On Tithing

I have been thinking about tithing. This is the practice of giving ten percent of earnings (before taxes mind you) to the church. My mother tithes. We grew up hearing about tithing. It supports the church and it's mission. I do not particularly go to church. Mother sings on Christmas Eve and I am convinced she does so because she loves it and is good at it but also it gets her family into church one day each year. So the concept of tithing seems to be to give. I am not so sure about the compulsory nature of the giving. It is a prescription by the one in control in order to gain. Remove the control aspect and it becomes a very good thing.
I have a job, I work hard (somedays), I am comfortable in my needs and the Maslow hierarchy is met in my life. I live within my means (most days). I looked at sites and blogs and books and paid down my debt (nearly). I researched online to find out how to do better and be better in my work a day life and implement techniques for improvement (occasionally). That being said I have put myself in a position where I feel I can finally be of some help to others.
My friend Steve goes to his church on Thursday mornings and serves breakfast. Time, two or three hours out of each week to give time. William answers the crisis hotline. Casey keeps his home open for gatherings of like minded individuals on a weekly basis. I go to South Dakota and cook. Time. Given freely with out any request without payback. Now yes, there is benefit. The things gained by giving of time come back to us. Some days much greater then ever given. And yes some days grudgingly the time is given, and that is okay. So time given to the other. In some way it is that time when I get out of myself. Time given to pursue the self is necessary. It is necessary to give that time away too.
Money. one of the three bigs ones that tear apart life. Necessary, yes. Evil, not necessarily. Again it seems to be the how of it all. Tithing 10%. If one takes home $2000 a month that would be $200 to give away. Difficult if the monthly bills alone leave only $20 in the bank account each month. So in order to be able to tithe it is necessary to become free of debt and free from the yolks. Perhaps that is why so many churches sponser Dave Ramsey courses. If the people who go to church are riddled with debt and living beyond the means then they are not able to tithe to the church. The giving of money not had is impossible. Easy to spend money we do not have, much harder to simply give it away. So it is necessary for the church to make sure it's people can tithe. That being said how do you tithe? I assume my mother still gives the church money each month. Some folks will buy Christmas gifts for a family. AE sends a ham at Thanksgiving and Christmas to hungry folks. I am choosing someone I know who has a need. I know there is a need that can never really be met. Too many things in life needed, too many mouths to feed, to many things to be fixed, to much of life and living on physical things, to much strain on the rest. The asking for help is necessary and painful. Difficult to do and to be in that situation. So very hard to escape from the traps. So I have chosen this person, this family or maybe somehow they choose me. Each month I am going to send them a check. It is not a lot but it is consistant. Every month for the next year I am going to help in a small way. It is something I can do. Something I choose to do and something I also hope they can accept. So I make the commitment to help if only in this very small way. There is the concept of doing something for someone else and do not tell anyone. Do something nice for someone and don't get caught. This tithing is different. Similar but different. Seperate really. Continue on with the not getting caught.
And so it goes.

Time

A entry on time. Being out of time with the rest of the world and a quest to come back into this space.
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