Tithing
by Lorrie Kazan

This article appeared in the  KajamaTM Digest for the week of 6/21/2004  

I was so inspired by The Miracle of Tithing by Mark Victor Hansen (of Chicken Soup For the Soul and The One Minute Millionaire fame) that I began to tithe more consistently to see if what had worked throughout the ages, and in this case for his readers, would work for me. I knew it worked when I worked it, but could I do it fully and consistently?

I've stressed in my articles about the principle of tithing as stated in the Bible. That is that we give 1/10 (which is what tithing means) of our gross product to God, or some place or organization from which we are spiritually fed.

The spiritual "law" as I've heard, read and practiced it is:

First give to God, (tithing typically 1/10 of your income, but if you can't start with that, test the waters with a lower percentage).

Then give to yourself (enhance your life and career - in other words, fill your own cup).

Then give to others (from your overflow so that you can give "for fun and for free," with no strings attached). There are even Judaic admonitions that stress giving with a smile and never allowing the other person to have the sense of receiving charity.

Hansen uses his small tithing book to illustrate the wonderful synchronicities that have occurred in people's lives after they started tithing. One reader was audited by the IRS for apparently giving too much money, which had caused her to look suspect. "I still hesitated every time I wrote a tithe check," she said, and yet continued to do so. To her surprise, she subsequently found $10,000 added to her bank account.

The IRS auditor had spotted a special child tax benefit she had missed. "Although I was only entitled by law to eleven months retroactive payment, by some miracle of grace, someone somewhere had made the generous decision to credit me retroactively to the time my daughter was born."

The book is filled with such stories, as are most metaphysical prosperity books. In my life, when money stops flowing, I always look to make sure I'm tithing. Not being mathematically inclined and having a non-linear mind, my issue has been to remember and stay consistent. No doubt underneath all of that is fear. Can I let go fully and trust the Universe? If I hold onto more, will I have twice as much? Apparently not, according to spiritual law.

I noticed the title of another book, Money is God in Action. What that signified to me was being part of a divine flow - not mistaking substance, or buying into false gods - but understanding that all things are the divine in action.

Consequently, I began calculating 10% of my day's earnings and giving that money away to spiritual causes. I became so busy with clients that I was barely able to look up, and that is the place where my consistency has dropped out in the past and where I need to be most diligent. Imagine if we could increase our own abundance by being benefactors?

We are not all linear thinkers who make concrete plans and consistent commitments. However, the most documented psychic in history, Edgar Cayce, said that the only failure in life is when we stop trying. This means that each of us can start dreaming and enacting metaphysical laws from wherever we are today. Whether you're putting a toe in or your whole body, remember the wise words: Freely I give and freely I receive, because God (you can substitute the words Spirit or the divine if you prefer) is my source.