Overview
The Association of The Emerald Heart was founded in January 2006 based on guidance from the Spirit Guides of The Emerald Heart Light. However, many facets of The Association were being prepared prior to this. One of these facets was Tithing.

What is Tithing?
To Tithe, is to give away One Tenth of your income.

This is the portion which God expects you to put back into the Spiritual Pot in exchange for what you have received from it. A pretty good deal we think.

What is God?
The answer to this question is Who Knows?

Quite simply, when incarnated into a human body our consciousness is too limited for most of us to even contemplate the vastness of such a concept as God or God Consciousness. An all pervading power of light and consciousness which can be acknowledged within every atom of matter. We are just too small and too limited to form a comprehension of something this immense.

Why Ask this Question?
When you begin to work with The Emerald Heart, you will begin to experience expansion. Your consciousness will begin to expand and open perceptions which you will find amaze you. At some point you will have to realise that you have been chosen to work with something far more intelligent than you are. Something which has unlimited power to bring about change to people’s lives and to show you what you need to see in order to evolve.

You will find that you need a word or phrase to describe this thing that is working through you and there are many terms which can be found to identify with the All That Is.

The Universe; The Universal Mind; Oneness; The Great Spirit; The Lord of all Creation; Unity; Universal Consciousness; The Creative Force, etc.,  and of course, each individual God, Gods or Deities of the various religions of the world.

It doesn’t matter at all what term you use, because that almighty consciousness of unity will know your thoughts anyway. Merely use what feels right to you.

From Dave’s own perspectives which have evolved through his own experiences, he prefers to use the term God. He says. “It is a simple word and everyone knows what it means.”

History of Tithing
There are many references to giving one tenth of income throughout the Bible, and there is even controversy about if this was a God given Law or not. Early references in the Old Testament of the Bible refer to Abram, giving a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, King of Salem. When we move on to Jacob, according to the translations, he struck a deal with God in which he asks God to look after his needs of food, clothing and safe passage and in return he will give a tenth of everything back to God.

The Birth of Our Tithe
Tithing began for us after David had a dream featuring Jacob from the Bible in summer 2005. The following morning he looked up Jacob in the Bible and understood from the dream that he was to begin Tithing from his income. All Dave’s income comes as a result of working at a high spiritual level with the gifts and talents which have developed through spiritual guidance. A number of other insights followed the dream in which David was guided to set up certain legal and businesslike structures and in all it took about 18 months before we were able to begin tithing proper.

To Whom or What do you Give Your Tithe?
You give your Tithe back to your Spiritual Source, the Source which has illuminated or uplifted your life or brought you guidance or evolution in some way.

Therefore, if you received your Spiritual Inspiration from a teacher, a religion, a church or some kind of spiritual organisation, then that is where it is appropriate to return your Tithe. Essentially, you give back to the source of your inspiration; or uplift that which uplifted you.

However, there is a proviso to this. You only give it back to this source if they have a mechanism to use it for the continued benefit, growth, inspiration or empowerment of others, or to charities or projects which can do the same. If it is the case that your Source of Inspiration cannot use the money to continue to uplift life in any way, then you find charities or projects to give your Tithe to.

If you are moving through different sources of inspiration or empowerment, then give your Tithe according to what you are receiving at the time. It is all just common sense really.

It is the ability to give without fear which fuels your ability to garner more from the Universal Flow. Getting into the flow is one of the keys to success in life, and when you are in the flow, you absolutely know it.

The Focus for The Emerald Heart Tithe
The Emerald Heart Light has been given to us directly from a higher source via Spirit Guidance. As such, it is impossible for us to return our Tithe to that source. Therefore, we are given guidance as to where to place our Tithe based on the nature of The Emerald Heart.

The Emerald Heart Light is a Light for Evolution. The Evolution of Human Consciousness in particular, and everything within the sphere of planet Earth. Therefore, we are guided to support projects, charitable or otherwise, of an evolutionary nature.

What is Evolution?
Evolution is a raising up of consciousness, a continually evolving theme of life within life; an inexorable burgeoning from one base position to the next, allowing humans to constantly perceive at a higher conscious level.

These are the categories we support with Our Tithe?

  The Earth            The Animals       The People

Humans... are The Problem
Man is custodian of the planet and all the kingdoms therein. Therefore, most problems which present themselves will have a human element to them. For example:

• The Whales are only dying out because man is killing them.
• The Olive Groves of Palestine are only disappearing because of war.
• The Rain Forest is only being cut down through greed.

So, you can see that the animal and plant kingdoms are directly affected by the actions of humans. Humans are always the problem. Humans are the cancer of this beautiful planet.

If Humans are the Problem then Evolution is the Solution
When The Guides say that we can only apply our Tithe to projects of an Evolutionary Nature, we are often looking at projects which change the thinking of humans to solve the problem of the other two categories. Without humans, the earth and the animals wouldn’t have a problem.

The answer is not the domination and rape of nature, but respect and interaction with the natural world through care and understanding. Evolution is understanding that all systems are reliant on other systems. The whole works perfectly when in balance. We all need each other and we all need the systems which were here when man arrived on the planet. It is a mutual support system. We give to the other systems so that they can give back to us. This is custodianship and requires careful husbandry to prosper so that all may prosper.

Our First Experience of Tithing to a Charity
When The Guides of The Emerald Heart first instructed us to begin Tithing, Charitable Projects began to appear on the horizon. However, we were to have a rude awakening when we began to look at them in detail.

The first charity we targeted for a donation was featured on a mainstream radio program and had also had very high profile cover on television a few months earlier, along with a couple of famous television personalities lending their support. We offered a four figure sum to their project and asked in return to see photos of the project and the people who would benefit so that we could share the information with our readers.

The Charity, far from being enthusiastic at the prospect of receiving our money, were full of excuses as to why they couldn’t explain how and where the money would be spent, explaining that they were a very small charity. Email correspondence was entered into and we pointed out that a few photos from a digital pocket sized camera and a few words to share with our readers would give us all we needed. This was met by more excuses. We considered that the smaller the charity, the more easily they would find it possible to interact with their donors. It would appear that we were wrong in this case.

The Feel Good Factor
I didn’t have a good feel about these people. Every part of my being was telling me that this felt wrong. Do I really want to give my money to an organisation which doesn’t appreciate it, I thought? Well, no I don’t. I want to give my money to a project where people welcome it and make you feel a valued part of the organisation. It is called giving your supporters the ‘Feel Good Factor’. Personally, I want to feel good that I’ve helped in some way and I want to share that feeling to uplift and inspire others to help too.

Clearly, The Guides had brought this project to us as a lesson so that we could begin to discern what was really going on out there.  We didn’t pursue the matter and they didn’t contact us again.

The Evolution of Charitable Projects
The more we looked for projects with openness, clarity and accountability, the more we found organisations who were loathe to explain themselves. So, we asked for Guidance on this and The Guides came back to us with a message which said…

• “You have seen the problem. It is time for Charities to Evolve.”

The Guides then helped us by laying down a criteria which charities or projects must meet in order to be considered for our Tithe. They also gave us the reasons why. Read on and learn.

Why Charities Must Evolve
Laying down a criteria to be met felt a little like throwing down a gauntlet to the charities. It felt like we were saying, if you want our money, show us you are worth it. At first this seemed a little harsh, but as The Guides gave us more information we began to see that what we were doing was yet more evolutionary work. Through our criteria the charities were being challenged to evolve; and as we who work in the field of Spiritual Evolution know, without challenge, you don’t evolve! Nothing changes by chance.

We were being guided to help charities to see that if they change the way they work, they will accumulate much more support for their projects. By adopting some very simple strategies they will open themselves up to a conscious shift in the way they work and this conscious shift will then generate a much more cohesive flow of energy into every aspect of their work, ultimately realising a much higher potential for success.

A Snapshot of Charities Today
The nature of much charity work at present is that it is distant from the donors. There is no interaction or feedback with the supporters and little or nothing in the way of ongoing information about the activities of the charity or its operatives in the field. They bite the hand that feeds them and they leave their supporters with the ‘Feel Bad Factor,’ and that is exactly how we felt when we tried to make our first donation.

We have seen many cases in the media of disaster victims not receiving the money which the public have donated. The money gets bound up in committees and governments and fails to get to the people which it is intended for. Worse than that, some governments offer aid and then don’t deliver it.

Extract from BBC Newsnight Programme December 2006
BBC Newsnight's investigation into tsunami funds was aired at 2230GMT on Tuesday 19 December 2006, almost two years after the tsunami. They quoted the UN DAD database figures for what governments had so far donated against what they had pledged. Newsnight said “When we contacted them (UN DAD) they said ‘all the figures are confirmed, therefore you can be sure they are accurate’.”

• Spain promised $60m and delivered less than $1m.
• France pledged $79m and came up with just over $1m.
• The Chinese promised $301m - and delivered - just $1m.

In the Maldives, Kuwait allocated just under $10m but they have yet to spend a single cent and in Indonesia America promised over $400m and so far has delivered less than $70m.

You can see the problem. It is bad enough that those in positions of power fail to deliver their promises, but even worse is that ordinary good citizens give money and then this becomes tied up in dark force bureaucracy and denied the light of day to the project. It has to stop and it has to change.

Responsibility and Accountability
In our particular learning experience there was little or no accountability of where the money went.

In this modern age of electronic communication, it is not difficult to keep the world informed of your activities. With notebook computers supported by pocket digital cameras, it is easy to make a daily or weekly report of activities. These can then be posted onto a website or web log on a regular basis, even in the most remote of places. There is no excuse in this modern age to be out of touch anywhere in the world. If charities are to become more successful, then they need to learn how to work with their supporters.

For our part, at The Emerald Heart, we want to be proud of our achievements. We want to show the world what our money is doing for the Earth, the Animals and the People on a very personal level. Most importantly, we then want to be able to share the good news in words and pictures with others so that they can become inspired at how easy it can be to help the world evolve.

Feedback and the Feel Good Factor
It is time for charities to appreciate that with this kind of approach, those who read of the success will also want to be part of the success. People will be more inclined to contribute and support charity work if they can see the results of their efforts on a personal level. In this way, our initial contribution becomes a catalyst for further contributions as many others see how such a small personal effort can bring so much to others in a less fortunate position.

Many people do want to make a difference in the world and the way to achieve this is through interaction. Feedback gives people the feel-good factor. It makes them feel appreciated. If somebody sends you a card of thanks, how does it make you feel? It makes you feel good that somebody took the trouble to think about you and then made the effort to let you know!

When you give people feedback, they truly feel a part of what is going on and they feel proud to have been a part of something which is truly making a change for the better in our world. When people are proud of something, they want to tell others and as the good news spreads, so the support increases.

It’s all about feeling involved, feeling appreciated and feeling you have really helped to change something for the better. It is the Feel Good Factor. It takes very little effort to make someone feel special and this is what charities and projects need to begin to understand.

Our First Project
It took us almost twelve months of investigation and research to learn these lessons and to what kind of projects we should apply our Tithe and why. The Guides also gave us the Criteria for projects to meet. By November 2006 we had everything in place and we funded our first project three weeks later.

• You can read about this in Our Projects
• If you want to apply for funding see Funding Criteria