Christmas is sometimes called the Season of Giving. What giving means though can contain a wide spectrum of meaning and praxis. Do we give “gifts” in order to receive them?; because it’s kind?; culturally appropriate? Do we give to get rid of stuff we don’t want?; or because we don’t know what else to do? Do we give because we have? Do we give to detach from what we have? I must admit when I run into the guy in the Santa hat ringing a bell outside the grocery store, asking for money, I rarely give and rarely feel generous. Am I a bad person, or is there something else going on underneath that too?
Our different cultures and faith traditions articulate generosity as service in multiple ways. Buddhism talks about generosity as “dāna.” Dāna has been defined in traditional texts as any action of relinquishing the ownership of what one considered or identified as one’s own, and investing the same in a recipient without expecting anything in return. From the time of the Buddha, there has existed an interdependence between those who offer the teachings and those who receive them. The teachings are given freely, since they are considered priceless. Dāna is thus the offering that is shared between teacher and learner, an interaction more than a transaction.
The Judeo-Christian tradition frames it in a slightly different way. It’s less about relinquishment than it is about recognizing the true owner. God “owns” everything, it all comes back to the Holy One. We share, or relinquish, or give, because what we have was never really “ours” in the first place. It’s a perspective based upon the lens of abundance. There is more than enough for everyone. God has seen it to be so. So rather than clenching our fist out of the fear of scarcity, one is challenged to not be concerned about the future, to be fully present in the present and with those around us in need. It’s less the things or possessions that lead us to destructive attachment than the morally-paralyzing fear of scarcity.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.Matthew 6:25-34
Both approaches to generosity are based not in a sense of superiority wherein one can help another because they’re better or have more. Rather generosity is a natural action, flowing from relationship, interaction, connection and vision. Charity is never motivated by shame or guilt. It is never limited or obligated. It is organic, a contagious response to the gift of life.
In the pre-Christmas season we’re pushed to give – there is giving Tuesday (tragically we have to make a day to legitimize and motivate it) as well as those asking for contributions at stores, via mailings and door-to-door. How are you approaching generosity this season? How might you approach giving as a service, as a spiritual practice – a letting go, or detachment from the burdens that distract us from the “real”? How might practicing generosity (of money, things, time and attention) open your eyes to the abundance in your life and in all of creation?