February 2008

One of the joys of being Executive Director of Covenant to Care for Children is getting to visit all of our faith-based-organizations with whom we have covenant. This often means I am attending a worship service or participating in some devotional activity. We work with over 200 groups in the State of Connecticut and my intention is to visit them all. It never fails that I find inspiration and meaning wherever I visit devotional people. It never fails that I see the links that bind us as greater in number, as stronger in purpose, than are the differences that divide us.

Recently, I had the occasion to visit West Avon Congregational Church. In that particular Sunday’s bulletin was an essay by Pastor Brian discussing the offerings found in the old and new testaments of the Bible and what that might mean in today’s world. In his essay he explained that animals, such as livestock, and food stuffs such as bread, oil, and fruit were the most valuable commodities of the biblical times. He suggests that the offerings were gifts of the most valuable commodities. We can see this across religions and cultures. In faiths that developed in more tropical climates fruits play a dominate role in the traditional offerings. As culture progressed we begin to find precious metals and gems begin to play a role in offerings. The fact of offerings being animals or food stuff is not absolute, but rather representative. Pastor Brian asked the question, “How do we do something that involves more than just words?”
 

In Exodus 35:4-5
Moses shares with the tribes of Israel the command of God.

“And Moses spoke unto all the congregation
of the children of Israel, saying,
This is the thing which the Lord commanded,

Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord:
whosoever is of a willing heart,
let him bring it, an offering of the Lord…”

What is most valuable to you?

Is it time? Our culture deals in cash to assign value. In the nonprofit sector, we even give a cash value to volunteer time in our grant, audit and IRS reporting. Is it money that is most valuable to you? The cliché “time is money” may in a few words be a profound statement of our world’s current assignment of value.

I find it interesting that when Moses calls for the people to bring offerings the the translation1 reads “offering of the Lord” not “to the Lord”. To me this suggests that anything we may offer comes first from the divine.

The children and youth we serve with our programs here at Covenant to Care for Children have the same share of the divine as our most pious leaders. I believe they are our most precious, most valuable commodity. What we bring to them we bring as part of that circular offering, unto the Lord and of the Lord. Can there be a distinction between the divine, our offerings and these most precious children. I don’t believe there can be. Within each of us and each of our children there resides a connection or identity with the divine or Brahman.

The teachings and requirements of offerings cross most religions. In some fashion most religions recognize the divine that rests waiting in each of us. It is time for all of us to look toward what we have to offer. My request is that as you reflect on what is most valuable to you and what you have to offer, please remember Covenant to Care for Children. Help us to advocate for, mentor, and provide the critical goods that our most precious children and youth so desperately need.

“And the scribe said unto him,
Well, Master, thou hast said the truth:
for there is one God;
and there is none other than he:

And to love him with all the heart,
and with all the understanding,
and with all the soul, and with all the strength,
and to love his neighbor as himself,
is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Mark 12:32-33

1King James Version