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    jackieholness

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    To Tithe or Not To Tithe…That Should Not be the Question!

    Hello World!!!

    The weather in the A is crazy, huh? It’s either tropical and raining or frigid and dry…Today is one of the colder days…somewhere in the 20s…that just ain’t right….

    Anyway, let me get on task. So have you made your resolutions yet? As I said in my last post, it takes me the whole month of January to come up with suitable resolutions or more appropriately, goals. Some of my goals for the year will be concentrated on my finances. It’s an area I would rather not think about actually. This comes from my uneasiness about numbers in general. I think it’s just how I’m wired. I don’t know many journalists who are good with numbers. But alas, I’m 35 on the way to 36, and I still haven’t snagged a baller…so I guess I need to get my Plan B in gear.

    But I must say I’m proud of the fact that I have been tithing since I got my first job in the eighth grade. There have been times due to irresponsibility and fear that I have missed tithing a paycheck from time to time, but for the most part, I’m a faithful tither. To tithe is to give ten percent of your income to the church. (One cannot assume that everyone knows what tithing means!) My father drilled it in me that if you give to the Lord what is due Him, He, in turn, will make sure that what is left is more than enough to provide for your needs. There is even a verse that describes this principle.

    Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

    Malachi 3:10

    My father actually preached on this verse last Sunday. And this verse has been proven true in my life over and over again. A few years ago, I was going through a dark phase in my life. I was in between career jobs if you know what I mean. I was working at a department store in the mean time trying to make ends meet, but inevitably, someone would move the ends, ha, ha!  My roommate had moved out  leaving me with half of the money I needed to pay for my mortgage.  My car had broken down, and I didn’t have the money to fix it.  And right after I got the job at the department store, the department store shut down. I was so depressed I swear I didn’t open any bills for a few months. But during that time, nothing was turned off, and nobody came to get anything. I would like to think that my years of tithing had something to do with how the Lord took care of me.  And when I finally had the courage to open my bills again, the Lord granted me favor with the bill collectors.

    My absolute favorite author Catherine Marshall wrote about her experience with tithing in her book Something More. (How a white woman who could have been a contemporary of my grandmother became my absolute favorite author is a mystery to me, but I just adore her work. FYI – Her work is archived at Agnes Scott College in Decatur. I once spent my birthday reviewing her work at the Agnes Scott College library. Yes, I am quite obsessed…) Anyway, Catherine Marshall’s husband Peter Marshall suddenly died leaving Catherine, who was a housewife, and their young son to fend for themselves.  In fact, they had to live off of $171 a month, according to the book. But Catherine decided to even tithe that. And the Lord took care of her. He told her that she was to “pick up [her] pen and edit and write.” Catherine became a best-selling author and has influenced generations with her work. The fact that a black woman with curly red dreads and who knows how to slow wine reads her work is a testament to that.  (It’s sooo cold outside that I’m dreaming of being in Jamaica as I sit at my desk.)

    So what’s up? Do you tithe? Has God proven to you that He will take care of you if you put Him first? Let me know…

    Any thoughts?

    P.S. Since Jamaica is on my mind, I have posted a video of one of my favorite Bob Marley songs. It reminds me of watching my dad wash his car on hot Saturday mornings…

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    Synchronicity Speaks…

    Hello World!!!

    Somes friends and I have decided that this year we are going to hold each other accountable for our resolutions, dreams, goals, etc. for 2009. I have yet to decide upon mine for this year. It usually takes me the whole month of January to come up with a reasonable list. I know many people think that coming up with yearly resolutions is pointless, but I think if you consult God and ask for His guidance, you stand half a chance of actually achieving them. God’s word states that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Philipians 4:13

    So how do you know that God is guiding you to a specific resolution, goal, dream, etc.? An anonymous commenter on my last post “,Doubt,” said that one way that he or she knows that God is real is through coincidence. I think I know what this commenter means. Sometimes a string of mysterious events happen that seem to magically point to a certain result. I call this synchronicity aka magic! I first learned about synchronicity in an “The Artist’s Way” class I took one summer. It a class designed to “discover and recover your creative self.”  Taking that class was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in life! I cannot begin to tell you all that I learned.

    But I will share one life-altering realization I had as a result of taking that class. I realized that I wanted to pursue a freelance writing/book writing business. I named this endeavor Selah Communications. Selah means to pause. Since I lost my job earlier that year, I had a lot of time to pause. I also decided that my business would be based on the Psalm 4: 4-5. “When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.”  That year, I spent many hours lying on my bed pondering my future. (So dramatic, I swear.) I determined that I would try to live a righteous life and trust the Lord was leading me in spite of my circumstances.

    So I am getting to the point. I am…for real. That New Year’s Eve, the pastor actually preached on the same verses that I decided would be my guiding force for Selah Communications. Out of all of the verses in the Bible, the pastor chose the same two that I chose earlier that summer. Synchronicity at its best! And since then, I’ve been able to pursue freelance writing/book writing. (Aside: I do wonder when or if my book, “After the Altar Call,” will be published, but I’m still yet holding on and trusting in the Lord.  🙂 )

    The following quote perfectly sums up the synchronicity principle:

    Evoking the Soul

    Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

    All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no person would have believed would have come their way. Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it.  Action has magic, grace and power in it.

                                                                                        Goethe

    Great quote, huh? I first read it in the “The Artist’s Way” book by Julia Cameron.  I have a sign with this quote on it in my office. I think synchronicity is one of the ways that God’s leads us to the right dream, resolution, goal, person, etc.  I have described one example in this post, but I’ve experience synchronicity countless times in my life. If if my book is published, you can read about more of my synchronistic experiences…

    Have you experienced synchronicity in your life? One of the reasons that I love blogging is because it gives people a forum to share their experiences. So please tell me about your personal magic… (Also, here is a great article about synchronicity that explains it even better than I have, I think.)

    Any thoughts?

    P.S. You must  know that is was synchronistic that President-Elect Barack Obama offically accepted the Democratic party nomination on the same day that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 45 years earlier. Don’t tell me that God isn’t real, as father likes to say…

     

     

     

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    Doubt…

    Hello World,

    Did you eat your collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day? I didn’t.  As far as I know, this is an American custom. I don’t think Jamaicans have a similar New Year’s Day custom – at least it wasn’t that way in my Jamaican household.

    So rather than eating collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, I was at the movies. It’s been a long while since I’ve gone to the movies…I love movies, but I haven’t heard of very many movies lately that I’ve wanted to pay my money to see. But I must say I really enjoyed seeing the movie “Doubt.” I had heard about the movie, which stars Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, on NPR and “The View.” First of all, Meryl Streep is a beast, isn’t she? She is probably one of the best actresses of all time….She literally loses herself in every role. I loved her in “The Bridges of Madison County.” (Swoon, swoon) I hated and loved her in the “The Devil Wears Prada.” (She reminded me of my worst boss ever!) And in this movie, she is a tough-talking nun with a Bronx accent!  (And I believed it! She scared me!)  A beast, I tell you!

    Also, I want to shout out Viola Davis too! You know I gotta shout out my black actresses! She is a remarkable actress with an equally remarkable story. Davis was the one actually featured on NPR and on “The View.” I really felt her pain as I watched her wide, wild, teary eyes accompanied by runaway snot in the movie.

    Potential movie spoiler ahead! The movie is about a 1960s Catholic school in the Bronx that is undergoing “CHANGE” as its first black student has been admitted.  Sister Aloysius Beauvier, portrayed by Streep, is the principal of the school. Her no-nonsense demeanor and pinched face inspire dread and fear from the students to the teachers under her leadership. Her leadership and sensibilities are challenged by Father Flynn, portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (a beast in his own right. Remember him in “Boogie Nights?” ) Flynn, a card-carrying member of the good ole boy priest network, wants to bring about his own CHANGE at the school by injecting secular Christmas carols during the school’s Christmas program, taking the students on camping trips and other practices frowned upon by the Sister.

    The two get locked in a battle of wits and will when the Sister suspects, without very much tangible evidence, that Flynn is having an (ahem) inappropriate relationship with the school’s first black student.  However, her relentless pursuit of Flynn along with a little white lie ultimately lead to Flynn resiging from the school. (Actually, in spite of the accusations directed at him, Flynn is put in a higher position at another school.) By the end of the movie, it is never absolutely proven that Flynn is guilty, and the Sister sobs as she admits she has doubts. And she never reveals exactly what she doubts. I think she doubted if Flynn was actually guilty, but I also think she doubted the Catholic church which has had a history of protecting some of its priests while allowing children to be abused by these  same priests.

    Anyway, ALL of that to say, was is it that you have doubted in your life? Some believe that if you have never doubted your faith, then you have no real faith at all. Perhaps, the most famous Biblical doubter is Thomas aka Didymus. I remember how my fifth-grade teacher at Pathway Christian School said, “Didymus.” Something about the way he said it made me want to giggle. I think he even dressed up as the apostle once, but I digress…

    Thomas said that he didn’t believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” John 20:25  Rather than banish him to Hell or even chide him, Jesus came to Thomas and instructed him to touch His hands and His side to remove his doubt. Of course, Thomas believed then. Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

    It was revealed in 2007 that Mother Teresa, too, had doubts about God. Read an article about it here.  In spite of her of her God-given call to the poor, she often wondered if God even existed and cared.

    So my question is on this first Sunday of 2009 is, do you ever doubt that God exists? How do you know that God is real? Unlike Thomas, none of us alive now have been able to actually touch Jesus, see the nail prints on His hands or put our hands into His side? Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” But sometimes, don’t you just wish you could see…

    Any thoughts?