Very few
people pay their taxes
willingly. We try to find ways
around paying income tax. We
give to charities not because
we feel good about supporting
their cause but because we
benefit from lower taxes. Some
people give only to save.
Imagine a
different kind of society.
Imagine a place where people
knew their taxes provided good
roads, good schools, a fire
department and a recycling
service. Imagine people
believing so strongly in these
goals that they gladly paid
their taxes and even
contributed additional funds.
Imagine that as they paid taxes
each year, each person made a
statement renewing citizenship,
professing a belief in the
community’s goals and reverence
for its past. In such a
society, individuals would care
more for the community than for
themselves.
In the
Old Testament, Moses instructed
the people to perform this kind
of action. They prepared a
basket of their first fruits
and brought it to their
religious leader. There they
made a statement of faith,
beginning with, “My father was
a wandering Aramean.” They
recounted the history of God’s
interventions in the lives of
their ancestors. They
acknowledged their dependence
on the faith of their parents
and on the goodness of God.
Consequently, they brought
their gift in gratitude.
Did
everyone really do what Moses
asked? If they were like us,
probably not. But just imagine
- imagine if we did this as a
society - or as a church.
Written
by Paul Turner. Liturgy
Training Publications.
Copyright 2003, Archdiocese of
Chicago
