changed. The large sports field complex across the street even got a $13-million face-lift and a new playground.
The whole time we lived there, I’d been clinging to this truth from Revelation: “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Revelation 19:6 ). It wasn’t always easy, but it sure paid off! What a wonderful feeling, to see the building and neighborhood in such an uplifted state. I can’t claim sole credit for what happened, but I like to think my prayers played a part in establishing harmony.
—John Kohler, Brattleboro, Vermont