In her endearing novel Pride and Prejudice, beloved author Jane Austen writes of a fictional clergyman, “Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man,” with “a very good opinion of himself.” For all his pretensions to piety, Mr. Collins does nothing in the novel to bless or help others; rather, he takes every opportunity to belittle those of a lower social standing, and he advises the father of a wayward daughter to “throw off your unworthy child from your affection for ever, and leave her to reap the fruits of her own heinous offence.” 1
Such overblown self-righteousness reminds us that those who really are good and who do the most good for others do so quietly. They don’t wear their goodness like a medal and call attention to their acts of charity or even bravery. In fact they usually prefer anonymity, content to let gratitude in the hearts of others be the only monument to their service.
Mother Teresa, who spent her life serving the poorest of the poor and doing good to all she met, felt no need to promote herself. When praised for her work, she said, “I’m just a little pencil in [God’s] hand.”2 She believed that “there should be less talk” and more action. “Take a broom and clean someone’s house,” she taught. “That says enough.”3
Those who leave a legacy of good deeds generally shun the limelight. They would rather modestly push a broom, or quietly bind up a wound, or lend a private shoulder to cry on than bask in adulation. The kindest actions and the best people are often unheralded by the clamorous and cynical public. Instead they receive the highest honors from those whose opinion really matters—from the people they serve and from God, who “seeth in secret.”4
Program #4066
1 (2003), 133, 69, 282.
2 No Greater Love (1997), 53.
3In The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living, comp. Jaya Chaliha and Edward Le Joly (1996), 390.