Charity at Home

Studies over the last several years find that the majority of Americans, somewhere around 60%, do not have wills. However, 100% of all Americans have estate planning!  That is, if you do not have a will or trust, the state will divide up and distribute your possessions for you. The state, of course, will have a claim in it.

One of the inevitable events in our life will be our death (unless the Lord comes during our lifetime), yet one of the most difficult subjects to bring up with family, friends and donors is death and estate planning. It seems to us callous and insensitive. However, this is far from the truth. The Church fathers remind us to keep death before us daily. It makes sense that if most of us have managed our finances during our lifetime, why would we want someone else to manage them after we die?  Yet, the majority of us seem OK with that.

I have always believed that what happens after we die (i.e. our funeral, our estate distribution, etc) should reflect how we have lived or better.  If we have tithed during our life, why shouldn’t we tithe after we die?  Why do so many assume that everything should go to our children?  Someone said, “Love your children enough not to give them everything.” Not infrequently, I have seen children arguing over the will. I am saddened when I think of these parents looking down from heaven and seeing their children suing each other and not speaking to each other over what they have left behind!

There is a hard hitting scenario that challenges our attitudes about where our wealth should go. I can’t recall where I first heard it, but it goes something like this… If we really believe that God has given us everything, that we truly possess nothing, then we correctly view ourselves as “stewards” of what has been given us. I like the word “managers” better because it is a word we relate to more in our culture. If God is the owner and we are the managers, then what store manager would have the right to give the store’s possessions to his children after he dies? The store belongs to the owner, not the manager. The owner has given the manager a salary to run his store, to build it up, yet in the end; the store belongs to the owner.  This is an incredible way to start thinking about what we have. It really belongs to God. It really should be His to distribute…according to His will.

If our life is a preparation for our death, then why are we so reluctant to take care of what God has given us and where it will go?  Did not the Lord do this on the Cross with His mother? We need to be prepared and make sure we are good stewards both in this life and after. It is our last act of management. May our will, reflect His will…

The sign which hung above this area read “RECOMBOBULATION AREA.” As I just now typed the word, it didn’t make it through my computer’s spell check. When I right clicked on it, it had no suggestions. I had heard of the word “discombobulated” before which I looked up in the dictionary. The meaning was “upset, confused, or frustrated.” Then I looked up “recombobulation” there was no such word. You have to hand it to the Cheeseheads in Milwaukee for coming up with this very creative and amazingly accurate word to describe what happens after an airport security checkpoint. In short, we are putting ourselves back together.

Isn’t this what the great feast of Christmas and our New Year’s resolutions are all about? Of course the word we use in our Orthodox Church is “repentance.” I am not suggesting a new ecclesiastical word to replace “repentance,” but it seems in this fast paced world where we do feel so hurried, confused, upset and frustrated – “recombobulation” does create a great image of what we must often do to return to God. In an article about the sign in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel it was reported that,

“Max Wescoe of San Diego laughed when he saw the sign. It was a moment worthy of snapping a picture on his cell phone. ‘I've seen plenty of discombobulation areas,’ he said, talking both about airport travel and life. He now knows the one place he can come to do something about it. ‘I thought they put that up just for me,’ he said.”

I pray that as we celebrate the great Feast of Christmas and create New Year resolutions that the words of Max Wescoe become our words! May our Churches become the real area of “recombobulation” in our lives.

Please remember FOCUS North America during this festal season and help us serve those less fortunate than us.

Fr. Nick Kasemeotes

Since FOCUS North America has come on the scene with the hope of furthering the efforts of Orthodox Christians to help those in need in America, one might ask are we just one more Orthodox agency competing for the very "limited" resources available to the Church. To state it simply, is FOCUS North America in some sort of competition with local churches, the archdioceses and other Orthodox social agencies to raise money to continue their ministries. The assumption here is that there is a limited “pie”, and with the entry of FOCUS North America on the scene, this means that the more of this pie we take, the less others will have. Let’s take a closer look at this concern.

 The last time (correct me if I am wrong) an accurate study of giving in Orthodox Church was done was about 25 years ago. That study, looking only at the Greek Archdiocese, revealed that the average family giving to the Church was around .5%. That is, on a national level our faithful were giving only one half of one percent to their Church. I believe the national average for all Churches (non-orthodox as well) was about 2.5%. To offer an example, an Orthodox family with an income of $40,000 per year was only giving $200 to their Church every year.  Our hope was that if we only could get our faithful to give the national average of 2.5%, we would increase our income 5 times from what it was. Another example, the income of a Church bringing in $50,000 a year in stewardship would increase to $250,000 if we simply gave in the same way as our next door neighbors gave to their Church. The ripple effect of this small change would have tremendous impact throughout our Church.

What ever happened to the "Tithe and Offerings"

For a long time, I have felt that the Old Testament, New Testatment and Patristic tradition of tithing should get more attention in our Churches...not just for sake of financial gain, but also for us to experience a deeper sense of worship and commitment. When we look around and see the tremendous programs of non-orthodox churches that practice tithing, we become envious. In the Old Testament, we see the people of Israel offered their tithe (10% of their yearly fruits) for the safekeeping of the tabernacle and care of the priests who served there. It was also an act of worship, another important subject. I have asked many Orthodox for many years, what has changed? Are we not the New Israel? Do we not still have houses of worship to care for and priests who serve them? Why are we not tithing, or better put, surpassing the tithe in our new freedom in Christ? Freedom means doing more than what we once did out of obligation. And we shouldn’t forget about the “offerings”. This was “above and beyond” the tithe. These were special offerings given for special seasons and occasions. To apply it to today and try to keep it simple: our tithe should go towards our local church, our offerings should be given on special occasions and for special purposes.

Dispelling the Myth…

Having said all of this, the problem we face in the Church is not “limited resources,” it is “unchallenged resources.” I hope the following numbers would sway us. The medium income for a family in the U.S. is around $50,000 per year (half make more, half make less). Based on this, if each Orthodox family began tithing, it would result in an average giving of $5,000 a year to their Church. The average income of a parish of 100 families would be $500,000! I’m sure this would please our church treasurers as well as our national financial officers. There would be an abundance not only to run our local Churches, but to support the administration, seminaries and social ministries that are so underfunded today. Moses once told the people of Israel to stop giving when they brought too many gifts for the building of the tabernacle. They did this in the desert, why can’t we do it in the richest country in the world? Could you imagine your priest announcing to the congregation, please stop giving, we have too much!

One of the reasons I took the job of Philanthropy Coordinator for FOCUS North America, is not only do I believe with all my heart in the mission of FOCUS North America, but I also believe we have not really challenged each other as Orthodox Christians to give as we should. My apologies again to the non-Greeks, but a national survey came out several months ago and revealed that Greek Americans were now the second most successful ethnic group in America. We have a very healthy number of names listed in Forbes “400 Richest Americans.” Many of us who have been blessed with much (by world standards, an over abundance) worked hard for it, but we also know that much will be expected of us. The Lord was not afraid to challenge the rich young ruler who came to him. He asked him to sell everything and give it to the poor and come follow him.

On a related subject, there are estimates that in the next 20 years or so about 40 trillion dollars will be handed from one generation to the next. Certainly our Orthodox faithful hold a portion of this. Have we been challenged to leave some of this for charitable works? Do we have Orthodox “Warren Buffets” who will rise up and care about the world around them (and love their children enough not to give them everything)?

Another myth… If someone gives to “X”, he will reduce his giving to “Y”.

For years, we had the blessing of having a very successful businessman in our parish. He was also very faithful in his Church attendance and cared about the Church. He also represented a disproportionately large percentage of our annual stewardship income. When he told me that he was considering joining the Leadership 100 program of our Archdiocese (a $10,000 gift per year for 10 years), I was afraid that he would reduce his giving to our Church. Boy was I wrong! His involvements with Leadership 100 among other things only led to his increased giving to our local Church and eventually a million dollar gift for our Church building project. There are studies in philanthropic giving which indicate as one becomes more and more charitable; one will expand their charitable giving to many charities.

Instead of furthering the myth that we are all in some sort of competition for “limited resources”, we should be encouraging all our faithful to be more charitable - period, to any worthy cause. It will eventually help us all!

  I am overjoyed when I hear someone say, “The more I give, the more I seem to receive.”  Does this always happen? Is there a direct correlation between giving and receiving? Can this become a motivation for giving? This is what we will discuss in this blog… How does giving affect us?

  In the Old Testament Book of Malachi, God through the prophet Malachi admonishes the people of Israel for “robbing” Him that is, not giving their tithe (giving 10%) and offerings.  If they return to this practice His promise is to open for them “the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” Certainly even God implies that the very act of giving back to Him will result in His blessings.

  It seems that giving for many people (if they give at all) is the predicated on the reverse principle. That is, the more I receive, the more I will give.” Arthur Brooks, the author of the book Gross National Happiness, took the challenge to investigate the dynamics of giving.  He, like most of us, started with the assumption that people who make more money tend to give more money away.  What surprised him in his studies is that he found the reverse to be true. That is, the more we give away, the more we seem to make. Sounds a bit like Malachi!

  How does this work?  Briefly, something like this… The more we give or volunteer, the happier we are. The happier we are, the harder and better we work. The harder and better we work, the more money we tend to make. To quote Brooks,

“Charitable giving and volunteering are tremendously pleasurable. They also empower givers, making them feel less like victims, and give people a lot of meaning in their lives. I have talked to clinical psychologists who actually prescribe volunteer work to their patients, with amazing results. Studies also show that givers are admired and elevated to positions of influence and authority. It is hardly surprising, given all the evidence, that givers enjoy (on average) higher happiness and prosperity than non-givers do. In fact, my research leads me to the belief that the single best self-help strategy is to serve others.”

    It seems that not only the Bible, but even modern scientific research leads us to this conclusion; God has wired us to give! Being created in His image and likeness among other things means that when we give we are and become more like Him! The act of giving and doing for others actually change our brain chemistry and give us joy.  Then why do more people not give?  Why do some people remain stingy, not giving anything away to help others?  I have no answer. Everything I read would point to the opposite.

    In the field of charitable fundraising, we often hear that for someone to offer a large gift it takes great time, cultivation, spiritual maturity, etc. At a recent Mayo seminar on charitable giving, the speaker (a major gift development officer, who has asked people literally for millions of dollars) said something very shocking yet consistent with what we are discussing. He found that the very act of giving is THE life changing event for most donors. The people who have offered major gifts to Mayo have started to live a life with more meaning and depth than before.

    There are so many wonderful causes that we can choose to give to in this world, I hope that FOCUS North America is one that you choose.  However, sometimes I think we should address the more basic issue - giving!  Why do it and what are the results of it for me?  How will giving change me…

 Many of us have seen the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Throughout the movie the father contends that all English words really come from Greek words. This does happen to be the case with the word “philanthropy”. It comes from two Greek words; philo - meaning friendship and anthropos –meaning man or humanity. As a parish priest for 28 years, I confess that at times it was easier to guilt people into giving than to establish a real friendship with them. Sorrowfully, fundraising often takes this approach.

If in fact, philanthropy is a friendship, then it implies that it is a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties. Each person involved enjoys the relationship and is nurtured by it. When we look at the ministry of Christ, we see that in the Gospel of John, He calls His disciples “friends”. We call God in our worship the only Philanthropos, which is the “friend of man”. When He asked the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and give it to the poor and come follow Him, he was not just asking him to part with his possessions; he was inviting Him to become his friend. What is so remarkable about this is that God actually would want and seek our friendship. FOCUS North America is seeking true philanthropists, not in terms of giving great or small amounts, but those who wish to enter into a relationship that will be a blessing to them and the ones who benefit from their giving.

One last thought…I was honored to be at the Gabby Awards last week in Chicago. It was the first ever award ceremony to honor Greek Americans who excelled in so many different fields. One such field was for philanthropy. I thought to myself… all of us will eventually be separated from our wealth...when we are lying out horizontally in our coffins. But no one was handing out awards for that, they were handing out the award to those who had the courage to do it willingly and with joy… they were still vertical, that is still alive and in this world!  Next week I want to talk about the effects of giving. Please consider establishing a friendship with FOCUS North America in the true sense of what philanthropy means!

The word "charitable giving" is often brought up in the context of "tax deductions", that is, trying to avoid paying more taxes by giving to charity.  While this may be one of many reasons we give to charities, it is not the only reason and by no means the most complete. In this blog I hope to explore the true meaning of charity.  What are its roots, where did it come from? In the next few weeks, I will look back into the ancient Greek philosophers, the Scriptures, and Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church and even modern studies to show that the act of giving actually makes us fuller, joyous and God-like human beings.  Let's start by defining some terms.

Most Orthodox are familiar with the word "philanthropy".  It comes from two Greek words, "philo" meaning "friend" and "anthropos" meaning "man".  In the course of the liturgical services of our Church, we often refer to God as "Philanthropos", that is the "friend of Man".  The earliest known use of this word occurs in the ancient Greek mythology.

In Prometheus Bound (circa 5th cent B.C.), we find the word "philanthropic" as a description of Prometheus, who "looks kindly" towards humans as opposed to Zeus, who wishes to exterminate them. Next we find mentioned in the 4th century play Peace, the word "philanthropic" is used by humans as flattery to gain the god's favor.

Plato's Symposium (4th century B.C.) uses the word three times, again in reference to the god Eros, who is most "philanthropic" of the gods. In his work Euthyphro, Plato calls to use the word "philanthropic" not as an attribute for a god, but now one for his friend, Socrates.

As the 4th century B.C. continues, we find the word used more and more associated with a number of other civic virtues and leadership qualities such as justice. One should not "appear" as philanthropic just to gain public approval. Soon, philanthropy becomes an innate emotional attachment that people possess towards others.

By the 2nd century B.C. the word "philanthropy" begins to take on a financial aspect. Financial generosity and even "salary" come to be used in the context of the word.

In his paper, On the Meaning of Philanthropy, Classical and Modern, by Marty Sulek (which I reference in this blog) the word "philanthropy" evolves in he following way in ancient Greek writings: