Sadly, one has to wonder why the Obamas' giving only began to reach any meaningful level once they began to run for public office. Was it because they knew it would now be scrutinized by the public eye?

Generous giving has changed my life. In fact, the happiest, most joyful people I encounter are also the most generous. There is a direct correlation. Stinginess makes miserable, critical people. Generosity breeds joy, selflessness, and grace. Jesus was right: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Your heart follows your money. Not vice-versa. Be generous and your heart will grow outward; be selfish with your money, and your heart will become increasingly Grinch-esque.

Even more remarkable, your level of income has nothing to do with it, but the percentage of income given does. Oseola McCarty is no exception; she is the rule. Poorer people actually give a higher percentage of their incomes to charity than wealthy persons. AND persons who give higher percentages of their incomes, regardless of their wealth level, report higher levels of life happiness and satisfaction. My own experience, in my twenty years as a pastor, confirms these studies. Joyful people are generous people. Stingy people are critical and selfish.

I could not help but notice the contrast this week. We now have the stingiest presidential team in the past forty years while a new American record for generosity appears to be being set. Over the past month, nine American colleges and universities, including the University of Southern Mississippi, have received anonymous gifts totaling over $45MM. Purdue University received the largest ($8MM), while UNC-Asheville, Penn State-Harrisburg, Norfolk State, and others all received gifts of more than $1MM.Many of these gifts are the largest ever received by these schools. A record-setting occurrence of generosity.

Even more amazing each school has no idea who made the gift. And they were required to sign statements binding them never to investigate who had generously supported them and invested in their scholarship funding. The giver(s) want to remain completely anonymous.

The contrast could not be more clear. Our President gives only when he knows others will be watching. And our Vice-President does not give at all. Meanwhile, a generous American, perhaps an individual or a group or a foundation, gives in abundance with a great desire not to be known. The focus is on the gift and the good done.

Jesus would be proud, I think. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Clearly, generosity is alive and well in America. For the evidence, one need only look to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, rather than to Washington, D.C.