I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. -- C.S. Lewis
It is not surprising that at this time of economic chaos, various people (e.g. Suze Orman, Trump) are referring to it as a good time to get rich.
I have said that there are reasons to not look to me for financial advice, but this is something I have said pretty frequently: stock collapses and market downturns and bad things tend to benefit those who can afford to wait it out.
I don't count that as financial advice because I have no idea what it's like to be able to wait things out. I suspect most of my readers don't either.
There are some things that I do know, though they are much more matters of faith than finance.
Caring for my mother for the time I did pretty much destroyed me financially, but I do not regret it. I know it was the right thing to do for that time.
I know that in some ways unexpected and surprising, I am still hanging on with food and shelter and even fun.
I know that there are many times when I feel compelled to give money that seems scary to give. I don't tell people what I have given -- not because of injunctions against giving to be seen of men but because I imagine I would get disbelief and criticism and anger for doing so.
I do it because it feels necessary and so far it has worked out.
Not long ago I read a conference talk from October 2017, "The Heart of the Widow" by O. Vincent Haleck.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/the-heart-of-the-widow?lang=eng
He referred to the story of the widow's mite, saying "The quality and depth of her love and faith were such that she gave knowing that her 'want' would be supplied."
I rebelled against that a little; did she really know that her want would be supplied? Or was it more that she just felt that she should and must do it?
Maybe it is all of the above.
Last week I did not advise you to cash out your 401K, or to not buy a McMansion even when it is in your price range, or to change your vacations from nice hotels to camping.
I cannot know what your wants and needs are, or your abilities.
I do believe that we can be led. I believe in the importance of that.
Maybe sometimes we are led to give to someone just because we are there and because we can, but sometimes we might be the only one who can assist with that particular need.
My larger fear is that while there might be many people who could assist, that they won't, and are not even considering that they could.
I won't deny that a lot of it is scary. One thing that I was getting at in last week's post, though, is that often when we are not generous, fear of not having enough is at the root.
If we are going to have to be afraid anyway, perhaps we should feel that fear in the cause of generosity and liberality.
