Stan StClair

I have been a Templar Knight since 2003 with SMOTJ, but much of the time I was inactive. I am humbled and grateful to have had my knighthood transferred to OSMTJ-KTOA, Priory of the Risen King, Commandery of St. Francis. I elected to take courses with the Templar Academy to familiarize myself with the practices of this most holy Order. I am the author of a series books about proverb and phrase origins, and have been asked by Grand Prior Jones to write for the Templar Banner. This also is a great privilege. Our Grand Prior has granted me the honor of using my ten years of research to publish some of my findings here which have spiritual applications.

The thought of “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing”  originates in the Bible, in Matthew 6:3; in Jesus’ much vaunted Sermon on the Mount:

“But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.” (KJV)

Here, the purpose was the idea that gifts of charity should not be done so that others would see and give glory to the giver.

That view of selfless giving was reiterated by Henry David Thoreau in Walden; or life in the woods, published in 1854:

“If you should ever be betrayed into any of these philanthropies, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does, for it is not worth knowing.”

Through the passage of time, the current cliché was developed, meaning that one member of an organization or a family wasn’t aware of the actions of another.

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