Spiritual Practice
From SolSeed
Spiritual Practice is very similar to any other kind of practice. Practice is about repeating some action or actions in order to have that repetition shape who you are and make new things possible in your life. Even walking, an activity that we take for granted, is something we learn through practice.
The Practice of Presence
Being "present" is simply paying attention to what "is" in a particular moment. An example activity is eating a single raisin as slowly as possible and noticing everything you can about that raisin. Normally, most of the experience of eating a raisin rushes past our senses without our even noticing.
This is about how our we filter all experiences through our expectations of what those experiences will be. Many aspects of an experience
The Practice of Tithing
Tithing is simply budgeting, nothing more, nothing less. Budgeting is a form of discipline. It lets you get more of what you want. Financial planners suggest that you put money aside for emergencies and for large planned expenses like remodeling your basement, buying a new car, paying for college for your kids, and even retiring.
You may or may not of heard about what happens at many institutions at the end of a budget cycle. There is a flurry of spending at the end of the budget cycle to use up any money in the budget that hasn't yet been spent. Part of that has to do with people wanting to be sure they get the same budget in the future. Another practical effect of that is that as soon as you put that money in the budget it is already effectively spent and won't be missed once it is actually spent. Tithing is the same way. If it gets spent on something it is not missed because it has already been mentally spent. Tithing has the same effect. If I put money that is pointed at a particular cause and it starts to accumulate it is already mentally gone. It is not in my checking account ... it is not money that can spend on Lattes or new computers. It is already gone.
The place where we notice lack is usually in the having. People often want things that they don't have. If you track this lack back upstream one of the causes is often who you are being.
Consider the research of James March, a professor of political science at Stanford University. March contends that people use one of two basic models for decision making. The first consequences model involves a mental comparison of alternatives in order to maximize the benefit to cost ratio. The second identity model uses the answers to three questions to make a decision:
- Who am I?
- What kind of situation is this?
- What would someone like me do in this situation?
Tithing comes from the identity model of decision making based on a conscious decision of who you are. It isn't an analytical decision. Are you the kind of person that dedicates a portion of your resources to causes you believe in, or are you the kind of person who spends all their resources on themselves? Are you the kind of person who is generous within your means, or simply looking for the bare minimum contribution needed to "feel ok"?
Tithing also springs from an AbundanceMentality. If you feel like you never have enough resources for yourself, it is difficult to justify committing a portion of all future resources to a cause you believe in. If you feel that your needs have always been and will always be amply met, then it feels natural to commit a portion of all future resources to things you believe in. The feeling of abundance vs. the feeling of scarcity has no correlation with actual material resources.
Having an AbundanceMentality creates many more choices in life than does a scarcity mentality. Engaging in the Spiritual Practice of tithing is one way to practice having an AbundanceMentality even if it is not something that currently comes naturally to you. Basically ... fake it til you make it. Practice having an AbundanceMentality by tithing until you actually are someone with an abundance mentality where tithing is natural.
