What to write on a Monday morning.
Monday morning. Now The Mamas & The Papas runs through my mind.
For decades, my husband and I financially supported The Way International. We were taught to tithe and to give beyond the tithe. The tithe (which is 10% of one's income) guaranteed that our material and physical needs would be met. Giving beyond the tithe (which The Way calls "abundant sharing") guaranteed greater spiritual understanding and enlightenment.
So what if one practices the tithe and abundant sharing and the person does not receive the benefits touted (ie: health in body & mind, all financial and material needs met, spiritual understanding and enlightenment)?
The answer? The giver's "heart was not right." The giver's attitude was giving to get or giving just because s/he has to, not giving to give.
The person is wrong, the doctrine is right...
...even when the practice of the doctrine is applied to the best ability the person can muster. If the results don't follow, the effort just wasn't good enough.
As the founding president of The Way, Victor Paul Wierwille, wrote in his booklet, Christians Should Be Prosperous: "Tithing without love for God or a recognition of His goodness to you is sheer folly. The law of prosperity operates from the inside out. The desire must be right, else the gift without the giver is bare. But when the desire within man is right, his minimum expression will be a tithe." (ouch. uugh. brain scramble. let me out the door now.) According to Wierwille, we must first "dedicate and devote the coin of our hearts to our Creator;" then the tithe works, but not without that.
O.K.
I no longer believe that. Too much pudding that was only syrup, perhaps.
Life happens - good and bad. Sometimes us humanoids bring both the good and bad upon ourselves, sometimes not.
These days, hubby and I give financially as we feel led to do so. Most often, that is given to individuals in need - like the single teenage mom at the gas pump the other day, in tears because her (supposedly) last $7.00 fueled her tank with only a little over a gallons worth of gas. Sometimes we give to charities or projects like 6x6, Engaged Zen Foundation, the local food bank, Journey Free, and others
Maybe someday, there will be no need for money. I imagine that would only happen in the new heavens and earth, if such a time is coming.
Monday. Today, I'll be thankful for breath, for life, for sunshine, for rain.
________________________
2 comments:
TWI was wrong about the tithe ... you're just supposed to give as you purpose in your heart, which includes giving to WHERE you purpose in your heart. We've found that Heifer International and Voice of the Martyrs are where we purpose in our hearts, and of course, like you said, to individual people in need. TWI wrongly considered anyone but themselves "second rate causes." That's why they are currently living off the $50 million they made during their "glory years."
SP
The org wouldn't want to give to any "designer causes" (LCM's term)...
...after all "the temptation is no longer between good and bad, but between good and best." (Close to quote, VPW.)
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