At Joey's

tees: from the mimsey collection

map: courtesy of the mta

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"Tiding?" She was a careworn middle aged woman with a New Delhi accent working in a store I had obviously been led to. My outing that day was to 34th Street to see if I could find some inexpensive souvenir tees to donate to Jan Hus Church's homeless outreach. I was standing in front of a window which clearly displayed, "t-shirts two for a dollar." I rubbed my eyes to make sure I had seen correctly. Even with my deplorable math skills I knew that translated to 50 cents apiece. Ten dollars would go a long way. I went inside and discovered more tables piled high with tees, one with a sign, "1 Dollar." These were decorated in a variety of New York themes. I said to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice for a homeless person to have a brand new t-shirt with a design of the city that was helping him or her get a foothold in society? I grabbed eight of the plain black fifty centers and four of the New York. On the way to the counter I saw a winter cap for a dollar and three pairs of cozy socks for two. Why not stretch the budget a teense while I was there? As I placed my purchases in front of the cashier I said, "This is wonderful! This can be part of my tithing." She stopped to ask what "tiding" was. I said,"It's what you give to God each month, the first part of anything you receive--money, time, gifts. God doesn't need it, of course, but it's a lesson in priorities. God first." She was intrigued by the idea so I told her the shirts would go to homeless outreach. I continued, "When I lived in Eureka, California where there was a large homeless population, I would buy from the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop and take the clothes over to the Friends (Quakers) Thrift Store but those were used clothes. With these I can donate brand new ones!" She was caught up in my excitement and asked, "What God is this?" I replied, "The God of All Things Known and Unknown." "Ah," she said, satisfied. I hoped for eavesdroppers as I waved goodbye with a, "See you next month!"

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..may the blessings of radical generosity be yours...