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Home Self Improvement Self Help The Magic Of Tithing
The Magic Of Tithing PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Anttony   
Story of Tithing
by DavidAnttony


Story of Tithing

The origins of tithing can be found in the Bible, yet many Christians and non-Christians alike, practice some form of tithing today.

Tithe is conventionally a Christian term that signifies the contribution of one tenth of one's earnings as donation to one's Church as a type of Church giving. However, every other religious system has similar practices within itself. In Islam the word used is 'Zakat'. In the Sikh religion of India the name for it is 'Dasvandh' which again signifies setting apart a tenth of one's earnings for pious acts. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru who started the practice. The sacred texts of Hinduism like the Bhagavadgita and the Upanisads state that 'true alms' is that which is given as a part of one's duty in the right place and at the right time to a worthy individual, from whom nothing is expected in return.

The origin of the word tithe can be traced to the Hebrew work 'asair' which also means to give one-tenth of a thing, generally an individual's income. Today, tithes, or tithing, is a cash payment and is voluntary in nature. Nevertheless, in certain European countries there is still the provision for enforcing tithing by allowing the church to make it mandatory.

Denmark is an example where members of the Church of Denmark pay a church tax, which varies between municipalities. The tax is generally around 1% of the taxable income. And in Finland members of state churches pay a church tax of between 1% and 2.25% of income and the Church taxes are integrated into the common national taxation system.

But still tithing as a confirmed tradition was established only after Exodus. Tithes were routine in the olden days through much of the Near East and also later in Carthage, Lydia, and Arabia.

The Hebrew habit of tithing is recorded in the Bible, the first mention being the gift from Abraham to the Canaanite priest and king Melchizedek (Genesis--:20). Ancient Arabia, Lydia and Carthage were places where the custom of tithes existed. Tithing was implemented by the early Christian church, and had found mention in councils at Macon in 585 and at Tours in 567. They were granted formal recognition during the time of Pope Adrian I in 787.

The practice of tithes in some Christian churches is contentious for the reason that it is putting into operation an Old Testament idea to a New Testament establishment (the Church). No proof is available in the New Testament that tithing can be applied to Christians. Actually, it was mandatory only for Jews living in the promised land to pay the tithe even according to the Old Testament, as it was in practice a form of income tax that was necessary to help not only the government of the then Israel, but also the shrines and the priestly class.

Present day Tithing

Despite it's origins in the Bible and ancient Christianity, today it is a special way to give every time you receive. Giving EVERY time you receive is such a powerful form of giving because it allows the giver to experience something incredibly powerful - more on that later.

But back to a bit of history. Malachi 3:10 is the part of the Bible that Christians relate to when they talk about tithing. Many Christians tithe to their church because they feel it is their given duty by the Bible to do so. Many Churches now and in the past insist that their members tithe to the church to sustain its activities. In essence though, unless giving is done from free will and a with joyful focus, it does not achieve its greatest result - if in fact you ever want to create a direct result by giving.

Conflicting Views about Tithing

Tithing has often been a disputed issue. The subject of should a Christian pay tithe is often brought up in many Christian get-togethers.

In a Wall Street Journal article about tithing titled 'The Backlash Against Tithing', Suzanne Sataline writes, 'As Churches push donations, congregants balk; 'that's not the way God works'.'

Regrettably, the different ideological perspectives, desire to dominate, and a narrow outlook, can lead to a Jekyll and Hyde scenario - the pure goodness of giving being lost in the fog and misinterpretation of religion. In spite of the disputes, tithing is still a fully and marvellously powerful act that any person can do to turn around their lives to face a fuller pathway.

For those who are interested in finding out more about a Christian perspective in tithing there are plenty of materials to go through. For those who are keen on knowing the reason WHY tithing is so compelling, what follows will be useful.

Why is Tithing so compelling?

This is indeed a very compelling question because if you just blindly carry on something without any idea of what it indicates, you could be proceeding in the wrong direction.

If more people who are in the habit of tithing knew exactly why it works when done with the feeling of total giving, then it is likely to make people eager to give even more. And for those who do it intermittently, it could encourage them to give first every time they are in receipt of something.

To see the actual 'why' of how proper gifting gives rise to more we have to learn something about Quantum Physics and Quantum Mechanics. The rules that govern these disciplines are unlike those in our physical or Newtonian world.

The film 'What the Bleep' explains the quantum world through examples that can be understood by the layman. The link below explains things about how matter turns into waves and acts like fluids when viewed through a quantum physics lens: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1349535/4653525.

The movie paints the picture of a startling world visible from a quantum space. When a line of electrons is fired through a plate with a cut in it onto a wall - predictably, it would hit the wall straight across the cut in a single line.

If you repeat the experiment but this time using an energy wave that behaves very much like a water wave would do you get a predictable result. As the wave hits the plate it bounces off the place but where the slit exists some of the wave goes through the slit. On the other side of the slit the wave opens out in an arc fashion forming a new wave just like the old experiments you would have done at science school with waves patterns. As the wave hits the wall it hits with the most intensity in the middle right opposite the slit then hits with less intensity all along the wall. This is similar to the line the electrons make.

If we added a second slit in the plate, again we would get a predictable result with the wave experiment - two small waves would appear through the slits and when those new waves touch each other they would cancel each other out creating an interference pattern. Several waves would now hit the wall making a stripped affect on the wall. All this is as expected for wave energy behavior, so nothing new here.

All that is interesting about the quantum experiments come in now. As there are two openings in the plate, it is expected that there would be two lines on the wall opposite if electrons are shot through. But as against the expectation, what one gets are an intervention pattern and a stripped effect. This is not the expected result. So the matter has been converted into a wave. It can be assumed that electrons were rebounding off each other and creating a wave effect; so if electrons are shot only one at a time, the result should be different. But the result does not vary. This may happen if the electron break into wave like particles, when it strikes against the plate, then goes through the openings and then mixes with itself after it emerges from the plate. This results when matter is reacting like a wave, or rather a solid is reacting like a liquid. The world has perhaps too many mysteries that we do not understand.

Though the overall properties of the world appear to be solid in nature, it does seem that it has enough of properties of a liquid as well - flux or liquid energy, which behaves like fluids in the physical world. The laws of physics clearly state that liquids that are alike in nature are attracted towards each others, while those which are unlike each other has a tendency to segregate and form its own group. The ineffective combining of water and oil is an example of this. Chromatography shows clearly the dispersion in clear bands of one substance into the many substances of which it is made of, just like larger collections of human beings split into smaller groups of people sharing common passions, strengths and interests.

The essence of it is that we feel total fulfilment when we give a thing to another. The act of giving, the sense of bliss of it, is the greatest of all gifts. It is wrongly understood that he who is in receipt of the object is the only receiver and people fail to notice that it is the one who gives who is the real recipient. If you're not still convinced, then look at yourself among children and see how fulfilled you become when you give to them whatever their reaction be.

When we recognize that it is to we ourselves that we are giving when we make the gesture of giving and we do it for the gratification we feel, we have the clue. This clue opens the door of comprehension of giving. And when we give repetitively the force builds up with a snowballing effect enlarging more and more the more we pour to it with our continuous gifting.

The truth that we feel happy when we gift things alters our power equation fully - we feel good and in that moment we are lovelier to others. Have you ever known a vendor on the street peddling things that we do not want like tissues, which you usually do not buy, but one day you buy and the motive for doing it is just to see that vendor happy and relieved? A similar situation could be seen in relations to buskers playing music at a street corner.

Someone who is joyful exudes a natural attraction that draws others in and in doing so draws in better life experiences. It is simple. They attract to them those who are either wanting to experience that feeling or those who already experience it.

So just like water and oil, givers and non-givers gather in separate areas. And the best place to receive something is in a place where givers hang out! But of course you can only stay in the giving group while you give! Givers love to give to those who give.

We may be able to look at quantum physics for resolving things, but these are very much in front of us all the time. Alike attracts alike - right. See what is going on all over the world. Lions like to be with lions, students like to be with students, women prefer the company of women, guys like other guys, 'poor' people prefer to be with 'poor' people and 'rich' people like to form groups with 'rich' people. And yes - givers like to make friends with givers.

So if you every give from guilt then it will have the reverse effect for you - you will attract others feeling guilty and guilt-feeling people are not usually that joyful and happy. Guilt is a short step away from anger emotionally; so people giving from guilt often make the jump in that direction. Where as joy is almost at the top of the ladder of human emotions - and the jump from there is just to love - which we are all looking for.

When a person starts giving he is just a couple of steps away from love - rather surprising to realize that isn't it. Particularly because most people are frantically searching for love. Now we know the answer is straightforward -start giving! And giving money is not the beginning and end of it, it is only a small part of giving - it will generate a niche of joy for us, however small what is given.

There is also an emotional aspect to giving consistently. This aspect might not in the beginning appear to have connections to the sensation of joy - in the end it completely bonds us to the absolute bliss of joy.

When we gift a thing - especially a thing which is definitely not in surplus in our lives, we are sending a strong message to ourselves that life is reliable. When we have accomplished the act of giving and afterwards see that act in retrospect we understand that we can form a perfect relationship with that reliability. The opposite of reliability is fright. A group of frightened people are unlikely to be happy and delighted and so will not be able to attract any one. On the contrary, a group of reliable people would be contented and so would be quite appealing to those who are seeking such enriching experiences. At the end of the day, when reliability gets transformed into delight and again we find ourselves very close to that which we yearn most - love.

So the essence that has been forgotten over the ages is right here today for anyone to connect with simply and easily. My son received a lot of money for Christmas and I asked him what he was going to do with it. He said he was going to save most of it. I asked him how much he was going to give. He had not considered that an option until I shared it with him. What would happen if the first thing we did when we received was to give some away - do you think we would experience more joy

Transaction based giving - or transaction based philanthropy

This takes us to the force of transactional giving. Many enterprises give when they have enough of money to give. When they do not have much they do not prefer to give. So their possible levels of joy fluctuate depending upon market variations - they do not have any restraint. But whoever gives EVERY time they get something is in charge and has their relationship with perfect joy forever.

Transactional giving rather than total giving is based on the highs and lows of business and so is a self-evident way of giving. The method is that when you get something you also give something - straightforward. If your business is bad you might give but according to the income. And when business is marking a rising graph, giving can also improve.

One of the major secrets of transaction based enterprise is that you can partake in the joy of giving so perfectly with all concerned - clients/society - staff - and enterprise. In this scenario customers understand that when they buy something they are also giving though it does not cost them anything other than choosing and shopping with you they feel power of the giving - that is why the traditional CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility, gets transformed into Customer Social Responsibility, with the customer responding perfectly to giving just by appreciating you and have that extra cause, though an elusive one, for preferring to do the shopping with you.

Members of the staff also get a chance to participate in the pleasure because every time they are part of making a sale, they know full well that they had their role in giving something to someone who needed that help. The event generates a strong sense of camaraderie within the team that promotes team spirit and motivates the team members.

Any commercial transaction, including profitless ventures, can do Buy1GIVE1 transaction-based giving - there are absolutely no prohibition to entering and the business decides most of it. The charity amount per operation starts from just a single cent and rises up to any amount of dollars with each venture choosing his or her own level of donating and giving to help and support completely based upon their business type and productivity. There is absolutely no reason to refuse to donate in this manner when the advantages of giving are so endless. Commercial ventures that are presently giving to a purpose can change very fast and without difficulty to Buy1GIVE1 transaction-based giving while continuing to support the same issue delivering more visible results to their enterprise.

At the end of the day transaction-based giving is a modern form of tithing that is easy and effective for anyone, anywhere. Now that we know it is not about the amount that we give such as one-tenth, but simply about the fact we are giving that makes the difference. When we enter the club of givers we move into a special and privileged world that only those who give are privy to. And unless you get giving today, you just simply don't 'get' giving and never will till you start. So start now.

'We're not here to gift in order 'to take.' We want more to be able to give more.

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