40acts - thank you!

“We’ve crossed social divides in the playground, and bought cups of tea for the homeless. We’ve sent thank you notes by the hundreds and prayed for our enemies as well as our friends. We’ve bought fair-trade chocolate from local shops, switched off our TVs, and left our comfort zones for the sake of spontaneous kindness.

Why?

Because we believe that what we do during Lent, and beyond, should reflect the incredible generosity of the Easter message.”

We hope that taking part in 40acts has been a real blessing to your Lent experience this year, but more than that – we hope that it has ignited a spark of God-inspired generosity that will last a life-time.

It doesn’t stop here!

40acts will be back again in 2013, but you can continue to journey with Stewardship throughout the year.

We’ve got three final acts for you:

• Get more of the same - sign up for the Extra Mile, our monthly generosity email.
• Take our super-quick 40acts survey - let us know what you thought of this year’s campaign.
• Find out how you can give generously with a Stewardship giving account

Thank you for taking part in 40acts 2012. We hope it has inspired you to do life generously.

With love,

The 40acts Team

chasing the negative split

Photo by 'through my eyes only'. Used under Creative Commons licence.

If you happen to be one of those serious marathon runners who thinks little of fitting in a quick 10 miler before breakfast, then you’ll probably already know about the negative split. For the rest of us trapped beneath the duvet, an explanation: the negative split means deliberately running the first half of the race slower than the second, giving yourself time to find a pace and then improve on it, planning to have enough in the tank and cross the finish line knowing that you gave everything you had in those final miles. The negative split is the discipline to master if you’re serious about going the distance.

Jesus taught that true generosity is not a matter of who gives most, nor is it a question of easing off once we have given ‘enough’. Generosity plays by a different set of rules. Generosity, it seems, has far more to do with our response to our heavenly Father than the specifics of our finances.

Which brings us back to the idea of the race. If we see generosity as a one-off event only to be engaged when we feel sufficiently guilty, we won’t be fit for purpose. We were made for more than just ‘doing our bit’ or offering ‘the least we could do’. We were created in the image of an overwhelmingly generous God, so is it any wonder that we should feel the urge to give? Forget all you’ve seen of the way the uberwealthy live - with their high gates and privacy glass. What we have should not isolate us from the world around. Instead, it should draw us closer to others.

But what about those negative splits? This innate urge to give needs training. Just as discipline and preparation matter for the serious runner, so it can help us to be deliberate in our acts of generosity. Spontaneous giving is good - just like the quick burst of pace that is called for by unexpected changes in the race - but aren’t the best givers among us the ones who have woven generosity into the fabric of their lives? Don’t we want to be part of a community of generous givers that keeps on going, keeps on giving, keeps on growing?

That’s why 40acts matters so much this Lent. Sign up and you’ll be joining with thousands of others who are choosing to make generosity a priority, not just a passing fad. Each day of Lent the 40acts email will offer a challenge that will bring you closer to your community and your environment, strengthening your generosity for the years to come. Join us, and together we’ll get better at being generous.

the underground world of generosity

For those who regularly travel on the London Underground, tubes can sometimes feel a tad unfriendly. There’s nothing like spending your commute squeezed into someone else’s back to ensure you arrive at your destination a little flustered. 

However, over the past seven months, The London Underground have been displaying a series of posters by the artist Michael Landy, inspired by people’s stories of nice things that have happened to them whilst travelling on the tube as a result of the generosity of others. Here’s just a few of the countless stories Landy has received so far:

“I was made redundant on my birthday. I was feeling pretty deflated and the staff at Pimlico noticed my change in mood. Imagine my joy and surprise when they presented me with a massive chocolate birthday cake! That gesture really gave me back my sense of self worth. I took some back the next day with cans of pop for them at break times. Our tube workers are everyday subterranean heroes. Thank you.”

“I lost my gloves on the Central line. A good three months later I was about to get off the Tube at Mile End and a passenger said, "I think these are yours?". They were mine and they were/are special gloves to me. As I was getting off I only had a second to say, "thank you". I have not seen him since, but he had taken those gloves on to the Tube every day for 3 months hoping to reunite them with me. A true act of kindness that I still say a BIG THANK YOU for.”

 “I was on the way to a party where you had to be smartly dressed when I realised my shoes were dirty. I was frantically trying to brush them clean with my hand and noticed the woman opposite me rummaging in her bag. She whipped out a brand new suede brush and asked "could this be what you need?". It was exactly the thing. I walked off the Tube with clean shoes and a big smile! I wonder what else she had in her Mary Poppins bag!”

“The underground, such a public place to be hit by private grief. I just couldn’t help the tears. I had to get off the tube, onto the platform and aim for a seat. A stranger in the rush asked me “are you ok? Can I help?” She had already.”

“As I leapt through the closing train doors at Finsbury Park, my left foot was caught and one shoe fell off onto the platform. I sat down, one shoe missing as the train pulled away. ‘I’ve just bought these’, said a woman opposite, opening a Russell & Bromley bag. ‘See if they fit’. They were perfect. The woman gave me her address so I could return her brand new shoes. Which of course, I did.”

What is striking about these acts of generosity is their simplistic nature. None required much of the giver, but open eyes and a giving heart.

As we approach the period of Lent, many people will be looking at those things they may want to give up. Here at Stewardship we are challenging people to go one step further this year and to not only give something up, but to give something out to others as well in an act of generosity. 

Over 40 days, we will challenge people to take part in 40 simple acts of generosity. Will you join the 40acts movement? Sign up at www.40acts.org.uk or visit www.facebook.com/40acts for more info.

To read more stories of kindness on the underground, please visit the TfL website here.