By Puja Lamsal
William Wordsworth famously wrote, “The best portion of a good person’s life is their little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” Few words capture the spirit of stewardship more beautifully.
When we think about stewardship, we often picture grand gestures of generosity—large donations, volunteering countless hours, or leading transformative community initiatives. While these are undoubtedly important works, stewardship is also woven into the fabric of our everyday being through small, quiet choices that often go unnoticed.
It is offering your seat to someone who needs it more. It is parking a little farther away, so a closer space remains available for another person. It is picking up a piece of litter during a walk through the park. Truly, these microacts of stewardship, acts of kindness that expect nothing in return, are rampant; they are everywhere!
That being said, we would love to hear about your experience with microacts of stewardship. What is something you do when no one is watching? What simple habit of kindness have you developed because you want to make someone else’s day a little easier, a little brighter, or a little better? Or simply because it feels right. Perhaps it is a gesture so routine that you hardly think about it. After all, stewardship is a way of life.
Please share your story with us. It may inspire others to adopt a similar habit or recognize opportunities for stewardship in their own daily lives. In many ways, the world is held together by the steady, often unseen acts of generosity and unselfish sharing that people choose every day. Your example may create a ripple effect of compassion, care, and connection, something we so desperately need.
Responses will be collected and may be shared by MMFA through our social media channels and communications to inspire meaningful conversations about stewardship—and, we hope, encourage those conversations to become meaningful actions. Please use the form below to submit your response:
Thank you for being a faithful steward in both the big moments and the small ones.
“…in this terrifying world you continuously have the power to offer someone else a little relief. why would you withhold that. do you remember what a little relief feels like? it feels like a lot..” – J.B. Blunk
This article was written by Puja Lamsal, MMFA’s summer intern. Puja is originally from Pokhara, Nepal, and is a student at Salem College, double majoring in Professional Writing and Political Science.
