Today we continue with a series of reflections on the shared values in Unitarian Universalism that were recently adopted by the UUA General Assembly  in 2024. The last four times I was with you, we looked at the values of interdependence, pluralism, justice, and transformation, and today I will be reflecting on the value of generosity.

In describing generosity in the UU Shared Values, the General Assembly adopted the following language: “We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.”

We can look to many ancient philosophical and theological resources on generosity: 

In Nicomachean Ethics, the ancient Greek philosopher  Aristotle categorized generosity as being one of a long list of moral virtues, and he saw it as the virtue related to the giving of money. As is the case with the other moral virtues, Aristotle viewed generosity as the mean between two extremes – in this case it is the mean between the excess of being profligate or wasteful and the deficiency of being stingy or miserly. 

In The Analects, the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius also characterized virtue as the mean between the extremes and saw the virtue of generosity as the mean between giving too much and giving too little.

Of course the mean as it relates to generosity for a particular individual is related to their financial means. Generosity for someone with little means will look different than generosity for someone who possesses great wealth. A poor person giving a dollar is more generous than a wealthy person giving the same or even a larger amount. And for those with great wealth, one could pose the challenge that part of what generosity entails is not taking more than one needs, which would significantly inhibit persons from accumulating great wealth in the first place. 

When we turn to religious views on generosity, we see that all of the major world religions emphasize the importance of giving to others, especially to those who are in need and those who are the most vulnerable within the community. Loving others is at the heart and core of the world’s religions, and generosity is a key part of our expression of love for others. 

Historically there is nothing very controversial about the importance of generosity, and there even seems to be significant cross-cultural consensus that generosity is indeed a moral virtue and that not being generous is a vice. This begs the question of why the virtue of generosity has not been practiced more fully in both the past and the present. 

Of course we know that historically generosity is often overwhelmed by greed as a small number of persons hoard their wealth and power to the detriment of the masses who are barely getting by, but for most of human history there has been agreement that greed is bad and generosity is good. And this has applied not only to the giving of money, but also to being generous with our love, time, attention, and service. 

Generosity is a virtue within human community, but the social aspect of generosity sadly often gets lost in the current hyper-individualism of our culture. Generosity is not only an individual virtue but is also a deeply communal commitment to the flourishing of all persons and the protection of the most vulnerable. All things considered, generosity is more about doing justice than it is about giving to charity. 

We have sometimes mistaken generosity as only being a virtue expressed by individuals rather than seeing that it is also expressed in systems within our society, and this has contributed to an increase in systemic meanness.

Along these lines, the virtue of generosity has been coopted by the wealthy who take much more than their share and then define generosity as charity, which most often ends up being only the crumbs from the table of their banquet of excess.

What tragically passes for generosity these days is the mega-rich, who have gained their wealth through the  exploitation of people and the planet, giving a small fraction of what they should being paying in taxes to charity.

For generosity to be expressed more fully in our society, I suggest we need to move beyond our highly individualistic understanding of generosity and embrace a vision of systemic generosity in the service of systemic justice. Systemic generosity satisfies the basic needs of all persons through the just systems that allow all persons to flourish, thus making the expression of generosity as individual giving to charity much less necessary. Systemic generosity is also much more stable and sustainable as it does not rely on the charitable whims of individuals, which are often limited by their individual interests and focused on persons who are part of what they consider to be their ‘in group’ as opposed to persons who may be viewed as other. 

Finally, our reflections on the virtue of generosity cannot be complete without considering the importance of being generous to future generations. We owe future generations an opportunity to flourish, and this means we have a moral responsibility to give of ourselves generously so that future generations might enjoy peace, equitable prosperity, justice, a healthy environment, and a livable climate for all. 

If there is any hope for building beloved community both in the present and the future, the cultivation of the virtue of generosity, in both its individual and systemic expressions, is a critical part of the project for the well being of all life in our one world house.