By Sister Doreen, SSJD
Prayer for Generosity:
Lord, teach me to be generous,
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to look for any reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will. (attributed to St Ignatius of Loyola)
Scripture ponderings, Message Translation:
Luke 6: 36: “Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never, I promise, regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our God lives towards us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. God is kind; you be kind.”
Luke 6:38: “Give away your life; you’ll find life given back but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
Luke 14:33: “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
In all of these above quotes there is the same idea – to give and not to count the cost – a wholehearted commitment, a desire to pattern ourselves after Jesus lifestyle, a generous spirit, and a readiness to work hard, to do the hard work needed to be so focused, to be willing to fall down and to get up again and again in our commitment to a Jesus lifestyle. There is a profound wisdom that to give without counting the cost is held under the umbrella of generosity. As I reflected upon this, it seemed to me that the impelling cause and enabler of this kind of generosity arises out of gratitude.
Gratitude and generosity are similar virtues, but they differ in that gratitude is an internal gift that recognizes how grateful I am for all the many gifts that I have and am surrounded with, and generosity is our external expression, a mutual, balanced exchange of love, support, effort, and care of our sense of gratitude. Basically, gratitude is how we feel, and generosity is how we express that feeling out in the world. I believe that what Ignatius and the scripture passages are encouraging us to is that we yearn for and work for a culture of gratitude, where generosity can flourish.
Generosity doesn’t have to look like a lavish occasion or a perfectly executed meal or reaction to a needy situation. It just has to look like love. Practicing generosity invites us to continually act in a way that will help equalize the differences that ease human suffering and create social justice, it is a call to live simply, to practice enough is enough. To be able to give and not to count the cost: our time, our energy, our love, compassion and caring – our entire lives. To become aware of the generous, creative Presence that exists in all things by their very nature, everything created is the beloved of the Beloved, we can honor that presence of God as the inner Source of all goodness and worthiness.
Meister Eckhart, a German Mystic says that, “If the only prayer you say in your entire life is ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.” As we journey through life, it is the appreciation of all those pieces of our lives that have come gracefully to be the person that we are today: all the opportunities we have had to see things differently, to keep reframing disaster and discouragement into faith – to see the blessedness in all the circumstances of life.
“Generosity is spiritual wisdom. … Every gift, every seed, every act of generosity is a workout for the heart. The more you release, the more capacity you build. Hoarding makes you small; giving makes you elastic. A tight fist can’t receive, but an open hand can hold more than it gave away.” A quote from the Dr Foy website.
Mary Jo Leddy: In her book ‘Radical Gratitude’ writes, “in radical gratitude the vicious dissatisfaction with life is broken. We begin to recognize what we have rather than what we don’t…we awaken to another way of being, another kind of economy, the great economy of grace in which each person is of infinite value and worth.”
One of the discoveries as we journey in faith is that we grow in generosity as we embrace simplicity. We are able to hold all things lightly and, if need be, let them go—our possessions, our money, our affections and self-importance, even our anger, our prejudices, and our fears. But letting go, if it is the fruit of generous simplicity, can never be coerced. It is a mirror of ‘to give and not to count the cost’ and it must be joyful, must be voluntary. It is not to be confused with a spiritual lack of feeling, living without passion. Indeed, to give and not to count the cost, we live more passionately, more enthusiastically, because we are set free from the burdensome work of holding on tightly to anything that comes within our grasp.
It is one of the great challenges of life this Jesus lifestyle! And it is one of the richest blessings of life – to discover that what we give is returned four-fold, ten-fold, even one hundred-fold. It is that miracle that occurs: the more you give the more you receive – there is more room, more openness to receive, and to receive in so many more ways than we could ever have imagined! The journey is often one of falling down and getting up over and over again as we keep on choosing to live a generous and gratuitous lifestyle!
Macrina Wiederkehr in pondering our common humanity remarked: “Love is a spiritual practice; it doesn’t happen automatically. We have to practice loving.” It is so easy to slip into a pattern of forgetfulness when activities and work deadlines crowd our days. Easy to slip into too much ‘me-ness’ and not enough ‘oneness’. Practice and balance and the understanding that ‘all my relatives’ is at the heart of life – all our neighbour’s share our humanity with us.
There are two very moving hymns in Common Praise Anglican Church of Canada #177 A Spendthrift Lover is the Lord – Sing A New Creation Anglican Church of Canada #163. They are a rich source for meditation.
Common Praise #177
A spendthrift lover is the Lord who never counts the cost
Or asks if heaven can afford to woo a world that’s lost.
Our lover tosses coins of gold across the midnight skies
And stokes the sun against the cold to warm us when we rise.Still more is spent in blood and tears to win the human heart
To overcome the violent fears that drive the world apart.
Behold the bruised and thorn-crowned face of one who bears our scars
And empties out the wealth of grace that’s hinted by the stars.How shall we love this heart-strong God who gives us everything
Whose ways to us are strange and odd; what can we give or bring?
Acceptance of the matchless gift is gift enough to give.
The very act will shake and shift the way we love and live.Sing a New Creation #163
We sing of a love that sets all people free, that blows like wind, that burns like scorching flame,
Enfolds the earth, springs up like water clear: come, living love, live in our hearts today.We sing of a love that seeks another’s good, that longs to serve and not to count the cost,
A love that, yielding, finds itself made new: come, caring love, live in our hearts today.We sing a love, unflinching, unafraid to be itself, despite another’s wrath,
A love that stands alone and undismayed: come, strengthening love, live in our hearts today.We sing a love that, wandering, will not rest until it finds its ways, its home, its source.
Through joy and sadness pressing on refreshed: come, pilgrim love, live in our hearts today.We sing the Holy Spirit, full of love, who seeks out scars of ancient bitterness,
Brings to our wounds the healing grace of Christ, come, radiant love, live in our hearts today.
Yes! Yes! “Arise shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1.