“Generosity is paradoxical, those who give, receive back in turn…By giving ourselves away, we ourselves move toward flourishing…The generosity paradox can also be stated in the negative. By grasping onto what we currently have, we lose out on better goods that we might have gained. In holding onto what we possess we diminish its long-term value to us.
By always protecting ourselves against future uncertainties and misfortunes, we are affected in ways that make us more anxious about uncertainties and vulnerable to future misfortunes. In short, by failing to care for others, we do not properly take care of ourselves. It is no coincidence that the word “miser” is etymologically related to the word “miserable”…
For our purposes, by generosity we mean the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly. Generosity thus conceived is a learned character that involves both attitudes and actions…what exactly generous people give can vary: money, possessions, time, attention, aid, encouragement, emotional availability, and more…”
Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson in The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping wWe Lose (Oxford: OUP, 2014) 1-4.
I am officially declaring a season of jubilee–50 days with no air travel–for the first time since my doctoral journey began eight years ago. Thankfully this jubilee begins with a celebration. I signed a contract this week linked to the publishing of my Ph.D. dissertation for scholarly readers in the BBRS series. It will be released sometime in 2015.
For this jubilee, I am giving the LORD the next 50 days, making myself available to God, to my wife, my family, and my friends. I plan to give myself to four disciplines: prayer (focusing on listening), study (responding with writing), solitude (taking time to rest), and celebration (reflecting on God’s gifts to me). My work and daily meditations will continue as usual during this season. I just won’t be traveling.
Why share all this? I guess to invite you to join me. Consider giving yourself to God anew and afresh with me. The paradox of such an act of generosity is the more we give ourselves to God, the more we get of Him. The more we give ourselves to those we love, the more we gain. It’s a paradox. Let the jubilee begin!
Read more