Feeling good about giving money away.

A member of the stewardship committee for Dayton, Ohio's Annunciation Greek Orthodox church asked me to write about what stewardship (I dislike the word – a lot) means to me. I said "Sure." This is what I wrote:

We give freely to those we love.

And when we give to the church, we aren’t giving to a priest or to the building, but rather to the church family we care about — our loved ones.

Don’t we all take great pleasure in the thought of giving? We don’t give gifts with the expectation of getting something in return. No. Of course not. We do it because we feel joy when we make our family and friends happy.

Isn’t giving grand?

One of my favorite sayings is “Cast thy bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days …” That’s from the Book of Ecclesiastes. It has passed my lips many times over the years. I have found it true, and have seen that the universe, God, fortune, whatever, rewards genuine generosity as a matter of course.

For instance, in times of slow income or a depleted bank account, I give more away; to the church or to a charitable cause. And what invariably happens? More than I gave comes back! And usually quite quickly.

It’s as if the heavens recognize the difficulty of giving despite the real fear of not having enough, and they open up the spigots to return the favor.

Recall those times when you were asked for or volunteered to help. Was there a downside to saying yes? No. You gave freely, made someone else’s life easier or better, and you got to feel good about giving. It was a win-win every time, wasn’t it?

When we give to the church, we are giving to our friends and families. As I write a check or put in festival time, I think of Pete and Trina, Debbie and John, Helen, Tom, Dori, Angela, Nick, and Carrie, and of all the children that I can’t believe are growing up so fast. I give to the church because they love the church and I love all of them.

That’s a win-win. That’s stewardship.