Good Deeds, ‘Big’ and ‘Small’

By Jinjer Greyshyius

I’m now well into the fifth decade of my life and with each passing day, I grow closer to my eventual return to, and meeting with, our Creator, when I will be made to face the record of all the deeds that I had done while on Earth.

If I reflect on the course of my life, I can come up with a long list of deeds that I have done that I shouldn’t have, and alongside this, another lengthy list, of deeds that I should have done but didn’t. Speaking of things I haven’t done so far but perhaps should have, I really can’t think of having done anything that might have brought about a substantial positive difference in the lives of a large number of people. For instance, I didn’t write an inspiring book that became a bestseller; I didn’t become a skilled professional like a doctor, nurse, pastor or counselor who brought hope and succor to hundreds, if not thousands; I didn’t set up a social work centre that transformed the living conditions of entire families; I didn’t establish a business that provided employment to many poor people. And so on. While I might have done some good deeds over the years, these have likely been ‘small’ in terms of scale and impact. As far as I am aware, I really haven’t done anything good that impacted the lives of a significantly big number of people in a major way.

So, does this mean that I should feel ashamed of what might seem a rather unimpressive life-record? Or, does it mean that I should try to console myself by telling myself that while I could have done much more good with my life than I actually did, I have at least done some good and that, therefore, I oughtn’t feel that much of my life so far has been spent in vain?

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Each of us is called upon to do good for others or for the world at large, and to do as much of it as we can. At the same time, each of us is a unique person, with unique sets of abilities, interests and resources. This being the case, the good that we are called upon to do is unique to each of us and cannot be identical with what anybody else is called upon to do. Someone’s abilities, interests, resources and circumstances may be geared for doing good by being a spiritual guide, for instance, while someone else’s abilities, interests, resources and circumstances could be geared for them to do good by being an entrepreneur or a scientist. One person’s abilities, interests, resources and circumstances may be such as to enable them to serve an entire community or country (such as by being a good leader), while another person’s abilities, interests, resources and circumstances may be sufficient for them to serve only their family and maybe a few neighbours at the most. Each of us is capable of doing good in a way that is unique to ourselves in terms of scale and sphere of activity.

What matters here is not so much the quantum of good that we do or the field in which we do it, but, rather, the intention behind our deeds, the sincerity with which we engage in them, and the effort that we put into them. This means that it is not necessarily true that someone who is supposedly doing good deeds on a big scale, for a large number of people, is actually doing so. Sometimes, deeds done ostensibly for the good of a vast number of people turn out to produce horrific evil instead, and on a massive scale. Recall, for instance, numerous revolutions in history spearheaded by egomaniacal men in the name of transforming an entire country by establishing a utopian political order or social system that led to immense loss of literally millions of precious lives. Think also of movements led by people who claimed to be doing God’s will for humankind that only resulted in unleashing hate, conflict, violence and oppression on a terrible scale.

Sometimes, evil parades under the garb of doing ostensibly good deeds for the many. One could probably cite numerous examples of people who claimed to be serving others on a vast scale (for instance, such as by supposedly working to transform an entire community, region or country through violent political activism) but who egregiously violated the rights of people in their own immediate contexts, such as in their own families and neighbourhoods. Some such people even indulged in many shocking sorts of wrongdoings in their personal life while at the same projecting themselves as being dedicated to promoting the good of the ‘masses’, or even of the whole of humankind. In the name of working for something as abstract and universal as the good of ‘the people’ or of ‘humanity as a whole’, it is sometimes easy to overlook the needs and interests of specific individuals in one’s immediate vicinity—people like one’s own children, parents, employees or neighbours, the sorts of people one comes into contact with on a day-to-day basis.

This clearly shows that what might be claimed to be good deeds done in the name of helping many people need not necessarily be good at all. They can turn out to be just the opposite. Conversely, it is also not necessarily the case that good deeds done on a very small scale are inconsequential, in terms of impact or significance. Think, for instance, of a seemingly small but actually big deed that is mentioned in the Bible: One day, the Lord Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a little. Calling his disciples to him, the Lord Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

This poor widow, who put just two very small coins—a seemingly tiny amount—did such a great good deed in the eyes of the Lord that it was memorialized by being included in the Scriptures, being still remembered today by millions of people, some two thousand years later!

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While we ought to try to make the best of our lives by doing as much good as we can, what is important is the intention with which we do it and not necessarily always the scale on which it is done and the number of people it impacts. Even supposedly small acts of kindness can turn out to be of great significance (although, of course, this shouldn’t be used as an excuse not to seek to do bigger acts of kindness). As Mother Teresa beautifully put, ““Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”