"The Generous Spirit"
Rev. Susan Maginn
Wy'east UU Congregation
April 19, 2009
A story on NPR asking about the link
between generosity and happiness called, "Can money buy happiness?"
"Researchers and bar-goers alike have long debated this slippery question.
The verdict is far from clear. Studies show that money does make people
happier, but only up to a point. Beyond a certain level, additional income
yields hardly any additional happiness. The United States, for instance, is four
times wealthier than it was in 1950 yet Americans report being no happier than
they were half a century ago.
A new study, published in the journal Science, suggests that what
matters most is not how much money we have but, rather, what we do with it.
Spending money on others, it shows,
can boost our own happiness.
The researchers first asked a group of college students how happy they were.
They then gave the participants money - either $5 or $20. Half were told to spend the money on themselves. The others were told to spend it on others, such as giving a gift to a friend or making a charitable donation. That evening,
the researchers again asked the students to gauge their happiness.
It turns out that the participants who spent money on others reported a much greater happiness boost than the ones who spent money on themselves. And, surprisingly, the amount of money the students were given didn't seem to
matter at all. It was how they choose
to spend it that determined their happiness levels.
"This suggests that even making really small changes in how one spends money can make a difference for happiness," says Elizabeth Dunn, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada and one
of the authors of the study.
In another study, the same researchers tracked the happiness levels of 16 employees who received a profit-sharing bonus. Again, the findings were the same: those who spent their bonus on others reported the greatest happiness
boost.
"Just the fact that helping
others makes us feel good - and I think that says something positive
about human nature," says Dunn.
That may be, but another study suggests we're not very good at assessing human nature. Dunn and her colleagues asked a group of college students what they thought would make them happier: spending money on themselves or
on others. The vast majority of respondents
said: spending money on themselves. Apparently, there is large
chasm between what we think will make us happy and what actually does."
A couple months ago there was all kinds
of talk about Rick Warren. Not having known much about him myself, I
looked him up and found a lecture that he gave on stewardship. It was
pretty impressive to hear him talk about the biblical notion of tithing,
where you are taught to give 10% of your earnings to the poor and live
on the 90% that is left. He said that since the publication of his bestselling
book The Purpose Driven Life, he has become wealthy and so now
he and his wife have decided to do reverse tithing. They give away 90%
of what they earn and live on 10%.
I remember he told the story of God giving
Moses a pep talk, essentially saying that Moses is 'the man', that
he has everything he needs to lead the people. God asks Moses: What
is in your hand?
What is in your hand?
And what was in Moses' hand was a staff.
The staff is the wooden rod used by a shepherd. The staff could be many
things. It could be a sign of identity, a title saying who we are and
what we do. It could be a weapon for warding off enemies, it could be
a means for getting what we want through intimidation. The staff could
also be a way to lead others, to point in the direction we are going.
What is in your hand?
The version of this question that I have
come to love is: Where is the place where your deep gladness and the
world's deep need meet? (Fredrick Buechner)
Most days we are pretty passive - unless
we are forced into the present moment by a broken down car or a sick
kid. Most days we don't trouble the waters with wondering about our
deep gladness or the world's great needs.
There is a man in his fifties whose daily
life is formed by his deep gladness. He is an actor in LA and throughout
his adult years, he has always worked in film and theater. He has made
ends meet with catering in case the flow of casting was not in his favor
from month to month. In recent years, he has been writing a musical.
There have been fits and starts of hope and possibility of getting the
musical professionally produced. It is actually starting to look really
promising. But what is so inspiring about him is that success for him
is about continuing to be unconditionally committed to what he loves,
even though he doesn't get paid to do what he loves full-time.
Art is the joy and beauty in his life. It is who he is. To do anything
else would be selling out on his very soul. As a result of living this
way, he is an attentive and loving friend to many people.
There is a woman who is becoming formed
by the world's deep need. She has never been inside a homeless shelter.
She recently signed up to volunteer at a shelter for an evening and
on the day that she is to go, she is nervous. She even considers backing
out. She doesn't know what the people will be like or what will be
asked of her. As the evening goes on, she is surprised at how comfortable
she is talking to the guests of the shelter and she is moved to tears
in a couple of moments when she sees the struggles and courage of the
people there. She tells the staff person that she hopes to become a
regular volunteer.
This week we are starting our budget
drive for next fall and these questions of giving and calling are worthy
of reflection for our individual lives, but especially for who we are
as a congregation.
The standard approach to fundraising
is for most of the congregation to be pretty passive. Church leaders
go around and ask for money and hope for the best. Church leaders are
the active element; congregants are the passive element. The stewardship
process becomes a sharing of tactics about how to best do this - the
questions asked tend to be: do we have a dinner, pledge cards, thank
you notes, testimonials. This is all fundraising tactics. But stewardship
questions are really something else.
For an individual, or a family, stewardship
doesn't happen in one conversation or one pledge form. It is a matter
of deep spiritual maturity to decide to give away a percentage of one's
income. Consider all the questions you have to ask to make that choice:
How afraid of the future am I?
How important is the spirit in my life?
What do I really think is important?
What are the actual goals in my life?
Why do I work?
What is in my hand?
Where is the meeting place of my deep gladness and the world's deep need?
Before all the fundraising tactics, we
really need to be asking ourselves: Am I spiritually ready to commit
myself to a plan of disciplined giving? Am I ready to give a percentage
of my income to this church? Not just for this year, but for as long
as you remain in relationship with us.
For many of us, this question is not
just for ourselves, but we have to share a vision of this with our partners
and family members. Not everyone values money in the same way and so
such questions can really stir things up in our family relationships.
There are three types of people in any
congregation. First, there are those that are ready and willing to commit
to disciplined giving by giving a percentage of income. Second, there
are those who cannot give a percentage now, but see the merits of it
and are committed toward getting there in the coming years. And third,
there are those who are not interested.
Group One is our stewardship hero/heroines.
These are the people who keep congregations alive. They are often not
the biggest pledgers but they are the ones who give a percentage of
income in a disciplined and consistent way.
Group Two is where the church is growing.
These are the people who need to be honored and supported in their growing
commitment and faith.
Group Three will be invited to join Group
Two.
When we focus on the percentage we give and not on the dollar amount, then we are living by our democratic principles. We are honoring the merits of pledging on a sliding scale. Because let's face it: one person's pledge of $100 a month will be effortless, while for someone else it will have taken years to accomplish this level of generosity. When we celebrate the tithe or percentage giving, then we are honoring the most committed people; some of those will be rich, some poor and some in the middle. This is how we can be spiritual in how we as a congregation receive financial gifts.
After years of being in group two, I
am happy to say I am returning to group one. Our family's financial
life has really turned upside down with graduate school. On top of that,
a couple years ago we financed our move to Portland on a credit card
and we just couldn't justify giving away as much money when we were
so much in debt. But, I am thrilled to say that as of yesterday,
we completely paid off our credit card debt and now we feel ready to
give away money again. I hope the amount will keep rising each year,
but I am excited as a kid in the candy store that my family will be
pledging to Wy'east this year. We are finally on the road of generosity
again.
Stewardship IS spiritual development.
It takes great maturity to ask the big questions, to step out of our
passive comfort zone, to actively support the big picture of our congregation's
process and our individual place within it.
As individuals and as a congregation,
we wonder over the same question during every budget drive: 'Where
is the place where our deep gladness and the world's deep need meet?'
This is our sacred task: to wonder, to
remember, to step forward and gladly give it away.
So be it. Amen.
Our prayer today comes from George A.
Tyger
A Springtime Prayer
O' power of springtime,
Spirit of green grasses
and warm breezes;
Goddess of creativity
of birth
of life renewed
You sing all about us at this time.
The birds call your sacred name.
Buds burst forth with your vestment.
The sun reaches higher into the sky
shining the light of this new day
through the windows of your cathedral,
this world.
O power of springtime
forgive us our speediness
and our racing before your
eternal grace
that we do not see the myriad
miracle world we share.
Open our eyes with your warmth
and our hearts with your beauty
slow our minds with awe and wonder.
Dear Spirit of green grasses
and warm breezes;
let us find here
in these moment of quiet
the grace of your breath
as we breathe into our bodies
the spirit of spring.