Meaningful Returns

Yikes this one got hairy before I even got to the body of the blog.

Giving is not about philanthropy. Giving (and receiving!) is, in its essence, a way of drawing into communion the rich and the poor. Giving, then, should cost something, and it should cost something in an absolute sense. It should push you into places and relationships you wouldn’t end up in on your own, and it should cause you to reassess that which you truly desire.

In Judeo-Christian faiths the tithe (10%) has often been held up as the model. Jesus became a bit more problematic than he already was when he started throwing around the word “all” (100%). So there’s some number between 10% and 100% you could pick and perhaps be in the right, but what goes beyond that is allowing your giving to inform your entire life, rather than just your checkbook. Your giving–to alleviate hunger, let’s say–should then push you to ask to the powers that be, “Why is this gift necessary? Why must children hunger when nature is capable of feeding them?”

How much? Much.