A Resounding Woe To Wealthy Misers

"She gave all she had." The Widow's Mite, by James Tissot

In a column by Mona Charen in yesterday's Daily News-Record, she notes that Bernie Sanders, who has consistently railed against the richest 1% in America, has himself become one of them. His best selling book, "Our Revolution," earned him royalties that resulted in his having a total income of over a million dollars last year.

You would think that Sanders, known for his advocacy for the poor, would be a model of generosity, but not so. His tax returns listed only 3.4% of his earnings going for charitable giving. I experienced some of the same disappointment learning of the Obama's less than lavish giving prior to his presidency. According to his tax returns, he and Michelle gave 1% of their income to charity in 2000 and had increased that to 6% by 2006. To their credit, they gave away over $1 million during their time in the White House, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

But what's wrong with millionaire's who fail the generosity test? And what's wrong with the rest of us who are among the top 5% of the world's wealthiest people?

In that same column, Charen notes the following charitable donations among other presidential hopefuls:

Beto O'Rourke: One third of 1% of his 2017 income 

Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Kristen Gilebrand: Less than 2%

By contrast, the late R.G. LeTourneau, highly successful manufacturer of heavy construction equipment, is said to have given 90% of his income to faith-based and other charities, and lived on the "tithe" or 10% of what was left. And multi-billionaires like Bill and Malinda Gates and Warren Buffett are known as extravagant givers, though what they keep for themselves is still sure to be far more than needed.

In a well known account in the gospels, Jesus commends a poor widow who inconspicuously drops two mites (about a fifth of a man's average hourly wage) into the temple treasury, in contrast to those who made a show of giving much more, but who experienced no real sacrifice in doing so. For her, it was her very living.

If we really want to get God's attention, we'll want to learn from the good widow's example.