Article April 8, 1985 Issue

Meeting our tax obligations

DEANNA J. ELSOM

Each year when the time comes to pay our taxes, it is easy to feel inundated with demands on our funds. Taxation seems to hit us from every angle—sales tax, income tax, property tax. Some may feel strongly that taxes are too high, unfairly distributed, or unnecessary.

Whatever our opinion of taxes, there is a way of approaching the question that puts individual taxation into a whole new perspective. It means we replace the assumption that there are too many demands on our personal funds with a spiritual realization: that man is God's infinitely supplied reflection. As we grasp something of what this implies, we will be better able to realize that we can meet these and any other obligations in a right way. We see more clearly how to follow Christ Jesus' example in demonstrating his teachings. Basic to these teachings is the fact that our true—our spiritual—selfhood is the man of God's creating, unfettered by a sense of frustration or lack.

Matthew tells us that when Christ Jesus was with Peter in Galilee, those who collected the temple tax came to ask for their tribute money. Jesus used the occasion to teach a lesson about the true nature of our obligations. But he went on to pay the tax, right then and there. And in doing so Jesus proved the substantive nature of spiritual supply. He said to Peter, "Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."^{Matt. 17:27.} The healing example of the Christ, Truth, is present right now to bless and guide us.