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Dalton
Roberts |
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I have a new reader and she asked that I write something on giving as a spiritual practice. Actually, giving may not be a spiritual practice. It can be as unspiritual as washing your feet or as spiritual as Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. To make it a wonderful spiritual practice, give unselfishly. It is true that Jesus said we are rewarded up to 100-fold for our gifts but He did not say to let that be our motivation. Neither did He say that all of the hundred-fold return would be in money. I often play gigs free to benefit persons with cancer or to help special causes. I have a saying, "When I play for money, I get money and when I play for the Lord, I get the Lord -- and that's a real good deal." Another truth we can experience in giving is when we give without flaunting. Remember the gospel story where two people came to bring their offerings. One was a wealthy Pharisee and the other was a poor widow. The Pharisee strutted and preened and peacocked around over what he was giving. The widow simply gave a small amount from her limited means but the Lord said her offering was greater. There is an unwritten spiritual law that says pride must be rooted out for one to live a spiritual life. God is not personally punishing us when we are brought low from our pride. It's just that this law kicks in. The Universe operates by physical and spiritual laws and one of the spiritual laws is that pride must be replaced by an humble heart desiring to serve God and people. For maximum spiritual returns we must give without expectation. Once while visiting a family working on their Christmas gift list, when each name was called, they would discuss what that person gave them the last Christmas and the price range and decide on something similar to give in return. We might think about giving more gifts that we cannot put a price tag on. My daughter often creates a painting or small sculpture as my gifts. How do you put a price tag on a sculpture of my one-legged cardinal, Long John, sitting on a piece of driftwood? Or a poem written just for you? God knows we've got enough stuff. We have so much stuff that acres and acres of our land are used up by storage places. We don't have our stuff in our homes where we can enjoy it because our homes became stuffed full long ago. We cram it in a storage room miles from home. I once had a storage room I was paying $45 a month for and one day as I opened it to find something, the intelligent thought came to me, "What is stored here that is worth $45?" Shortly thereafter I cleaned it out, keeping very little of it and giving away the rest. Stuff needs to be put into circulation! If you cleaned out all the clothes in your home you haven't worn in six months, they could be on the back of some person who really needs them. All that stuff in you storage room that is now growing spiders might dramatically assist a needy person or family. When I give out of love or friendship, I get the sweetest blessings. I played and spoke at The Church on the Lake for a friend, expecting nothing. The people responded so beautifully to my words and songs that I was walking on air all day. They gave me a surprising love offering. Every time we give out of love we get a love offering from the Lord himself. If it's all spiritual - like a warm awareness of His presence - please tell me how we can improve on that.
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