Go Ahead. Make My Day

It may have been my fifth call to the IRS help center. We had received a letter informing us that there was an error in a federal tax return we had filed three years earlier. But no one who worked there seemed to be able to tell me what the problem was.

But this time, I reached someone who felt that he should put some time and effort into the task. It took a while, but he stayed with me on the phone until he found the error – one wrong digit in one of my children's Social Security Number.

I was very grateful, and impressed with his thorough work. I thought he deserved a little credit, so I asked if I could speak to his supervisor.

I heard tension – almost fear – in his deep African-American voice when he said that his supervisor was not available, and that he could give her a message.

“I just wanted to tell her how helpful you were. You solved my problem, and you were kind and pleasant.”

His tone changed completely.

“Ma'am,” he said, “you don't have to tell that to my supervisor. It's enough that you told it to me. I get a lot of people yelling and complaining, and it's great to hear someone say something nice. You just made my day.”

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A few years ago, I spoke briefly to a women I hadn't met before. I couldn't help noticing her eyes – they were such a stunning blue color. I decided to say something about it.

“You probably hear this all the time,” I said, feeling a little awkward, “but you have really beautiful eyes.”

She looked startled. “No, I don't hear that. Thank you. You made my day.”

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I recently sent an e-mail to a friend who had shown me kindness a few days earlier. I explained how her thoughtfulness and generosity had touched me and several other people. She replied to my note with these words: Thank you, Marnie. You made my day.

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I was a very foolish teenager.

And I did some foolish things. In some of the things I was breaking God's laws. Although none of these were serious sins, I am ashamed and sorry for these moments, and I am glad to have repented and left them behind me. I wish I had been smarter.

Still, looking back now I realize that if could relive my teen and young adult years with the power to change one thing about myself and my life, I would not change these foolish moments of transgression.

This one thing is what I would choose to change: I would be kinder.

I would smile and say hello to the shyer kids in the halls of my high school. I would reach out in friendship to the new students. I would be the one to say, “Hey, you guys, don't pick on her. She's my friend.”

Why do I feel this way? I'm not sure exactly, but this is what I'm thinking: my foolish mistakes were not, for the most part, things that hurt anyone besides myself. But I wonder if I could have changed somebody's day ― or week, or year, or life ― with some small compliment, or by asking someone to sit with me at lunch, or by listening with understanding and compassion.

Maybe kindness is bigger than foolishness.

The Apostle Paul has some thoughts about this, too:

  Though I speak with the tongues of men

         and of angels,

     And have not charity,

           I am become as sounding brass,

        Or a tinkling cymbal.

  And though I have the gift of prophecy,

       And understand all mysteries, 

           And all knowledge;

  And though I have all faith, 

       So that I could remove mountains,

             And have not charity,

         I am nothing.

  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

      And though I give my body to be burned,

            And have not charity,

         It profiteth me nothing.

    Charity suffereth long, and is kind;

        Charity envieth not;

          Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

            Doth not behave itself unseemly,

         Seeketh not her own,

            Is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

     Rejoiceth not in iniquity,

           But rejoiceth in the truth;

       Beareth all things, believeth all things,

           Hopeth all things, endureth all things.

   Charity never faileth:

          But whether there be prophecies,

       They shall fail;

           Whether there be tongues,

       They shall cease;

           Whether there be knowledge,

      It shall vanish away.

         And now abideth faith, hope, charity,

             These three;

      But the greatest of these is charity.

                                        (1 Corinthians 13)

At this special time of year, many of us find that our thoughts turn more often to the miraculous and sacred birth of Jesus Christ. It is, indeed, a cause for great celebration.

But it is His life that makes His birth a holy day. It is His love, His words, His service, and ultimately His great sacrifice for us all, that should leave us stunned and wet-eyed as we deck our halls. It is His magnificent glorious charity that will “cover the multitude of sins” as Peter tells us:

   "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).

It is He, our benevolent Savior, who “makes our day” – not just Christmas Day, but every day that we turn to Him. It can be as simple as a phone call, an email, or a smile in a crowded department store.

So go ahead: make someone's day. You might find that in doing that, you make your own day, too.

Merry Christmas.

And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:125)

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (John 15:11-12)