National Do Something Nice Day

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”   -Mark 12.31

My children’s new teacher that I see on the screen each day has a fun tradition with the class. She names all the national “holidays,” each morning and the kids get to comment or give feedback on them as part of their community building routine. Yesterday the holidays included National Amazon Prime Day and National Do Something Nice Day. She suggested to her students that they all do something nice for their parents or siblings. My son raised his hand to contribute and offered that he was more excited about celebrating Amazon Prime Day. Perhaps this is why God gave me twins, to even out the odds. Maybe the other one will be excited for “Do Something Nice Day.” 

The fact that there is a national holiday dogeared for the purposes of being a decent human made me feel snarky. Have we fallen so far that we need a fake holiday to remember to treat each other with kindness? Is it just a show for social media, something you can stick on like a gold star to show everyone and prove you’re a nice person? No, we haven’t fallen. No, likely motivations aren’t that selfish. I stepped down from my soap box and reassessed. 

This seemingly fake holiday is a great reminder that we have, within our ability and resources, the opportunity to bless someone in an extravagant way each and every day. What is extravagant to the recipient might not be extravagant to you. Whether it is a $20 tip for a $15 lunch or a home cooked meal delivered to a busy mom, a note of gratitude or an unexpected donation, we have this ability to do something nice for neighbors known and unknown each and every day, not just annually on October 5. I suppose, however, if one is going to make up a holiday, that this one isn’t quite as bad as my snarky-side was making it up to be. 

I have been the recipient of others doing something nice for me throughout this quarantine. Members have arrived at my door with home cooked meals because they had the ability to cook (God bless you because I don’t), and knew that the gift of a meal when you’re a busy mom is like gold. Today I opened the mail to find a wonderful handwritten note and a taco bell gift card from our own Nancy Sauve. My guess is Nancy didn’t know it was “do something nice day,” but if you know Nancy at all, you know she just lives her life like every other day is Oct. 5 and time to celebrate this fake holiday. 

Jesus left us a commandment. That we love one another as ourselves. Intrinsic to that command is that we do something nice for one another. Whether it is simple or grand, it will be extravagant to the recipient. We don’t need a reason to do this, per say, but hey, if one presents itself, why not do something nice for another? Happy Holidays! 

Prayer: Thank you God, for enabling us to love one another as you have loved us. 

Author: Darcy Crain