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November 10, 2021A couple of weeks ago, Fr. Murray was asking me about my tithing experiment. He was complimenting me (as I remember it, lol) and asked, “it has been a real sacrifice, hasn’t it?”
I had to admit, a little bit embarrassingly, that… no. It really has not felt like a sacrifice or a burden at all. I would like to be able to brag that I’ve really borne some impressive burden, and that my hard edges have been worn down to a smooth shine because of the heavy spiritual lifting I’ve been doing these past 90 days, but in all honesty, I haven’t felt it.
It turns out that 10% is really… not a lot. I haven’t missed out on any important moments, haven’t been denied any pleasures, haven’t had to do extra hard math on payday to make it work.
If I’m really being honest… the biggest pain point was choosing a person or organization to give to every week, and getting it done. And that wasn’t exactly painful. There were weeks when I thought, “oh shoot, I haven’t donated to anyone. I should find someplace to give.” That’s it. In some moments, the fact that I had money to give and hadn’t given it made that money feel like a burden, and I was anxious to get it out of my head and into the world.
If you remember, half my tithe was to MQOA parish, the very parish that pays me to do these crazy things. Putting 5% of my income on auto-give for the parish has been so easy that I’ve barely thought about it, since I pressed that “repeating gift” button 90 days back.
It’s embarrassing, in a way, just how easy this has been. It makes me regret that it took me so long to decide to do it. My life and my faith journey have definitely been enriched by this process, and I don’t intend to stop, now that the 90 days are officially up.
Thank you, reader, for taking this journey with me, whether you wanted to or not! I’ve heard so many great stories and learned so much from you dedicated givers out there; please keep them coming!
