President's Blog

Not long after my wife and I joined our church here in New York City (now nearly 18 years ago), I remember being stunned during the annual stewardship campaign when fellow members came to the lectern to give personal, and many times emotional, testimonials about how giving transformed their lives.

My wife, who was raised as a Baptist, reacted along the lines of “It’s about time!”  My own upbringing as a cradle Episcopalian—and I mean this literally, as I was baptized at Episcopal Divinity School where my father was a seminarian—had not prepared me for the open conversation about money.  I just looked at my shoes.

One Sunday, a tall and beautiful member of our parish stepped to the lectern to speak.  I didn’t know the woman well, but I’d certainly noticed her (who wouldn’t have?).  I decided this time I wouldn’t look at my shoes.

She told a very affecting story of how giving to our church had transformed her life and ended with this line: “Don’t just give until it hurts, give until it doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

That sentence has stayed with me ever since, because it gets at a fundamental truth about giving.  The more you give (and I don’t mean necessarily money), the better you will feel.

It turns out that science backs this up.  An article in the Health section of the New York Times on Tuesday describes how helping others actually leads to biological changes that increase emotional and physical well being:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/health/01well.html?emc=eta1

It ends with a wonderful quote from Dr. Stephen Post:  “To rid yourself of negative emotional states you need to push them aside with positive emotional states.  And the simplest way to do that is to just go out and lend a helping hand to somebody.”

In what ways are you sharing your gifts with others during this season of giving? How is it making a difference in your life?