“Goodness is love in action, love with its hand at the plow, love with the burden on its back; it is love carrying medicine to the sick, and food to the famished; it is love reading the Bible to the blind, and explaining the Gospel to the felon in his cell; it is love at the Sunday-class, or in the Ragged School; it is love at the hovel-door, or sailing far away in the missionary ship; but whatever task it undertakes, it is still the same–love following His footsteps, “who went about continually doing good” [Acts 10:38].”
James Hamilton (1814-1867) Scottish minister, in Day’s Collacon compiled and arranged by Edward Parsons Day (New York: IPPO, 1884) 336.
Back in the 1800’s a “Ragged School” was a school for destitute poor children. “Goodness” also known as “generosity” is love in action, and love is the commandment of Jesus that encompasses all others (cf. John 13:34-35). Let us follow in His footsteps empowered by the Holy Spirit.