Law of Generosity
Every month or so, I am writing a special thank-you email to everyone who contributed the previous month and more. Usually, those thank-you letters include excerpts of some spiritual teaching about Abundance and Prosperity or some general reflections on such topics. After sending the last thank-you letter to our financially-contributing congregants, I was asked to publish the letter in our news blog for everyone to read. Enjoy!
Rev. Jean-Marie Schweizer
Senior Minister Unity Fort Worth
Dear Friend,
It's been a while since I had the opportunity to thank all of you who continue to support Unity Fort Worth financially. It is so encouraging to see that, despite the challenges many of us still endure, we have a strong foundation upon which we can build and move through this pandemic. Fortunately, we are also blessed to be able to offer our services in person and online for everyone to choose according to their preference and comfort level.
Town Hall Review
As you learned during our last town hall meeting, our contributions have been significantly down over the summer months, which is, unfortunately, a common experience for churches because many still only contribute when they are present. Our statistics show that, even with the best intentions to catch up, a significant percentage of contributions are missed. As such, this type of giving is no longer sustainable for any organization mid to long term, which is why we highly encourage signing up for recurrent giving at a frequency and level of comfort of the giver's choosing (unityfortworth.org/donate). The sign-up process is simple and only takes a minute, and it makes a difference for the financial health of our community.
Principles of Tithing
I am bringing this up because even though the above sounds raw and technical, there is a deep connection to the principles of tithing behind these opportunities to use modern technology to support our spiritual growth. I mentioned before that tithing is an exercise in learning to express the full potential of Faith in our lives, well beyond the confines of monetary values. Tithing challenges us on all levels of Being because it addresses those areas in life by which we are most challenged: our financial security, our waning availability of precious time, and our relationship with our deeply-rooted talents that many of us still learn to express freely.
Anne Frank once said, "No one has ever become poor by giving." Adding to this inspiration, Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, wrote about tithing that it "leads to confidence and assurance that whatever is done will bring increase of some kind." Together, Frank and Fillmore suggested that giving is somehow connected with receiving more than we have given, which is, ultimately, the reality of living in complete Abundance. However, what is often misunderstood is that we cannot and should not be in expectation of any specific limitation of Abundance presenting itself in our lives. Instead, we should remain open to any form of increase regardless of what type of giving we have embraced. That is, when we give money, it does not necessarily come back in the same form, which encourages us to be present of how we receive any blessing in our lives. The same goes for our giving of time in service. We might not necessarily be the recipient of more time but could instead receive many gifts in other forms. And, finally, as we learn to share our talent, we may be surprised by the many ways our giving has already been rewarded all along.
Law of Generosity Vs. Giving to Receive
One of my favorite ways to approach tithing and the Law of Generosity is to flip our usual way of thinking about giving and receiving around. Rather than seeing our giving as the initiator of our future receiving, I like to imagine the many ways I have already received, which inspires my heart and mind to become even more generous and inspire my giving even further. Whenever it is time for our tithe to be automatically transferred to Unity Fort Worth, Elaine and I take a moment and appreciate all the gifts we have received in our lives, not as a result of our giving but the simple reality we are truly abound to an infinite amount of blessings waiting to be recognized and appreciated.
A Vision for UFW
Let me leave you with my vision for our Unity Fort Worth community: I would like to see us no longer needing to rely on the Sunday collection during service but instead trust that our community prospers itself. Imagine for a moment how powerful such confidence must come across to new guests and visitors who will never be asked to give but instead are inspired to do so because the culture of our community demonstrates the true spirit of tithing without sounding their own trumpets (Matthew 6:1–4). How powerful is such an image of our prosperous future?
The Dalai Lama probably summed up the spirit of giving most adequately: "The most compassionate form of giving is done with no thought or expectation of reward, and grounded in genuine concern for others." What an image to build upon, that our concerns for others are the true inspiration of our giving, which represents the reward we have already received. And so it is. Amen.
Blessings,
Rev. Jean-Marie Schweizer
Senior Minister Unity Fort Worth