Description
The secret to the abundant, prosperous and joy-filled
life is no secret. You are already an excellent giver.
Now choose to become a powerful receiver. You'll enjoy
it, we'll enjoy it and the world will be a better
place!

Article
"Receiving requires genuine humility that may be
uncomfortable and difficult to achieve, whereas giving
poses the risk of arrogance which, unfortunately, is
easy to come by."
Robert Greenleaf (On Becoming a Servant Leader)

North Americans are the most generous people on Earth,
the most generous people in history. No one needs to
tell us how be good givers. Yet, we hear it all the
time: it’s better to give than to receive. Perhaps.
But for every gift there must be a receiver. As Robert
Greenleaf points out in the opening quote, it takes a
genuine humility to receive well, a humility both
difficult to achieve and, apparently, lacking to a
great degree in this culture.

You’re already a good giver; now choose to become a
powerful receiver.

Our neighbor, Aaron Butler, once handed my dad a $20
bill. Dad wouldn’t take it. I heard him say it wasn’t
necessary, that he had been glad to do whatever it was
he had done. Aaron was insistent. Dad still refused.
Aaron then turned to me and said to my dad, "If you
won’t take it, I’ll just give it to Richard." Which he
did. And I received it willingly. I was five.

Immediately I ran to the corner store, wearing nothing
but a T-shirt and briefs, placed the bill on the
counter, and asked the clerk, "What can I buy for a
dollar?" The clerk had suspicions, which were almost
immediately allayed as my father strode in about 45
seconds after I did. He explained to the clerk how I’d
gotten the $20 bill, bought me a piece of candy for my
troubles, and scooted me on home. He kept the
twenty--I think. I never saw it again.

As with many of us, Dad was hesitant about receiving
what he saw as payment for a service he had willingly
provided for free. He denied Aaron Butler the
opportunity to participate in the giving and receiving
process. Aaron wouldn’t hear of it and hence, my
sojourn to the corner store.

Dad never changed. To his dying day, it was difficult
for him to receive well. I, fortunately, grew up
without that particular prejudice.

Like attraction and repulsion, cause and effect, up
and down, in and out, giving and receiving is one
principle. All giving produces receiving. We cannot
break that law; we can only work with it to our
benefit or detriment. Consider the law of gravity. You
jump off a cliff, you hit bottom, you mostlikely die.
You remain on the cliff, all’s well. The law works
every time. And for everyone the same. As the Bible
says, "God makes the rain to fall on the just and
unjust alike." Receiving, then, is part and parcel to
the process. And it works well.

How do we become good receivers? It’s simple.

Give, expecting to receive. No need to demand. I know
of people who say that it is our birthright to be
rich, to get from God anything our hearts desire. We
should come boldly before the throne of Grace and make
our requests known. I suppose that works for them.
However, the majority see themselves as unworthy of
good things; crashing into the throne room demanding a
new Cadillac seems a bit presumptuous, arrogant,
cheeky almost. But it isn’t necessary to demand. Good
comes our way, not through entitlement or because we
are nice people. When we give, good comes our way by
right of consciousness, by practice, by Law. No
implied or explicit moral imperative involved. We can
make conscious room to receive all that the universe
has to give. And in that receiving, we allow the giver
to enjoy being part of the process. Then, we give
again, keeping the cycle going. It’s fun, actually.

Here’s an idea: declare yourself to be the
contribution. Let giving become, first, a hobby and
then ultimately, your healthy, playful way of life. A
giving--and receiving--consciousness is true worship;
it’s praying without ceasing.

When I first read St. Paul’s words that we should
"pray without ceasing," it didn’t make sense. How
could you pray continually? After all, dinner was
ready, school was about to start, MASH was on. Praying
continually seemed impractical if not impossible. And
not much fun.

One day it dawned on me: to pray without ceasing meant
to live--to walk--in expectancy. To remain open to the
guidance, the goodness, and the giving of the
universe, of Spirit.

To pray without ceasing, then, is to remain in a state
of welcoming consciousness rather than just repeating
a set of ritualized words. To pray without ceasing is
to trust.

And it pays to remember that receiving is also a form
of giving--an essential form. Your receiving grants
the giver the joy of giving. In receiving, you
complete the circle.

When you make giving and receiving your way of life,
you’ll have continuing opportunities to practice.
Remember this: you cannot outgive the universe. You
are receiving every minute just by breathing, just by
being alive. Paul says that the universe returns good
to you "full measure, pressed down, and running over."
Believe it.

Here’s one more little practice you may want to
consider: unclutter your life--physically, materially,
emotionally, even spiritually. Start with the easiest.
Go through your closets, storage sheds,
garage--anyplace that has stuff in it you won’t use
anymore. Give the unbroken, useable stuff to friends
or charities; recycle that which can be recycled; toss
the rest out. You signal the universe that you’re
ready to receive anew. At this point, my humble advice
is to avoid gathering clutter again. Let the universe
know through your thoughts, desires, and actions what
you really want. More clutter isn’t it, right? Making
room for more good creates more room for giving. Just
another way to keep the cycle going.

You’re an excellent giver. Serve the world even better
by becoming an excellent receiver. You’ll enjoy it,
we’ll enjoy it and this planet will be a better place.

Chances are, what you want is already on its way. Got
room?

You’ve wanted to know the secret to the abundant,
prosperous life. Now you do. Use it. (By the way, be
aware that more money, in and of itself, probably
isn’t the answer.)

Are you receiving me?