To tithe or not to tithe, that is the question.....

Yesterday I was watching 700 Club, not by choice, and something came on about tithing. A friend of mine asked me about this very thing a few weeks ago. I am a slow processor, and did not get back with him on that, but I have thought about it since then. When I saw this segment on the program I started to think about it again. The woman on there said she never wanted to tithe because it was her hard earned money and she was not going to give it away to someone else.

I could relate to that. I have those same thoughts sometimes. I like to give when I know it is helping a worthy cause, but to give just because it is expected, I do not buy into that. I give where I am fed. Meaning if a friend, company, an author, etc... helps me, meaning my soul, they touch me deeply, then I tithe. I do not feel it necessary to tithe to my church all the time, unless I do feel a soulful connection. I have to also keep in mind that the church has expenses, same has home, to keep it going. There for if I want a church to come to I better tithe.

The "magic" behind tithing is rather simple to understand. It follows the Golden Rule (Ethic of reciprocity),

Commonsensism: A version of the golden rule put into modern, non-religious terms that some people live by is, "Treat people the way you'd like to be treated".

Buddhism: 560 BC, From the Udanavarga 5:18- "Hurt not others with that which pains yourself."

Judaism: 1300 BC, from the Old Testament, Leviticus 19:18- "Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Hinduism: 3200 BC, From the Hitopadesa- "One should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated."

Zoroastrianism: 600 BC, From the Shast-na-shayast 13:29- "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others."

Confucianism: 557 BC, From the Analects 15:23- "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."

Christianity: 30 AD, From the King James Version , 7:12- "Whatsoever ye would that others should do to you, do ye even so to them. What this means is this......

Give your time, talent, and treasure. Give yourself. Find time to help others. Help others with your talent. Help others with your money. Volunteer. do some work for people that you can do, but they cannot; your talent. I cook or work hard on a project without complaint. Sam does plumbing. We find something we want to do to help others, not inflate our ego. The return on the this kind of work is fulfilling though to the soul.

Tithing is not always about money, it's about where your heart leads you to give, in any capacity you can. It's really very simple, you get what you give. So give away freely WITHOUT the expectation it will came back, and will begin to flow goodness your way.

If you do not give, the opposite happens. The Universe takes it's 10% from you. Car trouble, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc....you will be fixing, repairing, and dodging the metaphysical ball of bad luck if you do not give.

So remember the Golden Rule and it will all end well.

Try it for 1 year. See what happens!

Peace.