One thing that has always bothered me is the Sunday the pastor decides to talk about finances. Rather than give a homily about the gospel or explain how we can live by the Bible’s standards in today’s world, he talks about money. Specifically how much he expects us to cough up for the diocese.

The pastor starts with a joke that isn’t funny and proceeds to tell us all about what the diocese has determined is our “fair share” to donate during this year’s appeal. It used to be the Thanksgiving Appeal and then the Mission Appeal. I don’t know what it is now, probably because I’ve tuned out once the “fair share” has been revealed. The thing is, we (the church community) have pledged tons of money for improvements on and building additions to our church. Our “fair share” has been given repeatedly.

But my biggest beef is that we receive weekly updates on how much we “owe” and that we need to keep giving in addition to regular church gifts and special collections BUT we never get any updates on where the money goes. How much there actually is and what it is used for is a mystery.

Recently, the pastor retired and a new one was assigned. He inserts statements that outline all of the church’s income and expenses. Finally. Transparency.

In business, it is incredibly valuable to have a transparent organization. Let’s talk about management transparency. Employees want to know what management is doing. They want to know that management understands what they are asking of their workers and that they have experience and the ability to advise them accordingly. This kind of transparency leads to significant increases in employee job satisfaction and the ability of the company to attract top talent.

Management transparency has been studied and proven to be the number one factor in employee happiness and job satisfaction. The best news is that it costs nothing to implement.

As far as financial transparency, when comparing two companies, assuming they are very much the same, transparency can be the determining factor in success. If one of the companies offers clear, concise reports of their finances, and the other has more complicated and unclear reports, investors will likely be attracted to the transparent company. The more opaque financial company will be less attractive because investors are less likely to feel confident with the information being provided to them.

Financial statements that are vague and appear to be withholding information on debt or other information that is crucial to investors are likely to be in trouble. If the company’s risks are unclear, potential investors may shy away from it to protect themselves from the unknown.

Investors are seeking simplicity and honesty. If they know where a company is in terms of making money and how they are spending it, the more confident they feel about investing their hard-earned dollars.

Put yourself in the employee chair or the investor seat. Look at your company. Do you see things clearly or are there shadows in the way of a clear picture?

The Millennial Generation is the generation of children born of Baby Boomers, brought up with overwhelming mass media and technology. They also have not, through our mistakes as their parents, learned the value of hard work.

If you have a millennial child, you probably set out with the best of intentions. You bought them the latest toys, made sure they had all of the things that you didn’t have as a child. You wanted them to be happy.

If they participated in a sport or activity, sometimes the teams didn’t keep score. Sometimes nobody was “out”. Everybody had a chance to participate and every single kid got a trophy when they were finished. There were no losers.

I’m not sure why we went along with this, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. As our kids get older, the effects don’t seem quite as appealing. They have a sense of entitlement and don’t want to take on responsibility. They don’t realize that they can fail. They are materialistic, yet unrealistic about the behaviors needed in the workplace to earn the money to make the purchases.

These children get to college and simply expect to have the diploma handed to them. Working for the grades is optional. It is more important to focus on themselves and what they want than on anything else. They have been referred to as “Generation Me”.

My children are of this generation. Now, as they are in high school and college, I am seeing some of these characteristics. However, we tried to balance the “everybody wins” with “hard work equals success”. In some things it worked; in other ways it did not.

My oldest has learned that he has to work for good grades and that good grades will equal a better job. A better job means he will be able to afford an apartment and still be able to eat out once in a while. He has worked throughout his college career and I can see that he finally gets it. My youngest wants it all. He wants it now. And he does not want to have to clean his room, mow the lawn, or basically do anything but text his friends to get it. We’re working on that.

But Millennials aren’t all narcissistic materialists. They have good qualities as well. They are more tolerant of differences in people. They are supportive of gay rights. They are open-minded. They can be confident and interested in ways to make a difference in this world.

Sociologists can debate all they want if these kids are all one way or all another, but the bottom line is that, as their family, we need to make sure they have a good moral compass. We need to teach them the relationship between hard work and reward. We need to teach them that not every player on the team gets to play and only a few will get trophies. We need to teach them that life keeps score.

It is never too late to talk about this. Open the communication and try not to get frustrated. And if you are raising your children now… make sure the team they play on keeps score.

Arizona lawmakers took a drastic step on February 20, 2014, when they sent The Religious Freedom Restoration Act to Governor Jan Brewer (R) for her approval and signature into law.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was originally a federal act of Congress to protect freedom of religion. Currently, Arizona is seeking to build upon the Act to interpret it in a way it was not originally intended: potentially to allow businesses to refuse to serve members of the gay community.

This was prompted by two major events. Obama’s birth control mandate, in which employers must offer birth control methods within their health plans was the first event. The second was a case in New Mexico in which a photographer refused to work a gay wedding due to her religious beliefs. Because the original RFRA was understood to only apply to cases in which the government is one party in a lawsuit, Arizona has chosen to add some specifics to their State version of the law.

Arizona’s main new provisions to the RFRA would include coverage of “any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, religious assembly, or institution or other business organization.” It also states that a violation of religious freedom can be declared “regardless of whether the government is a party to the proceeding.” The last major change proclaims that a violation of religious freedom must be confirmed by three points: “That the person's action or refusal to act is motivated by a religious belief; that the person's religious belief is sincerely held; that the state action substantially burdens the exercise of the person's religious beliefs."

The first two provisions appear to be protection of rights of religious freedom from a broad perspective. The third demands “proof” of true violation of a violation of a religious belief.

Now this is where the problems lie: interpretation. There has been much debate over the changes and the discrimination of businesses, particularly recent cases of vendors for wedding services (photographers, bakeries, etc.) invoking RFRA as a reason to deny their services to gay people.

Some say that the new bill will actually make lawsuits more difficult. Others say that it gives businesses freedom to discriminate against homosexuals.

Conservatives may be using this to “shore up” their constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that is being appealed and continuing to be struck down at the federal level. Critics of the bill state that this version of the RFRA would make it easy for businesses to manipulate workplace situations by citing religious reasons. Discrimination could run rampant against more than just gays.

The bigger picture is the separation of church and state. Should the government be deciding that businesses can make decisions based on religious beliefs that knowingly deny basic human rights? Should any human being be denied service by a business because of some perception that by serving them, the businesses’ religious beliefs are being violated?

Other than skin color and the obvious gay couple looking for weddings, will businesses in Arizona now be asking for proof that citizens are not atheists? This bill leaves so many openings for abuse; perhaps more examination is in order by all parties.

The holiday season is here and as much as we try to associate it with family and celebration, it often becomes all about the gifts. Gift-giving is expected, but why not give it a little twist? Why not give gifts from companies that give?

We’ve talked about TOMS on this site, but since then they have expanded and added a Marketplace to their website. The Marketplace is a platform for entrepreneurs to sell their products as well as make donations to different social causes. As an example, a Love Bracelet with a gorgeous bronze pendant with the Ethiopian word for “love” on it is only $30, yet provides a 6 month salary for a teacher in Ethiopia. Jewelry, accessories, bags, apparel, tech, and more are searchable by gift, cause, region, or brand. This is a great way to give two gifts in one.

You can even find gifts for kids that keep on giving. The One World Futbol Project offers a nearly indestructible ball that never needs to be pumped up, yet never goes flat. For each ball purchased, one is donated to organizations working with disadvantaged children. The cost? Only $40 and you have given a child a gift and a lesson in the power of giving.

For just about the same price as a Brita water filtering pitcher, you could purchase a more attractive SOMA glass carafe for filtering water. All purchases benefit Charity: Water to provide clean, safe drinking water to those in areas of need. The filters are compostable, made from coconut shells and silk, so you aren’t adding to landfills. Filters arrive via subscription with free shipping for life.

Every guy needs a rugged flashlight for emergency situations. Why not try the BOGOLIGHT? The solar powered flashlight provides 5 hours of light after each charge and with each purchase, one is provided to those in third world countries without electricity.

Baby Teresa follows the TOMS one-for-one model, selling baby outfits and then donating another of their 100% organic cotton outfits to a baby in need (usually in an orphanage) in one of 20 countries. Their line has expanded to bibs, blankets, hats, and packages for showers with full sets of items.

Whitten Grey puts a small twist in their giving style. When you purchase a dress for a girl on the site, you receive a code. This code can then be used to go online with the recipient and choose what color dress will be donated, what country it will go to, and even write a note to the girl who will receive the dress. What a fantastic lesson in giving! Make sure to include the code with the gift!

FIGS has a threads for threads program. The company provides scrubs for medical professionals. In impoverished countries, purchasing uniforms may be impossible. This can lead to the spread of disease instead of holiday cheer. The super-soft scrubs are needed to decrease hospital acquired infections. FIGS donates a set of scrubs to a healthcare provider in one of the countries that needs them for every pair purchased. Know someone in healthcare that would like the comfiest scrubs on the market AND the chance to help a fellow professional in need?

These are but a fraction of companies that offer ways to help others with your purchases. How wonderful to celebrating the season of giving by giving each gift twice!