I love my Sunday mornings, writing these weekly blog posts. With my French press coffee and (usually) listening to Radio Deluxe (check it out, you’ll love it) I most often have no idea what the post is going to be about.
Today I do.
Inspired by two Prosperity Now! students who consistently demonstrate courage and faith in the power of tithing – to achieve prosperity and the fullness of life – I responded to them with this inspired message….
As You Tithe So You Prosper is the title of an early Unity prosperity book by L.E. Meyer. Written in 1942 it was one of the first books I read in my early days of tithing.
While for me back then tithing a full 10% of my bi-weekly income (state worker) was a struggle in faith vs. fear, I knew in my heart there was something that felt right about the act of tithing and the feelings of generosity, abundance, courage and freedom it promised.
Picking up Meyer’s book I read, “He that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully. Let each one give according to his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)
My tithing took on a new energy after that book. I felt the fear less and the joy and expectation more. The excitement in giving was already its own reward! And positive loving abundance flowed into my life in many ways. I began to see my tithing as a prayer, as faith in action, as a denial of lack and an affirmation of abundance.
Below is a link to a talk I gave at Unity in 2019. I hope it inspires you as you have inspired me with your courage and faith in generously tithing to Prosperity Now!
Please reach out to me anytime to talk. It would be a gift to me to hear your experiences and discoveries. And of course, I am ready to help if needed.
Live Life, Love and Blessings
John
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Meyer’s book doesn’t seem to be available in the Unity.org bookstore but it is available on otheronline platforms, like (of course) Amazon. I highly recommend picking up a copy and making it a part of your Prosperity Now! library.
Meyer writes his homage to tithing and its power to change lives just as World War II was raging and the effects of the Great Depression were still being felt. In response, he gave the world these “Four Lessons”
· What Is the Tithe?
· How to Use the Tithe
· Tithing to Increase Prosperity
· Questions About Tithing
In Lesson Three he is addressing a people who intimately knew fear, want and uncertainty. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, food insecurity, job insecurity, and the darkening cloud of fascism in Europe (with some strong support from many in the United States) occupied everyone’s consciousness.
On top of that, the effects of The Great War still echoed in the minds of most people (WW I had only ended 25 years earlier) and now new violence was just starting, with no end in sight…
These are circumstances that we can barely conceive of today. Indeed, one would have to try hard to imagine the feelings churning inside the people as they picked up this slim, hopeful volume.
In Lesson Three, Meyer writes:
THE STORY of tithing both ancient and modern declares it to be the best investment we can make. It does more good than the most generous giving that is done only on the impulse of the moment. (emphasis added)
That is a shocking statement even today. He is saying that this act of tithing is a better investment than anything we can do with our money. When the wolf is at the door, fear says, “Pay him!” While God says, “Trust me.”
He goes on to write:
Receiving through giving is the peculiar paradox of tithing…. Constant giving keeps the mind open and free and receptive to new inspiration…. Withholding money…tends to bind and limit… compared to the attempt to hold the breath drawn into the lungs. We must exhale to receive more. The breath soon becomes a poison instead of a blessing. (Emphasis added)
Decades before A Course in Miracles Meyer is re-stating a Universal Truth that dates back to the dawn of Consciousness: Giving and Receiving are One in Truth (ACIM Workbook Lesson 108). It is the essence of the axiom, “It is better to give than to receive,” with a twist because there is no difference between the two actions!!
The Workbook lesson tells us:
Vision depends upon today’s idea. ²The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites. ³And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? ⁴Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. ⁵And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.
2. True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. ²It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. ³And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.
3. This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal. ²This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves.
So to sum up, the reason “as I tithe, so I will prosper” is a really simple idea: tithing opens my mind to the Oneness that is our True Reality, it is God in Action. After all, I’m only giving to myself; I am only receiving what I gave.
And putting God in the transaction, there always has to be increase, for expansion is the very nature of the Universe, always more Love growing in us, in between us and as us.
If! we tithe with cheerfulness and hopefulness, giving to the sources of our spiritual nourishment is a blessing and a joy.
Bon Dimanche (Good Sunday)
John
As You Tithe, So Shall You Prosper | Unity of Albany The practice of tithing is a way to short circuit our fears and open to the flow of Good in our lives.
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