has its own spiritual rewards. So, the idea that you give with one hand while giving a head lock with the

other is repugnant.

But there is another way to look at this. I have often seen churches which are heavily involved in social services to the poor, but on Sunday morning in the pristine sanctuary there is not one person who was there during the week in search of food or other help. This divide be-tween who is welcome to come to the soup kitchen and who is wel-come to the Sunday service is just as disgusting. Of course, it is never made explicit, but it is felt. The invisible rope of class often can be just as forbidding as the velvet rope in front of any other exclusive

club.

Part of the reason this church in Indiana caused a ruckus was the question of federally funding for their programs. Of course, they shouldn't receive funds for social services if they are using those programs to force people to attend their churches. But if you believe as

TTTT here is a church in Indiana which requires people taking advantage of the food kitchen and homeless shelter to also participate in the life of the church. In short hand - no relig-ion, no food. Just to be clear, the church has allowed that the people do not have to worship at their church - it can be at an-other church or even AA. But they have to at some level en-gage in a spiritual practice if they are going to take advantage

of the church's material largess.

Of course, this strikes most of us as draconian and the worst kind of religious bribery. The mandate to help those who are in need has no strings attached. You do not feed the hungry, house the homeless, and clothe the naked so they will believe what you believe. Rather you do it because, one, it is the right thing to do; and two, because it

I do (and from my own experi-ence) that religion can help the individual to overcome many of life's challenges, then encourag-ing participation in religious activities is part of providing efficacious services. It is about being effective. . I believe a church should have the right to invite (not force) people to ser-vices. A simple sign in the soup kitchen would be enough - "We welcome you here through the week, and we welcome you on

Sunday too."

Ultimately it gets so complicated, and legally fraught that it is probably better to keep worship and social services separate. But this strict separation can foster a very patronizing dynamic which signals to those who come to our churches in times of des-perate need - "you are good enough for me to feed you across the counter, but not good enough for me to kneel with you b e f o r e t h e L o r d . "

Rev. Paul Raushenbush

Charity With a Catch: No Religion, No Food.

Happening in BM Food Pantry

T he last few

months have been

difficult in our

Food Pantry.

Many weeks have passed

without receiving USDA

commodities for distribution

that are usually 30 to 40% of

the inventory, while more

clients showed up to our

doors and those already

registered came back more

often. At some point the

tension grew within the cli-

ents, “is there gonna be

enough for me?” and many

tricks were played in order to

skip in line. This environ-

ment for three or four hours

at a time would wear out

those volunteering and inter-

acting with the clients.

BM Food Pantry strives to be more than just a free food pro-

vider. We want our clients to really enjoy their visit, feel ap-preciated, respected, to feel as family. We facilitate an air-conditioned waiting room where they can sit and enjoy listening to music. A few times a month

one of our members

Continue page 4.

> Bezerra de Menezes Food Pantry helps

families and individuals in need of emergency

food assistance, in the Miami Dade County. Our

services and products are free of charge.

> If you need food or somebody that you know

need food, please call us at 786.346.7709

October 2011 Volume II Issue 3

ReportReportReportReport A social program of the Bezerra de Menezes Kardecian Spiritist Assn, a 501(c)(3) educational and charitable organization

(RNS) Tithing to mainline Protes-tant churches as a percentage of income is at its lowest level in at least 41 years, according to a new report, and churches are keeping a greater share of those donations

for their own needs.

Parishioners gave about 2.38 percent of their income to their church, according to "The State of Church Giving through 2009," a new report being released Friday (Oct. 14) by Empty Tomb inc., a Christian research agency in

Champaign, Ill.

Just over 2 percent of income went toward congregational fi-nances, such as operating costs and building expenses. Only 0.34 percent of parishioner income went to what Empty Tomb calls "benevolences," such as charities and seminary training beyond

the four walls of the church.

Those are new lows, at least going back to the first report in

1968.

The Empty Tomb report is based on data from mainline churches -- Lutherans, Presby-terians, Episcopalians and others -- because data was not available for evangelical or Roman Catholic churches. Still, authors say the trends in the mainline are broadly representa-

tive of all U.S. churches.

At first glance, the lagging econ-omy would appear to be a primary culprit. Edith H. Falk, chair of Chi-cago-based Giving USA Foundation, indicated this summer that the biggest drops in more than 40 years occurred in 2008 and 2009, as the recession took its greatest

toll.

The Empty Tomb report also pin-pointed 2008 as the greatest year-to-year drop since the first re-port was compiled in 1968. But Sylvia Ronsvalle, Empty Tomb's executive vice president and the report's co-author, said previous research identifies no clear pat-tern that shows donations dropped

during past recessions.

In other words, the recession is

only partly to blame, if at all.

"What we did find is giving tends not to decline in recession years, though it might in fact have de-clined in years around reces-

sions," she said.

This is the second consecutive year that Ronsvalle's report has shown a drop in total contributions and tithing. More alarming, she

said, is an ongoing decline in be-

nevolence spending.

This year's report represents the fourth consecutive annual decline in benevolences. Put another way, American churches are spending more on themselves and less on

beyond-the-church charities.

If the percentage of income for benevolences in 2009 had been at the 1968 level, 0.66 percent, U.S. churches would have seen an additional $3.1 billion in benevo-

lence spending.

"Churches on the whole are continuing to spend more on current members and less on the larger mission of the church and cutting back on missionar-

ies," said Ronsvalle.

She cited 16 impoverished nations -- 10 of them primarily Christian -- that have seen little to no progress in improving child mortality rates. If churches were more generous, she

says, that might not be e case.

Ronsvalle even goes so far as to sug-gest "if a church is turning inward and valuing the happiness of its members" over service to others, "it is moving

on a spectrum toward pagan values."

The bottom line: U.S. churches seem to be more concerned with their own needs and their own desires over the

needs of others.

"That's an offensive ques-tion even to raise, but if we are moving in that direc-tion we need to see it now," she said. "These are alarming trends that need

to be evaluated."

"We all have to be con-cerned anytime there's a decline in charitable giv-ing," Hood said. "People

are not being served at the same level

that they have been."

By Piet Levy Religion News Service

Page 2

To Tithe Or Not

To Tithe?

Report Says Tithing and Church Spending Hit Record Lows

“The bottom line: U.S. churches seem to be more concerned with their own needs and their own desires over the

needs of others.”

"God doesn't fund

t h e c h u r c h

through bingo

nights, pancake

suppers and

chicken dinners,"

Baker says. "God

funds the church

through people

willing to commit

to the tithe." Pas-

tor Marty Baker

WWWW here is the world headed to? There must be too many answers to this question, since each human being is likely to look at this issue from its own individual perspective, which may be highly influenced (or controlled) by each one’s egocentric views or the world. Unfortunately, most of us are raised to believe that the world is divided into winners and losers, and that, to realize our “American Dream” (or something

equivalent to that), we need to be better of, or beat, our neighbors in the material world. Immediacies are generally taken as a higher priority over longer term goals, because we can’t lose any battles along the way since that could be perceived as a sign of weakness. We all have, though, one thing in common: we all seek happiness, which is the ultimate aspiration of humanity. The level of pride and selfishness, though, make us un-derstand happiness in many dif-ferent ways. Most people still believe that joy can bring happi-

ness, and that joy can generally be “purchased”. Actually, for these types of people, this is “true”. They can find “happiness” in a new car, dining out, titles, power, and other innumerable ways in their earthly lives. On the other hand, not enough people can see that happi-ness, to be stable and long lasting, must come from something that satisfies our spiritual aspirations, and therefore it must be acquired in a way that adds value to our souls. Why did I start this article with that question on where the world is headed to? Well, this

Page 3

“Ma ke us w or t h y, Lor d , t o s er ve t hos e pe op le t hr oughout t h e

w or ld w ho l i ve a nd d i e i n p o ve r t y a nd hunger . G i ve t h em t hr ough

o ur ha nds , t h i s da y, t h e ir da i l y b r ea d , a nd b y o ur under s t and i ng

l o ve , g i ve t hem peace a nd j o y” . - M o t her Ther es a o f C a lc u t t a

with bad news that makes us wonder if we are at the verge of a humanly inconceivable situa-tion. At the heels of such bad news come statistics showing a consistent and persistent growth in poverty. The census of the United States, just published, revealed that, in 2010, we had around 46 million people in this country that lived below the poverty line. That means an increase of about 6% versus the year before. This includes an

increase of 11.5% in the number

BE HUNGRY TO HELP

THE HUNGRY

of suburban residents that lived below the poverty line. As an expected domino effect of that, the hungriness issue gets mag-nified. Reports tell us about a substantial increase in the number of people knocking the doors of the many food pantries

around the country.

Let’s now read once again the introductory quote to this arti-cle, from Mother Theresa. Based not only on the above quote, but on so many other quotes she left for us as pro-found messages, we can say that Mother Theresa was truly “hungry” to help the hungry. She was begging God’s mercy to all poor and hungry people by making us conscious that, to be worthy of God and of true hap-piness, we need to have com-passion and do charity with love. The world would be much better if instead of being seen as divided between winners and

losers,

it would be seen as divided into those that need help and those that help the needy. And that would get us closer to God, as we would be complying with His first commandment: “To love God above all, and our neighbor as we

love ourselves”.

St. Francis made it clear to us: “It is in giving, that we receive”. If it was the other way around, meaning that selfishness could bring happiness, the Divine Laws would be at jeopardy. So, let’s hunger to help the hungry! The Bezerra de Menezes food pantry is one of the many ways we could help so many desperate people

looking for so little.

By Gilberto Rustice

MBA,MS in Couples and Family Therapy. Spiritist for more than 40

years.

Divided into those that need help and those that help the needy, that would get us

closer to God, because we’ll be in compliance with His First Commandment.

“These are natural laws. Man cannot cheat them for they operate inexorably. The more good we do, the better we are. The more we fail to help others,

the worse we are. “ Maurice Barbanell

promised by the magazine sweepstakes: a 40 foot yacht, deluxe motor home, private housekeeper? Anyone who has seen Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous knows as much. “Whoever said money can’t buy happiness isn’t spending it

right,” proclaimed a Lexus ad.

Well, are rich people happier? Researchers have found that in poor countries, such as Bangla-desh, being relatively well off does make for greater well-being. We need food, rest, shel-

ter, social contact.

But a surprising fact of life is that in countries where nearly everyone can afford life’s neces-sities, increasing affluence mat-ters surprisingly little. The cor-relation between income and happiness is “surprisingly weak,” observed University of Michigan

DDDD oes money buy happiness? Not! Ah, but would a little more money make us a little happier? Many of us smirk and nod. There is, we believe, some connection between fiscal fitness and feeling fantastic. Most of us tell Gallup that, yes, we would like to be rich. Three in four entering American colle-gians—nearly double the 1970 proportion—now consider it “very important” or “essential” that they become “very well off

financially.” Money matters.

It’s the old American dream: life, liberty, and the purchase of happiness. “Of course money buys happiness,” writes Andrew Tobias. Wouldn’t anyone be happier with the indulgences

researcher Ronald Inglehart in one 16-nation study of 170,000 people. Once comfortable, more money provides diminishing returns. The second piece of pie, or the second $100,000, never tastes as good as

the first.

Even lottery winners and the Forbes’ 100 wealthiest Americans (when surveyed by University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener) have ex-pressed only slightly greater happi-ness than the average American. Making it big brings temporary joy. But in the long run wealth is like health: Its utter absence can breed misery, but having it doesn’t guar-antee happiness. Happiness seems less a matter of getting what we

want than of wanting what we have.

One has to wonder, what’s the point? “Why,” wondered the prophet Isaiah, “do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not sat-isfy?” What’s the point of accumu-lating stacks of unplayed CD’s, clos-ets full of seldom worn clothes, garages with luxury cars—all pur-chased in a vain quest for an elusive joy? And what’s the point of leaving significant inherited wealth to one’s heirs, as if it could buy them happi-ness, when that wealth could do so

much good in a hurting world?

As we enter the new millennium more and more people are asking such questions. A new American dream is taking shape. Having se-cured our human rights and achieved affluence, we now long for connection and purpose. We seek better balance between our needs for independence and attachment, liberty and civility, me-thinking and we-thinking. Such transformation in consciousness has happened be-

fore, and it could happen again.

Prof. David Meyers

Excerpts from his book, The American Paradox: Spiritual Hun-

This is no new teaching. It has been taught through the ages by seers, prophets, saints and mystics. Spiritualism proves it. The purpose of life is not to enrich us materially at the expense of others. If we do, in reality we are the poorest of all—poor in spirit and

character.

Opportunities for service come to each one of us, irrespective of our lot or position in life. We can be kind to others no matte-

whether we are princes or paupers.

Spiritualism is the declared enemy of mate-rialism. It proves that man survives death by natural law of the universe. It provides mankind with a religion founded not on faith,

or fear, but on knowledge.

Spiritualism demonstrates that God is the “Father” of all people. God is not a Christian, Jew, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Buddhist, or a Spiritualist. Nor is God even an Englishman, as some people seem to

think!

Whether you are orthodox or agnostic, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, a cabinet minister or a crossing sweeper, dictator or peasant, you cannot alter the law of cause and effect as it operates in your life. That is

the great message of Spiritualism.

Because you are a spirit you survive death. And because you are a spirit you are alive today. The spirit within you, which causes you to live, is the same spirit that animates every member of every nation, of every race and of every color. Spiritually, the people of the world are one. Spiritualism reveals the spiritual ones of all mankind. God has made us all members of one vast

spiritual family.

When that fact is understood and applied in human, national and international life, war will be driven from the face of the earth. Man will have learned not to kill his spiritual

brother.

Properly understood, Spiritualism will be-come one of the greatest forces for good in the world. When its truths have spread far and wide, and the majority of people accept its teachings and regulate their lives ac-

cordingly, a new era will dawn for humanity.

By Maurice Barbanell

Wealth, Well-being, and the New

plays the guitar and his wife the violin for them while waiting. More often, one of our volunteers, acting as motivational speaker, reads and makes comments about family, anti-depression techniques, love as a healer, etc. Most of the clients really pay attention and enjoy this

time.

As volunteers in the BM Food Pan-try we experience many opportuni-ties to work towards our inner transformation, educating our feelings and emotions, besides helping our brothers and sisters in need. That is the greatest benefit that we can get from it. There is no school or post graduate pro-gram that would be able to rou-tinely push you to be more patient,

tolerant,

and empathetic with the personal crises of others. We become well versed in human nature and body language. Sometimes we suffer the attacks of cruel and selfish people that out of desperation throw blades through their mouths, pushing us to desist, to abandon the cause, but that’s when faith and love for what we do comes and protects us. Many smiles and grateful words we receive too, most of them undeserved because it is not just us, it is many of us in both planes of the spiritual realm, working together to help while

being helped.

Luis Salazar Coordinator

BM Food Pantry

Happening…. (cont'd from page 1 )

A New Era for Humanity Page 4