Do Your Good Deeds Quietly

That's how I was raised. To this day, when a store is running one of those charity campaigns where they have the little shamrocks or hearts or pink ribbons that they post all over the store with the names of the people who donated, I find it a little unseemly. I always refuse to put my name down. You do your good works quietly. You don't boast. You don't seek recognition. To do so ruins the entire point.

Jesus told a parable "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself : 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people : swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week ; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner !' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other ; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

To me, getting your name posted on a wall for a trivial act of charity is exalting yourself.

A recent story was Police ID mystery boy who donated savings of $10.03. Apparently the boy just non-chalantly walked in with his bag of change, said he wanted to give a donation to the police and walked out before the desk clerk could get his name.

So they posted their video surveillance of him on YouTube and Facebook to try to find someone who could identify him. OK. First -- creepy! You can't even make a quiet donation without the police tracking you down and making a big deal about it? They publicly ID'd and thanked him. I think this sends the wrong message to the kid. Charity isn't something you do expecting recognition and for people to tell you how wonderful you are. You do it because it's the right thing to do. That seems to be why he did it in the first place, and by making a big deal out of it, they risk making it more about the congratulations than the act itself.

Fortunately the kid seems to be taking it the right way, and still seems to be focused on the value of the giving. You get that kind of attitude from being raised right, not from getting pats on the back from police chiefs.