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Years ago when
I first heard the quotation "It is better to give
than to receive," I thought: "What con
artists! These people are just trying to manipulate
me into doing what is in their best interest. They
win, I lose. Who do you suppose is dumb enough to
believe that one?"
Over the years,
I often heard the above quotation. I also herd
things like "It is impossible to give anything
away or steal anything"---"As you sow so shall
you reap"---"Every thought, deed and action
comes back to you a thousand-fold."
I did not give any of them serious consideration, nor did
I relate them to the concept of tithing. My
mind was closed and I didn't want to be confused by
additional information because I already knew the truth---
All these sayings were just part of a con game--- a way of
stealing money and not getting into trouble for it.
I was well into
my self-awareness studies when one day in response to
giving a donation in support of one of my mentors, I had a
"realization" (an "ah ha.") I
knew why supporting someone else was important to me.
Money, just like joy, love and inspiration, gets bigger
and there is more of it when I give some of it away.
The difference is that money is in the form-world and
love, joy and inspiration are in that non-physical being
space of "I AM." In my willingness to
support someone who was an inspiration and a role model to
me, I was supporting that "I AM" space within
myself---that space which is "first cause" and
is the source of all that I experience in my physical,
earthly world.
I had thought
tithing was just a phony business deal. I had been
looking into the world of form and trying to find a
structure within which I could be rational, reasonable and
make intellectual sense. I had found none and,
therefore, discarded the whole idea as a fool's paradise.
In my new-found (what I thought was) wisdom, I started by
giving away 3% of all the money that came to me. It
wasn't very much money. so it was easy for me to do.
It wasn't long
before I discovered I was still coming from my head.
I had given the money away and was now waiting for my
windfall to come back to me. I was still attempting
to make a business deal only this time I was trying to do
it with that spiritual part of myself that we call
"God." I became aware that a
gift made with the expectation and the need to get
something back, is a business deal, and a gamble (like
putting a quarter in a slot machine) Such an act is
not a tithe.
A tithe is
gift, given from a space (a context) of :
(a)
Gratitude, generosity, awareness our connection to
that unknown, source of all that is,
and
(b)
Loving concern for the well-being of others.
Tithing is not
just a physical act of giving, and it's definitely
not a business deal with God. Tithing is a
spiritual blessing for both giver and receiver.
It is given without expectation and with no strings
attached.
As a result of
caring about others, we become more strongly connected to
the infinite flow of abundance and the world starts
returning to us that same care and consideration.
To tithe is to focus on the positive (on what is and
can be) and not on scarcity and fear.
Remember the master's word's: "As a man
thinketh in his heart, so he is."
A tithe is a
"win-win." It is an act of faith. It
has no time. It has no form. It is an act of
creation within the "God-Self" and as such will
enrich the giver beyond what the limited conscious mind
can currently conceive of. The energy behind the
gift (i.e. the context in which the gift is made---the
ground of being of the giver in the giving process) is the
determining factor in what returns. The gift itself
is merely a physical symbol given in honor of the loving
and creative "God-Self" within.
I soon learned
that tithing was in my own best interest. It has a
specific purpose and that purpose is in everyone's best
interest. By keeping the energy (represented by
money and other material things) flowing via my generosity
I was amplifying the flow of prosperity which was bringing
still more prosperity back to me. I saw the
truth in the ideas that no one can steal or give anything
away and that what we put out to the world is what comes
back to us multi-fold.
It appears that
the best way to really know and to inwardly understand
this principle is through personal experience. Thus
I invite you to join me in amplifying the flow of
abundance by tithing to any source of inspiration that you
choose.
And also,
please remember, that in addition to money and material
objects, there are many other ways of giving to the world.
How about giving a little love, inspiration, joy, wisdom,
kindness, or perhaps just a smile and a word of
encouragement.
Thank you.
Rev. Robert
Written: June 1987
-- Revised Revised 7 Apr 2005 . |
