I love the old tv show M*A*S*H. It was deemed inappropriate for its' time and I remember my dad not wanting me to watch it.
Now, it is in syndication on the Hallmark channel, so it is pretty tame by today's standards! The characters are timeless, and I especially like the unlovable Frank Burns. He is kind of the worst parts of all of us, isn't he? He has a saying that I find intriguing and it goes like this..."It's nice to be nice to the nice."
Don't you wish it were that simple? Don't you wish we could just be nice to those who are nice? I sure wish I could, sometimes. Unfortunately, we don't get off that easily. It is so easy to be nice to those who treat us well... to those who love us and appreciate what we do for them. But, we are not called to do that as people of God. We are called to be nice to those that hurt us. I can usually even do that. But when we are called to be nice to those that hurt others (especially my "others"), that's where it gets hard. As it is for all of us.
In saying all of this, I just want to say that "niceness" is a quality that does not come easily or without great price. As Southern women we are taught to be nice. Nice isn't always really nice. Its often just in how we say things with a lilt in our melodic voices! We can cut someone to shreds with a smile on our faces! I am so guilty of that at times. But, for today I am working on Frank Burns' message with my own twist, "It's more nice to be nice to the not-so-nice!"
Happy Monday!
Good post! We are all still a work in progress,
ReplyDelete"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."