The Gestalt of Giving

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:7

In an interview with American commentator Charlie Rose, Brazil's richest man, Eike Batista, said "I'm a massive creator of wealth. I expect to be worth $100 billion." THEN he would have been the richest man on the planet, BUT due to misadventures, he has declared bankruptcy. The gestalt of life is keeping everything in perspective-- the sum is greater than the parts. Gestalt is seeing the forest, not the trees.  Like the man who built many barns, "God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'" (Luke 12:20)

This writer was a youngster during World War II. I was in the military during the Korean Conflict. I so remember my father, all my uncles, male cousins, and neighbors involved in WWII. One of my father's first cousins, cousin Will, a large land and farm owner, did not have a son to go to war. He had been blessed with daughters. The community will never forget his words: "If the war lasts a little longer, I will be able to wallpaper my barn with twenty dollar bills." The desire for wealth is not new. It is as old as mankind. Yet every time you pass a cemetery or funeral home, you realize just how uncertain life really is. You've put on your socks this morning, but the mortician may take them off tonight. THEN, after all your grabbing and getting, your immortal soul is all that remains.

This day we learn about the 113 African women and children who perished from thirst in the Sahara dessert, trying to escape the tyranny of that continent, and even if they had reached the North African coast, so many of these African Christians have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Think of the joy involved if those with great wealth had used a certain part of that wealth to bring a better personhood and way of life to those who have so little.

In America we got the idea, about 100 years ago, that it was up to the Christian church to alleviate suffering in the world. We made a beggar of God-- churches and televangelists begging and selling to bring in funds, while proclaiming that God loves a cheerful giver. So much of the funds given by committed Christians are going into extravagance (lifestyles of preachers, opulent building programs). The gestalt of the big program is the hypocrisy of the believers. 31% of people who call themselves Christians have not attended a church service in six months, not thinking of the 54 million children killed in abortions since 1973, the abomination of same-sex marriage, and the destruction of the family.

Surely most Christians should have seen, years ago, that government control of news media would lead to government control of thought. Parents, if no one else, should have learned that the endless time spent in training children, if nothing more than good manners, is completely lost at the government schoolhouse. It costs more to send a child to public school, than it costs, just a few years ago, when this writer was in college, to attend college. Parents who love their children, who want the best for their children, including a spiritual identity, are willing to pay the excessive taxation for schools, for which they receive nothing, and keep their own children at home to be home schooled. This is the ultimate in cheerful giving. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

For 6,000 years, since God placed man on this earth, we have seen men climb over one another to claim preeminence, mostly in power or wealth. Starting in the garden, everything was perfect. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, enjoyed the very presence of God in their lives. God has established His authority, His preeminence. Man was given the Spirit of Life, but chose the Spirit of Death-- all because he wanted it all. God specified to him that there were some things he could not have. He said, "Don't touch that tree." Man then, and today, wants it all. At the end of life, if he lives to be 75 years of age, he has lived for about 657,000 hours. The only important thing for a man to consider is if he has been chosen, called, and drawn by God.

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.

John 6:44

At the end, riches, letters after your name, power, and DNA make no difference. You cannot buy another second. Only what you have given can be taken with you. This is the true gestalt of giving-- something for which most people, even Christians, have lost sight.

When I was a boy, living on the farm, the farm-work animals were mules. The mules hooves had to be trimmed, otherwise the mule would not be able to walk. The mules did not like this procedure. A blacksmith usually cut the hooves on horses feet and put iron shoes on them. My father had a twitch, which he put on the mule's upper lip, attached to a wood handle. It was my job to hold the handle and twist the mule's lip, to control it while the feet were trimmed. In the supernatural plan of God, in which He put a tent of human flesh on His own son, sending Him to Earth to dwell among us, we were shown the right way of life. We know the Truth of forgiving, as well as giving. God often puts a twitch on us through sickness, hardship, or disability, to get our attention. The Christian life is not impossible, just tough. Jesus showed us the way, the Truth and the life. (John 14:7)