This slogan points to one thread in a complex knot: Giving and taking. I had to think again of the famous saying by Jesus: "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" (Matthew 6:3–4). I would put it a bit differently: give and forget about it. Don't expect any reward, just do it because it is the right thing to do.
Maybe all our activities can be seen in that light. We may be giving time and attention and care besides money or gifts and expect some reward but the work should be its own reward. Of course it is vital that effort is acknowledged in some way, but that should not be the main motive for something.
I worked many years as a librarian, in a basement. Having to catalogue books could be a real challenge. There are specific rules one has to follow, and sometimes I spent hours with a book trying to find out informations about the author or publisher, or I grappled with a book in several volumes which all looked differently. It took a lot of time and thinking to catalogue some books, but nobody except another librarian would ever appreciate the effort that had been necessary to solve that problem because in the end there was just another entry in the catalogue like thousands of others. No fireworks, when it was done, no public proclamation of gratitude. I did, what I did, because it was my job, and I took some pride in my work even if nobody else could see that it was good.
I guess my time as a librarian was good practice because I was generous with my attention to detail. There are so many ways to be generous just because it is the right thing to be.
This slogan points to one thread in a complex knot: Giving and taking. I had to think again of the famous saying by Jesus: "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" (Matthew 6:3–4). I would put it a bit differently: give and forget about it. Don't expect any reward, just do it because it is the right thing to do.
Maybe all our activities can be seen in that light. We may be giving time and attention and care besides money or gifts and expect some reward but the work should be its own reward. Of course it is vital that effort is acknowledged in some way, but that should not be the main motive for something.
I worked many years as a librarian, in a basement. Having to catalogue books could be a real challenge. There are specific rules one has to follow, and sometimes I spent hours with a book trying to find out informations about the author or publisher, or I grappled with a book in several volumes which all looked differently. It took a lot of time and thinking to catalogue some books, but nobody except another librarian would ever appreciate the effort that had been necessary to solve that problem because in the end there was just another entry in the catalogue like thousands of others. No fireworks, when it was done, no public proclamation of gratitude. I did, what I did, because it was my job, and I took some pride in my work even if nobody else could see that it was good.
I guess my time as a librarian was good practice because I was generous with my attention to detail. There are so many ways to be generous just because it is the right thing to be.