  Spiritual
This week: Tithing Edited by: Jeff  
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"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
-- Thomas Aquinas
Spirituality Trivia of the Week: A pentagram (five-pointed star), while often assumed to be some kind of Satanic or demonic symbol, is also an important symbol for many other societies and cultures. For Wiccans, it is a religious symbol akin to the Holy Cross of Christians or Judaism's Star of David; in Arthurian legend, it is a symbol carried by Sir Gawain on his shield to represent the five virtues of knighthood; in Christianity, the pentagram has been both a symbol of the five wounds of Christ and the five joys that Mary had of Jesus. Only when a pentagram is upside down (with the single point angled downward) and with a goat's head inside is it referred to as the Sigil of Baphomet, the version of the symbol associated with Satanism.
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TITHING
While a tithe is technically defined at a one-tenth part of something, in a religious sense it's often used as a general term for the giving of financial contributions, often to a religious organization or institution of some kind. Many religious organizations encourage the contribution of 10% of ones income for charitable purposes and, what I'd like to talk about this week, is how that contribution can be viewed in our modern world.
First, a brief disclaimer. I realize that certain religious belief systems and government taxation practices are much more structured in their interpretation of tithing and that's totally fine. This article is geared toward people who are looking for or open to alternative forms of charitable contributions.
That said, ten percent of your income can be a lot. If you make $50,000 a year, that's $5,000 you're giving away... just over $415 per month. Depending on your individual financial situation, that could mean the difference between making your car payment or not. Between paying down your credit card debt or not. Between saving for your kids' college tuition or not. While most of us can probably cut back or improve our spending habits, sometimes ten percent just feels like it's too much to be giving away, especially in these tough economic times while we're still riding the real estate roller coaster and unsure of whether we'll still have a job next month, next week, or even tomorrow.
HOWEVER, the idea of charitably contributing to someone or something shouldn't be completely ignored because times are tough. As an alternative, how about volunteering and donating your time? Your time, after all, is worth something. If you want to be all technical about it, figure out your hourly wage... if you make $50,000 a year, divide that by 52 weeks, and then that number by 40 hours per week. You earn about $24/hour when you're working. At twenty-four bucks an hour, if you volunteer for 18 hours a month, that's $432 worth of your time you've charitably given to someone or something else. Or you can mix and match and maybe donate $175 of your earnings and 10 hours of your time to get to that $415. You can volunteer a million different ways. Maybe you can offer to be a greeter or an usher at your local church. Or serve food at a homeless shelter. Or, if you're a service professional, offer your legal advice, architectural design skills, medical expertise, etc. to someone free of charge. Or even something as simple as volunteering to help stuff envelopes and/or knock on doors for a local charity or fundraiser.
As another alternative, how about donating your stuff? Do you have old clothes you can donate to the homeless, or old furniture taking up room in a storage space that you can give to a halfway house? Do you have an extra bedroom in your house you can offer someone who just had their home foreclosed on, or recently lost their job and can't afford to pay their rent? Do you have an old computer you can donate to your local library or under-equipped nonprofit? I'm not going to pretend to know the first thing about tax-deductible donations, but in a very basic sense, these material things have material value and if you don't have time or money to spare, maybe you can find some things around the house or office that you don't use and other people might be able to.
And finally, consider a gradual increase in your charitable contributions to get up to ten percent. Ten percent all at once can be a daunting amount, especially if you're one of the millions of people who struggles paycheck-to-paycheck or doesn't have piles of extra money laying around. But finances are remarkably elastic and people have the amazing ability to adjust to changing circumstances. Just like many people make due when one spouse loses a job, or when a new child is welcomed into the home, or when their mortgage or credit card interest rate increases, people find a way to make it work. Maybe it means fewer meals out, or reducing the cable from the 1000+ channel premium package to a more conservative basic package. Maybe it means buying a used Ford next time instead of leasing a brand-new Mercedes. Or maybe it's something as simple as saying "yes" every time the card reader at a retail or grocery checkout lane asks you if you want to make $2 donation to fight muscular dystrophy or breast cancer. Whatever it is, consider making gradual increases in your charitable contributions until you get to the level you're happy with. Maybe it's 1% this month, and 2% the next, 3% the month after that, 4% the month after that, and so on.
Between your finances, your time, and your old stuff, I think there are very few people in the world who can't afford to give a little more. There are some truly generous individuals out there... but most of us (and I include myself) can afford to be a little more generous and charitable if we're really being honest with ourselves. And with that in mind, I'd encourage each of you to take a look at your tithing habits. Whether you belong to a church or not, whether you've ever volunteered before or not; whether you're living in a mansion in Beverly Hills or living with your parents because you can't afford a place of your own... we can all afford to spend just a little bit more time and/or more money to make this world a better place.
Real change is possible when enough people commit to making even the smallest of improvements to the world around them. Will you be one of those people? Will you look at yourself and your life and find that little bit of extra time or money that could make all the difference to someone else?
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following spiritual items:
When I shed mortal frame and I am gone,
Let this they say for sake of whom I lived:
"He always looked as if too woe-begone;
Almost on purpose joy he always missed.
There was a half moon last night
Something dark was in the air
Which did not feel quite right
Seeing the sky so cloudless and fair
And when at last the final path I take,
And come to God's own Kingdom, built of love,
Where music is the sound the angels make;
The universal tongue of Heav'n above,
No human being alive today is exempt from suffering in some form or another. One person may be living in poverty, another facing a terminal illness, another grieving the loss of a loved one. There are billions of victims, past and present, who have suffered through war, natural disasters and injustice. Whether we are an atheist, agnostic or a believer, how can we understand these things? Is there a reasonable explanation or, is it just a "fact of life"? Would knowing "why?" make suffering any more bearable?
There are a few different schools of thought on the correct use of crystals. The most mainstream is wearing them in jewelry or carrying them in pouches and hoping for benefits. However Holistic healers and energy healers believe that blindly doing so and expecting to immediately feel better is unrealistic and at worst can be dangerous. They do agree that the stones do contain many of these properties, but conversely, they believe it can also act like a release valve for old traumas that have stressed and left a mark on our cells like a scratch on a cd. Though, this scratch is more like a dead bolted chamber that holds in the bad trauma energy and keeps out any incoming positive energy, blocking the flow, disrupting inner harmony.
If you are of age 20 or perhaps even younger, it may have become all too clear the state of our nation and the many problems that plague our land. These problems are large and complex and the solutions are in some aspects beyond our human capacity. But even with all the adversity this nation of ours faces, trust me when I tell you that none of this has taken God by complete surprise. He did not look down from heaven one day and say, "Oh my goodness the United States is declining so rapidly into moral and economic decay. How did this happen on my watch? Or what can be done about it?"
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Feedback from my last newsletter on the power of prayer:
jogar  says, "There are so many questions that rely on inspiration, prayer, G-D's meaning to us and more then can be gathered in one short comment. Your article though, found some aspects to all those questions and more. I enjoyed reading it and its content gave room for thought in my opinion. Thank you for a subject we all are envolved in one way or another. jogar."
You're very welcome! And thank you for writing in! 
johnny1209 says, "Very interesting discussion of the power of prayer. Prayer is more than a behavior, magical thinking, or a psychological exercise. Prayer without faith is an empty exercise. It's a communication between people and their God. James 5:15 KJV "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." "
Thanks for writing in... wonderful insight!
Zeke  says, "We have to be careful in our prayers not to give God too many explicit instructions. He knows everything and He knows what we need. We should only have faith that He loves us.
Zeke"
That's a great point. One of the things of which my wife is constantly reminding me (and herself) is that God has his own plans for us and when we make our own or think we're in control, He probably laughs. 
Quick-Quill  says, "response to you for faith. It was misquoted but still good. Ro 12:3 we all get faith and grace. If we use it, it grows if we don't it goes away."
Excellent quote! I think that's true of a lot of things in life. Nurturing something and constantly working it are the ways you succeed with your writing, your physical fitness, your relationships, and even your faith. When you aren't working on something, there's a good chance it will atrophy and deteriorate. 
BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful  says, "You have to wonder."
Oh, I most definitely do!
shoumojit says, "This is a nice article on faith and do ring bell about providence and its mysterious ways of dispensing its whims and fancies. However I believe it is in us that we got what we set the ball rolling for, and is we feel that someone is there to take care of, I feel like in all sensitive matters regarding ones belief. It is us as individual, and we are perfect and hence should never get bogged down with thoughts or desires for Lord to grant our wish, as we will get what we deserve if we give our effort, and if we expect something from someone, and that expectation remains in our subconscious itself is harmful, now if a person prays for someone, the other person will certainly get the benefit, however the other person who got the grace shouldn't seek it as a assurance that Lord is there to take care of all your woes. One should be desire-less and unattached and do ones job.Even a slight hint of desire is harmful."
Interesting thoughts. I still haven't made up my mind about the topic of asking for prayer or expecting God to take care of you. On the one hand, I understand the idea behind it, but it's never been easy for me to ask others for anything, or to rely on anyone except myself. I have a feeling I'm not alone, and that it might just be one of those things that never quite comes easily to us.
Cynaemon says, "Hi, SoCalScribe, I really liked your take on prayer. It is a nice thought that we are never alone if others are thinking about us. Best Wishes, Cynaemon"
Thank you so much for writing in!
says, "Hello,
I noticed in the "About This Newsletter Section" you said "The Bahá'í Faith believes that Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and most of the world's other religions are not separate belief systems, but all are part of the same unified and progressive manifestation of God's presence in our lives." I don't know if you really believe that or not but I wanted to point out something. If Christianity and Islam are the same religion, worshiping the same god, then why do Islam people make it a point to kill and persecute Christians? From my understanding, they are told to kill Christians in their Holy Book.
Just some thoughts,
Thanks"
Hi, perhaps I didn't summarize that aspect very well... the idea is that all the world's religions are different manifestations of the same God trying to bring faith and spirituality to different places in the world. That's not to say the religions of the world are all the same, but merely originating from the same higher power and speaking through different prophets and stories. How the religions evolved on earth and are interpreted by humans in practice is something different.
I do want to point out, though, that the vast majority of Muslims do not "make it a point to kill and persecute Christians." Their holy book, the Koran (or Qur'an) has very similar values
EXAMPLES:
In the Christian Bible, Exodus 20:13 says, "Thou shalt not kill."
In the Muslim Koran, 17:33 says, "And do not take any human being's life."
Matthew 5:21 in the Christian Bible states, "Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment."
Verse 5:28 in the Koran says, "If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds." |
Brooke  says, "I'm late reading this Jeff but I have to tell you, this is an amazing article and really left me with an uplifting feeling. Great job. "
Aww, thank you! I'm glad you found it uplifting.
Specter says, "SoCalScribe Salutations,
I must say, faith is as deep as the soul in trusting God with your life. A good rule to live by: Trust God above this world; trust Christ above yourself. Humbleness before God is the beginning of Wisdom in the understanding of Heavenly things found in His Word and established forever in Christ. I will even go further to say, your soul is older than many of His angels.
This insight would stand many astrophysicists on their heads: The earth is far more ancient than the universe. In case you had not noticed, they got it backwards. I'm sure God smiled about mankind's boo-boos in his lack of understanding.
The gift of faith is dependent directly upon you in what you do through choices, decisions, and directions of mindful hopes and aspirations, even with the humdrum in life. In fact, I consider the thinking processes to be spiritual that is enabled to enter into another dimension, especially God's throne ... thus, the power of prayer. It's sad to say, but some have chosen the dark way, though I do not judge them. Be thankful and hopeful for the second resurrection should any have a change of mind and heart. But they will be tested. The choice is their's, whether Christ or Satan.
God bless because you asked. And thanks for showing my comments in the Spiritual NL."
Thank you so much for continuing the conversation!
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Spiritual: October 03, 2012 Issue [#5295]
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