THE SEASON OF GIVING

Somewhere in my library I have a copy of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. It was a wildly popular book among my generation, the one that grew up theologically and sociologically in the 1960s. Gibran was a Lebanese poet and writer who died at a relatively young age of 48 but is still the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu. Back in the day, his poetic piece on marriage was a staple at many a wedding at which I officiated, much to the chagrin of the older clergy with whom I served.

That said, something that Gibran once said resonates with me at this time of the year when almost all churches, ours included, are in the midst of their annual stewardship campaigns (read: getting pledges to fund next year’s hoped-for budget). I quote: “All that you have shall some day be given. Therefore, give now that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors.”

As we are often reminded, we can’t take it with us, the “it” being anything and everything. When we die, we leave everything materially and monetarily behind. We leave it to our heirs, whoever they may be. We take nothing with us as we are resurrected to a new and eternal life. We know that, of course, and we really do not need to be reminded of that truth.

We also do not want to be reminded of that truth because such reminders often come as guilt trips, or certainly seem like they are. Well, in truth, they are. We all have more than we need but never have more than we want. Our wants are insatiable even as we convince ourselves that they are not. It is the nature of the beast to always want more, to never believe enough is more than enough.

That truth is compounded by the culture in which we live. We are daily bombarded with advertisements that tell us that we need whatever is being offered for our purchase and consumption. We do not always succumb to such blandishments, but we do so often enough, especially when it comes time for yard sales or downsizing and we realize that we truly have more than enough.

Gibran’s admonition is timeless. It is add-on to what Scripture tells us about giving, that it is indeed more blessed to give than to receive. There is an indescribable joy and blessing in sharing our abundance with those people and institutions and charities that actually have needs that can only be met when those of us who are abundantly blessed personally share in giving from that abundance.

In this time of church stewardship campaigns and season of national Thanksgiving it would be well for us to pause and remind ourselves about just how blessed we are to live in this wonderful country and to be members of this loving congregation. In this season of giving thanks, one of the ways you and I can give thanks is to share some of our financial blessings with our church. Not only should we not leave it to our inheritors to do so in the future, we should not leave it to others among us in our church family to do so in the present.