Story of a Beggar And a Wealthy Man
A beggar was sitting beside a road, when he saw a splendid carriage coming toward him. The carriage shone like the sun from the gold and precious gems which adorned it. The beggar thought, “Here comes a great and wealthy man. What will he give me?”
The carriage stopped, and a man, regally arrayed, emerged and approached the beggar. To the beggar’s astonishment the man asked,“What will you give me?”
The beggar was confused. He reached into his meager purse and pulled out the smallest grain of rice he could find. He handed the rice to the wealthy man, thinking, “What can he possibly need from me?”
After thanking the beggar, the wealthy man went on his way. Later that night, the beggar emptied his purse to count his possessions. To his astonishment, he saw lying there a grain of rice, which had turned to gold.
Now the beggar realized Who It Was he had met on the road. He cried out, “If only I had given Him my all!”
The meaning of this beautiful story is that whatever we offer to God will be returned to us, spiritualized and enriched, a hundredfold.
When we offer our hearts in devotion, our love is purified. When we offer our thoughts, they become inspired. When we offer God our money, it too, like the beggar’s grain of rice, becomes spiritual gold.
Testimonials
Some years ago I was an ‘in-debt carpenter.’ Tithing was the last thing I thought I could afford. I had been donating money to this and that, but I did not tithe. I was barely keeping afloat financially.
One day, a story told by one of the ministers about tithing intrigued me. I decided to try it. Even though I was flat broke, I gave a tithe with my next paycheck.
My checks didn’t bounce that pay-period, even though I fully expected them to. A big windfall did not happen, nor huge amounts of money came to me, but after I began tithing, I always seemed to have enough. Things stopped going wrong financially. Eventually, I even turned down a pay raise, because I simply didn’t need it!”
—E.G.
Tithing did not come easy for me. However, bit by bit I had found that it helped me to understand the concept of money as a flow of energy, rather than as a set amount, which I received and gave away every month.
This tremendously helped my faith in God, and the conviction that He is taking care of me. When I find myself worrying about money, the first thing I do is write a tithe check. This is such an effective way to stop holding onto things, which affirms a sense of lack. Instead, I can have the feeling of abundance, if I so choose!”
—R.G.
After several years of experimenting with tithing, I finally added it to my ‘Do Always! ’ list of spiritual practices. It is one of the most joyful and freeing practices I have. I am very grateful, for it has brought faith into the fearful realms of day-to-day practical life.”
—Anonymous
I had my bank account number stolen by someone, who then proceeded to write checks against it, before it was discovered. Normally, I would have been terribly flustered. However, shortly before, I had begun the practice of tithing. I felt that I had opened that part of my life to Divine Mother to be ‘cleaned up’ of old karmic tendencies. Her grace was such that the sorting-out process with the bank went unbelievably smoothly. I lost no money!
The problem with my checking account only increased my conviction that tithing has made me freer, by allowing me to feel that God is my partner in every situation.”
—J.C.
