this may be the best idea I have ever had.

I may or may not have mentioned it here, but I have recently taken - at least for the time being - a side job as a section leader in a choir at a local (for values of local) Catholic church. I was assured by the director beforehand that the church doesn't mind hiring singers who are not Catholic, and previous non-Catholics have been welcomed by the choir with open arms. So as long as they don't mind that I'm up in the choir loft singing their songs but not saying their prayers or believing a word they say, I don't mind taking their money, you know?

And this week I finally did get a check for the first few services I sang there, which brought us current through the end of February and normally you get a whole month's worth of pay at once, so I've done two in March and March isn't over yet, etc. (There was some administrative confusion with their part-time staff, but that's all sorted.) So I have taken their money. I haven't been figuring these payments into my budget, intending to put it all straight into savings and leave it there, which is fine. But then this morning, I had the best idea ever.

Here's the thing. It's great that they don't mind that I'm not Catholic. But the first week I sang there happened to be the Sunday before the March for Life, so there were announcements about bus transport to the Mall in among their prayers. The next time I sang there happened to be the week the Bishops had sent a letter to be read in all congregations about the birth control exception compromise health care law business. And it suddenly occurred to me today, when I was contemplating depositing this check into my savings account: I'm going to tithe.

That is: ten percent of everything I earn from singing at Mass, I'm donating to Planned Parenthood.

I feel better about this than I can possibly tell you.