Got to Give...

The other night, while I was out and about in Portland, I stumbled into the Free for All on Congress Street. It was my first time in the shop. My sister was quite shocked that I haven't been in before, since they had local artist and a mix of new and used items. Personally, I'm not one for refurbish items, especially clothes since I can pick up the energy in them. I did enjoy my time there browsing away before our dinner over at Empire. I couldn't help but noticed a great vintage sign in there about giving to charity. I loved it. 

Last month, I took a workshop at a friend of mine class and the subject of tithing was discuss. Basically, it's much more than what you think. It goes beyond just giving to charity. In a nutshell it means give what you want to receive. Just think of it as play it forward so to speak. If you want more money, than give what you have and unwavering faith that you will receive what you gave and so much more back.

From the book Break Through Your Threshold-A manual for Faith-Based Manifestation and Co-Creating With God by Jai Maa there's an entire section devoted to tithing. I realized that I've been doing this for a long time actually. I just love how she words it.
"Why does God need my money? God doesn't need your money-you need to give. Tithing is a way to practice giving without attachment and accessing faith vibration, the very energy that attracts prosperity. Through lifting weights, your muscles grow. Through tithing, your faith grows. Can I tithe to a charity? A tithe is an acknowledgement of where you are being spiritually fed. If a charity has fed you spiritually, then yes. The idea here is to give to where you are being spiritually fed as a way to master your focus on God as your Source, expand your faith consciousness, master giving without attachment and feel the natural gratitude for the many blessings in your life. Give to where you are spiritually fed first and then give to the many other places you feel inspired to give, such as charities. Ancient mystics believed that if one tithed to a charity because they were afraid that the charity needed their money and feared that they did not have enough to give to both God and the charity, than that person would actually attract more lack in their own life. It is as if that person were saying to God, "I do not trust that You are not providing enough this time, so I am going be the Source for this charity." It is about the consciousness of how you are giving. If you experience lack when you give to a charity, the lack is coming from you."

Bottom line, there's so much beauty in tithing. I just love this simple yet profound practice. Beauty is there for sure!