“Generosity”

         I have been thinking about being generous lately because I’m preaching this week and the lectionary includes a reading from Matthew about giving a cup of cold water to the little ones. I had another sermon all lined up, one about freedom, since this is the Sunday before July 4 and I thought it would work just fine. And then, I read the lectionary readings again and I was convicted. About being generous. About generosity as a spiritual discipline, an act of faith.

         I used to be very generous, or so I thought. I was generous with my time, generous with my money, generous with grace. “Please, you go ahead in front of me, I can wait.”

         Not so much anymore. I often feel rushed or pinched or even angry when someone pushes ahead of me in line or on the freeway. And I don’t even carry cash anymore so I try to avoid the eyes of anyone needing money. I hardly notice when a little one might need water. I got places to go, things to do, after all.

         And well, this week I am convicted about my level of generosity.

         I once served a hospice patient who had a brain tumor. One of the consequences of this tumor was that he would have episodes of spiritual ecstasy. He would be led to talk to whoever was around with great authority and spiritual maturity. People stopped in his room regularly at the facility to hear his messages.

         His wife told me he had one important message for her, something he repeated often in his final months. “We should have given more away,” he would tell her. I knew some of their story and I knew that they were already quite generous. They created a foundation to give scholarships to students unable to pay for higher education. They had always tithed, served faithfully in their local church, and frequently gave money to charity. But in his moments of spiritual clarity, he understood that they hadn’t given away enough.

         In The Book of Joy, spiritual giants Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama note that generosity is a pillar of joy. You cannot grow or deepen joy in your life without being generous. In fact, according to a neuroscientist quoted in the book, generosity is actually a circuit in our brains to maintain well-being. We are hardwired to be generous.

         But sometimes we just aren’t.

         I am moving through this week trying to be more generous. I'm trying to put aside all the other things that occupy my spirit and pay attention to the little ones, the big ones, the old ones, the silent ones and even the loud ones, and share some cold water drawn from the well of generosity. I'm not sure all that means for now; but today I'm buying all the red Solo cups I can find and I'm filling them up and passing them out. Maybe in giving water to others I will find my own thirst quenched.



You are the light of the world.

Yours,

Lynne