Letter from Josef in Germany about Tithing

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Dear Andre,

I hope you are going well.

Today I have a practical question about tithing. Last week I get a book called: "As You Tithe So You Prosper" by L.E. Meyer. I put it to this email.

What does the school teaching about tithing? In the Path of Truth Page 276 I read something about giving. Means this tithing?

Thank you for your last answer about the school etc. Tell me, how you become a lecturer at the school? And what you believe before you enter in the Path? For me its seems so diffucult to let go all the old doctrins.

Thank you for all,

God blesses your work,

Josef

Dear Josef,

Thank you for the book about tithing.

As you will know, the word "Tithe" has its origins in the Church of long ago. (According to Wikipaedia: "Tithe, from the old English word, teogoþa ("tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a Christian religious organization". "

Tithing" can, of course, be used only in that narrow sense, of giving money to the Church so that the Church can do the work of God on your behalf. And it is good to give to the Church. But give as much to the Church as you like, it cannot relieve you of your personal responsibility to God. No-one can do God’s work for you, not the Church and nobody else. Only you can do that. So "tithe", in a more modern sense, means to give of yourself, and the resources at your disposal, including money if you have it, to serve God in every way that you can and that you are led to do.

Therefore, to serve God one need not give just money to the Church if Spirit within (through prayer and meditation) leads you to do that. It is important to know that to give love, support, understanding and empathy to your fellow man and to nature is also to serve God. In a modern sense that is also tithing. We all have something to give (like the wonderful story of the poor widow in the bible) and what we do have, we must share in a sensible and responsible manner and with due regard for the custodianship that God has given us over His substance of prosperity, health and happiness.

To give is to sow Spirit into the ether and into other lives as I, for example, try to do with these Internet pages. When the individual does this, he or she will find that a rich harvest follows: God’s Spirit will flow back to share and to spare, and to demonstrate God’s qualities of perfection, prosperity, health and happiness, in the life of the one who gives. But that is not why one should want to give. If the giver is doing it just for the rewards that he hopes will follow, the giving is an empty gesture, a sowing of seeds that will fall on rocky ground and not produce a harvest.

Giving (or tithing) must be truly selfless and with no longing for rewards. It must come from the heart, motivated entirely by a deep desire to serve the Father within. Only then is it truly "giving". If not, it is "buying" and God’s Spirit cannot be bought. Neither can God’s perfection, (which manifests as perfect health, prosperity, security and happiness) be bought by words, deeds or money.

(I can also tell you that the degree of any individual’s selfless desire to serve God through all His children in the world, (i.e. our fellow man and all of nature), is one measure of how advanced that person is on the Path of Truth – it is a litmus test that applies to all of us, no matter how rich, how poor, how weak and helpless or how powerful we are.)

With regard to your last question, I was fortunate to be introduced to the School of Truth by my mother, who was a member for most of her later life. Becoming a lecturer for the School is not a formal matter. One is lead to it, and the lecturers at the School recognise with rejoicing when one is ready to serve in this manner. We do not get paid for this work. It creates an opportunity to give a tithe of time, love and understanding in service of the Schools objective – which, in a single sentence, is to help raise the consciousness of its students through an increasing inner revelation of God’s Laws that govern his Spiritual Universe.

Yes, I know it is hard. Very few of the things that are truly worthwhile are easy, it seems. But one must persist because the jewel of great value, realizing the full extent of our Oneness with our Father, the Eternal Creator, is the most worthwhile thing that we can achieve in this life. But you need not let go of the old doctrines, and not fight against them, if they give you comfort.

Simply grow to understand them in the light that Spirit sheds in the course of time and be patient, loving and forgiving not only to others, but also to yourself. When the time comes that you find yourself ready, the doctrines will take on new meanings for you and fall into a beautiful and gentle perspective that will make looking back a happy experience.

Bless you

andre