What Could Be Better Than Midwest Nice?
El Paso, USA
Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:
share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.
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Personal opinion: El Paso is the most Mexican city in the U.S.A. It’s not only the fact that neighborhoods of Juárez are visible from the city of El Paso. It’s also that the entire culture bears resemblance to Mexico: from the food, to the values of family, fun, and hospitality. Last weekend, the Catholic community in El Paso welcomed me with open arms. Also, I left with a really full stomach. #tacolife
El Paso was a fitting place to receive my Word for the Week: “gracious.” (From Psalms 112:14 Light shines through the darkness for the upright; gracious, compassionate, and righteous.)
As I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do about this Word. I thought warmly of the gracious friends in El Paso. I also fondly recalled the brand of graciousness that’s known as “Midwest Nice.”
When I’m traveling the nation, I can usually spot the Midwesterners: they open the door for other people, they say, “God bless you” after you sneeze, they smile a lot, and they say, “Sorry,” routinely.
Does cultural congeniality fall under the title of “Midwest Nice?” I’d say so! There’s also a negative side to this term. For example, when being nice is a device to mask aggression, the result is pretty uncomfortable. Even so, there are definitely worse things to fake than niceness! This week, however, the Lord showed me that He wants to foster an even deeper graciousness within me.
Each day last week, I asked the Lord how he wanted me to display graciousness. On one workday morning, I felt the Lord inviting me to hold off on my huge list of business tasks and to instead clean our bathrooms. Later in the week, I felt prompted to go shopping at night, even though I was tired. When my sister asked for feedback on work, I knew I was called to gave her my honest opinion.
None of the actions I described seemed like the “nicest” choice at the time. Yet, those moments were filled with grace. It turns out, David and the kids really appreciated that the bathrooms were cleaned. My friends were at the store the night I went out, so I was able to visit with them. And my sister thanked me sincerely for the business advice. I saw that the Lord wants me to become gracious when I turn to Him, the source of grace.
Lesson: God’s graciousness is a whole lot better than simply trying to be nice.
This lesson reminded me of when Elijah was visiting the widow during a famine. She was starving. Elijah has the audacity to ask for “a little cake.” She tells him point blank that she’s prepared to eat her final meal and then to die. Even then, he asks to partake in what little she has.
That doesn’t sound nice.
And yet, through answering Elijah’s request, the widow is blessed beyond her imagination. The jar continues to provide food for her household until after the famine. Graciousness upon graciousness.
If you desire to grow in compassion and righteousness toward, God, others, and yourself, maybe there’s an even better answer than try harder or to just “be nice.” I invite you to join me in prayer: Lord, fill us with the grace to serve you and to serve the people you call us to love.
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