Secret Giving
When I was a young college pastor, part of my job was to visit the elder members of the congregation. I will never forget meeting Alice. She was 85, small and frail, and lived in a large house with a huge yard. Her deceased husband had been the church custodian.
One day someone told me that Alice was upset because the landlord had increased the rent on the house she had lived in for over 30 years.
I immediately drove to her home, filled with righteous indignation and the resolve to defend this helpless woman against the greed of an unkind landlord. When no one answered my knock, I walked around the house where I found Alice gardening. I greeted her and said, “I hear that your rent has been increased and I am concerned.” I asked her what her current rent was and how much it had increased. Alice told me that her monthly rent had increased by one dollar. I learned that she was paying only $26 a month.
I was flabbergasted and also full of gratitude for this good Samaritan landlord who had obviously been watching over her for decades. I said, “Alice, don’t worry about it. You will be okay. Both God and your landlord care for you.”
I walked away thinking of how quick we are to assume we understand someone’s circumstances or what is going on when, in reality, we do not. How little do any of us know of the good things so many people do quietly, with no fanfare, and often anonymously?
God prefers to work in secret. You must let that mystery of God’s secrecy, God’s anonymity, sink deeply into your consciousness because, otherwise, you’re continually looking at it from the wrong point of view. In God’s sight the things that really matter seldom take place in public…. Maybe, while we focus our whole attention on the VIPs and their movements, on peace conferences and protest demonstrations, it’s the totally unknown people, praying and working in silence, who make God save us yet again from destruction. Henri Nouwen[1]
These are numerous nameless good Samaritans that, unseen to us, permeate our society and make it better. Whether it is giving money, time, or gifts of service the principle remains the same:
But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing; give in complete secrecy. Matthew 6:3
Let us remember the power and witness of giving without credit or recognition, but rather, secretly, and as quiet acts of kindness.
Blessings
Tom