on 12th sept I blogged about polite people. Last night I encountered the true, pure, un-cheesy meaning of the word nice. I know as an English student the word nice is frowned upon as being too vague, too general, the word has been over-used and this has almost killed it's meaning. Now polite people and nice people are too different things. The person (I wont mention their name because they might read it!) helped me to get rid of my bitterness towards people being fake-nice. By this I mean that some people can be really nice, but only for a short period of time. Or other people can be really really nice at times (the sort of nice-ness that makes you feel a bit queasy and not really want to be around that person for too long-I dont know whether this is just how I feel or not) but you know the type, really overly nicey nicey. But as it is such a glossy nice-ness, (ie fake and not real) they cannot keep up this created persona, and they fall into their normal personalities. This person was nice in a real way. They werent just pretending, and it wasnt cheesy niceness, I dunno maybe i'm being too phillosophical about it all, but I truly never thought that anyone could be so nice without making it cringe-worthy. So how was it different? Well, I'm still trying to work that one out for myself. I suppose you have to be genuine in what you say, and consistent in what you do and the way you re-act to things. I don't know whether this can truly be learnt, but I know that God will help us to be nice and different to others around us. This may sound weird, but its the first time i've actually wanted to be nice, I mean it's the first time ive wanted that quality. Now the people that know me might think, well, Mads, she's a nice girl, but sometimes I have to think about how to be nice to someone. It doesnt come naturally, and maybe this is why when I say something nice to someone else, sometimes (not always) it can seem quite fake. As I say the words I want to cringe and think that when I say them, they are not being taken to heart as I dont truly mean what I say, i'm just trying to be nice. But I really believe that like I said before, if we are genuine in what we say, saying how we feel and meaning it all the time, then people will notice this difference in our lives, and we can point them to the maker who created this emotion. I'm in no way saying that people who arent christians are all nasty. By no means, some of the best people are not saved. but this is a way in which we can let them know we are different.
I believe that this is totally different to being polite too, because to me politeness is sometimes hidden under a layer of another emotion that might not be genuine, as in they might be trying to be polite but really hating themselves for being so polite. Hope that makes sense.
True nice people are really rare. I think I've only ever met about two in my life.
I feel priviledged to be friends with this person, and the way that they are teaching me (without realising) what it is to be genuine.
3 comments:
hmmm..
I'm not convinced our genuine niceness will ever cause people to think we're different.
The nicest person I know isn't a christian and she laughs in my face(in a nice way) if i say 'christians are such and such.' the one thing she has no asnwer to (expect scorn at a God that would do this) is that I ahve a peace and certainty about my destination after I die.
I think the main difference we can be is the freedom that comes not from rebellion, ebcuase that's slavery to sin, but obedience to the very being that we rebel against. When we have true freedom we wil be truly attractive becuase we'll be truly peaceful, joyful and confident. That's what a dying needing world is looking for.
My nice freind would agrue that other religions offer that too..and that's where I'm stumped.
In fact. i think ill wirte a blog on this in the next few days. how goldsmiths philosophy screws with your head.
Thing is Bex, I may not have got the fact over that this person is seen to be totally different to others, and this helps them to talk about their relationship with God and its such a good difference. Im not saying that its the only difference that we should have, im just saying that its more important than we give it justice for. And people around do realise it and want to know more about what we believe and why we're so different.
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