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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
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