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Nov. 11th, 2003 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sylvarDISCLAIMER: This is not a rant. I think Jodi is a good person. Why else would I be marrying her?
This Sunday, Jodi was shocked to hear that I put two dollars in the envelope for church offerings. She thought it was way low; I explained it was all I had, and sometimes I put in a five, but I was never sure exactly what most people do or what was expected.
Then again, I once horrified my aunt when I offered a two-dollar tip on a haircut. I usually went to a six-dollar barber and tipped one, but I knew I was at a classier place so I doubled the tip. My aunt looked at me like I'd just blown my nose with the boss's necktie, and took a few more dollars from my hand and gave them to the hairdresser.
Jodi says she thought it was supposed to be a 10% tithe. If I ever give that much, I want to write a check and get a receipt for tax purposes! She thinks this is pure-dee tacky. I think it's good sense.
I'm also trying to make sense of Deuteronomy 14:25-26, which seems to be saying that I should offer this tithe to God by having a fancy dinner in God's honor. Which I don't object to -- I can see spending two days preparing a feast as a deliberate way to celebrate our blessings. (But I don't think I could spend 10% of my yearly income on it!) Or does this mean I should spend 10% of my income on eating out? I probably *do*.
And then there's 2 Corinthians 8:10-15, which seems to be saying I shouldn't worry about how to carve out an extra 10% from my budget, but I should actually go and set up their spare computer as a web and e-mail server instead of just talking about it.
I dunno; what are y'all's thoughts on all this?
This Sunday, Jodi was shocked to hear that I put two dollars in the envelope for church offerings. She thought it was way low; I explained it was all I had, and sometimes I put in a five, but I was never sure exactly what most people do or what was expected.
Then again, I once horrified my aunt when I offered a two-dollar tip on a haircut. I usually went to a six-dollar barber and tipped one, but I knew I was at a classier place so I doubled the tip. My aunt looked at me like I'd just blown my nose with the boss's necktie, and took a few more dollars from my hand and gave them to the hairdresser.
Jodi says she thought it was supposed to be a 10% tithe. If I ever give that much, I want to write a check and get a receipt for tax purposes! She thinks this is pure-dee tacky. I think it's good sense.
I'm also trying to make sense of Deuteronomy 14:25-26, which seems to be saying that I should offer this tithe to God by having a fancy dinner in God's honor. Which I don't object to -- I can see spending two days preparing a feast as a deliberate way to celebrate our blessings. (But I don't think I could spend 10% of my yearly income on it!) Or does this mean I should spend 10% of my income on eating out? I probably *do*.
And then there's 2 Corinthians 8:10-15, which seems to be saying I shouldn't worry about how to carve out an extra 10% from my budget, but I should actually go and set up their spare computer as a web and e-mail server instead of just talking about it.
I dunno; what are y'all's thoughts on all this?
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Date: 2003-11-12 09:31 am (UTC)And I suspect (in the vein of the excellent I only say this because I love you, q.v.) that her concern was in part a genuine spiritual concern because she knows I didn't grow up going to church.
She was raised Catholic, went to a Presbyterian church, went to a scary Baptist church that convinced her to
burnimmolate her secular-music CDs, decided eventually that wasn't such a good idea, and has been going mainly to Presbyterian churches since then.Her mom's priest was horrified to hear that our wedding won't be in a church. When Val explained that Jodi's not Catholic, he looked blank and asked "So... what is she?" I got the impression that he couldn't imagine any other religion other than Satanism. However, I don't believe this, as every priest I've met has been an extremely intelligent and thoughtful man.
"Non-parishable food"? ;)