Lent 2026

I give a little, it means nothing

Hannah Joy Legatowicz · Feb 22

I give a little, it means nothing.

You give nothing, it means a little.

I give you a little, yet you smile—

How can someone with nothing

Afford to give even a smile?

I give not even my memory,

Like "rich garners of full ripened grain,"¹

Proves a burden I am proud to bear.

"But it is likely to spoil."

Yes, it is likely to spoil.

So must we give what we do waste,

Our crumbs, our time; relent prejudice.

For there is only One Gift, with one condition:

Only by giving do we receive.²

So, give, just a little; even a smile is free.

¹ John Keats, "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be."

² Saint Francis's Prayer