Last year Alabama football coach Nick Saban was asked by a network sideline reporter what he planned to say to his undefeated team during half-time after they had played a terrible first-half and were down a touchdown. He replied, “Well, actually I don’t know. Right now, I’m just trying to be nice to you.”
“Just trying to be nice…” That’s an honest statement. There are times when it’s anything but easy to act that way.
What Saban said has stayed with me since I heard him say it, and I’ve decided to make being nice my Christmas wish this year.
Given all that’s going on, it won’t be easy. In fact, if Santa knows my thoughts, feelings, and on occasion my words about and to the unvaccinated, truth deniers and liars, Republicans and Republican-like Democrats such as Joe Manchin, and many others, he knows I’m usually being far more naughty than nice.
Maybe that says being naughty comes easier for me than being nice. I hope not, but at the same time when I think of people selfishly putting my life at risk and those I love and millions of others, and I think of people willing to sacrifice our democracy to support a despot like Donald Trump, being naughty toward them not only comes easy, but actually feels like the right thing to do.
Not that I don’t want to be nice. I really do. I want to have good thoughts and positive feelings toward everyone. But it often takes more energy than I want to give.
It’s Christmas, though, so as someone who stands in the Christian tradition I am willing to try to think better thoughts and let go of less than nice feelings about certain other people.
Not that the people I don’t want to have nice thoughts about or be nice to in person deserve anything nice from me or any other decent person.
They don’t. They’ve been speaking and acting as poorly as the Alabama football team played that day. Moreover, their words and actions are causing people to die and also affecting the outcome of the great American experiment in democracy rather than a football game.
But I get what Saban was saying in the way he spoke to the reporter, that being nice takes effort, in fact, sometimes it takes all we’ve got inside to do so, but it can be done.
Right now, then, as Christmas draws closer by the hour, my goal during this holy season is to think, feel, and act nice.
I can’t make any promises for after Christmas, though. The best I can do is to focus on being nice this week, and then see where I am afterwards. I invite you to do the same.
We don’t need to make any promises beyond Christmas, just focus on the moment, imagining as we do that Santa is checking his list after all, maybe even twice, and he’s gonna find out who’s been naughty and who’s been nice.
So maybe this year – for goodness sake – we should all try really hard to be nice.
Merry Christmas!
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