Being Nice Matters

Still not quite up-to-par, when “Grand Hotel” flashed across the TV screen I retook the living room from the dear darlings for a two hour rest. No screaming video games. No moronic teenage shows of any kind.

A 1932 classic. This is the movie in which Greta Garbo utters, “I want to be alone.” Coincidentally enough, I Scotchtape a piece of paper touting the very same words on the outside of my bedroom door when the writing muse hits.

Beginning in the bustling lobby of the exquisite German hotel, we soon learn the shabbily dressed man is dying – but how he transforms in two hours! Why? Entirely due to kindness, pure and simple. Gentle words. Heartfelt human contact. And sincere appreciation in return.

Greed and cowardice of one character merely emphasize the goodness of the others. “Nobody gives you anything for nothing,” our greedy one laments. How wrong he is. Good people give it all away every day – for nothing. Good wins. Evil loses. Every day.

During morning prayers this very morning (for you visiting CWCO members – you know who you are!), a fellow attendee thanked God that the devil’s little snafu yesterday was easily remedied: Right during a chat our moderator’s computer died. OK, devil, you got her attention for a few minutes. What did you think? That the conference would come to a crashing halt? No…I don’t think so. People rallied. Good prevailed. Conference continued.

Good always wins in the long run. It may appear as if greed momentarily killed kindness in my afternoon movie, but it did not. The good flourished in the hearts of the supporting cast as they remembered their kind friend.

“I always felt better when he came around.”

“He was friendly to me as no man ever was.”

What a legacy! What dialogue! We understand the circle of life portrayed at the conclusion of “Grand Hotel.” The older visitors we’ve come to love check out while a whole new bunch scurry about to register. Movie’s final words: “People come. People go. Nothing ever happens.”

Yeah right! Every single time a mom holds her dear one close, soothes a sadness or admonishes a slight she gives God. Nothing ever happens? She makes the difference in another human being’s life, just as all the kind people in our movie demonstrated.

You may think you have no audience as you change diapers and wash dishes, that “nothing ever happens,” but you are tasting life. And our God sees everything we do. He appreciates it all. My sons pass a tiny heart-shaped sign every day of their lives in our home. It simply says, "Because nice matters." Today, remember how much nice matters and plaster on a few more kisses; it can’t hurt!

~ Maureen :)