Coz I Can

Saturday night a week ago, I had a dream. I was sitting in a local church service and one of the members stood up in a white shirt and a dark pair of pants. He said, "There is someone here who needs to give $xxx amount of money." I thought, "Hmmm... I reckon that's me." In my dream, I saw myself reach into my purse, take out the amount of cash that the leader spoke of and put it in the cotton offering bag.

The following morning, I walked into church and the same guy from my dream was standing in front of the congregation (wearing... you guessed it.... a white shirt and dark pants). He didn't say anything about money, but when the offering bag was passed around I had a choice about how much I was going to drop in. So I gave the amount I dreamt about the night before. Why?! Did I think was compelled to give because of some weird, summer night dream? Nope. I gave because I'm free to give. I give coz I can.

Coz I can.... reminds me of a Pink song. She talks trash and talks herself up- spitting out lyrics about her fast car, massive house and fantasy life that "you're not smart enough to even dream". The song makes me smile because it's so ridiculous. But it would be sad if I actually strived to live like that... Instead, I drive a moto, share a house and shower with a bucket and scoop. Coz I can. Being free from the 'me first' mantra, I'm learning to be more generous.

This last week my mate Nat wrote an article for an Australian mag on topic of money. It hasn't gone through the slash-edit process but there's some great stuff in it. Nat wonders how the Western church will continue to give when we live in a world that is saturated by hyper-consumerism (a culture in which identity is found in the things we consume)?

Nat writes: "God is calling us to delve into the root causes of poverty; to recognise the social, structural and spiritual core of it. And if we are going to empower others to be free from the things that enslave them in poverty- like addictions, oppression or violence- then we need to be free from the power of consumerism in ourselves. And freedom is where generosity begins."

Yep! Good stuff Nat. Let's be ridiculously generous people.... Coz we can.