Good Will History… Hello weekend readers. I’m sure you are wondering what this topic is about! Well, my musings are not taking us to the Good Will stores, yet good will is in their name for a good reason. I’ve been reading off and on (it’s a huge book) about the indigenous nations of Mexico and Central Mexico. It is so interesting but you can only read small chunks at a time so you can digest the movements, languages, religions, etc., of these people. One section about the Mazatec nation caught my heart and it has to do with ‘good will’ so here we go!

Some of you who enjoy history might remember Eunice Pike—fondly called Eunie. She was a nurse and schooled linguist, learning the language of the Mazatec people so it could be translated for Bibles. Once she arrived, she was quite amazed at the interesting ideas that these people had. One in particular really stuck with her because it was out of character for those embracing Christianity. These people rarely would wish someone else well. This may sound crazy, but the reason was they believed there was only so much good to go around and they wanted to be in that ‘good’. Even those who had become Christians embraced this idea, even hesitating to share the gospel. They had turned God’s ‘good will’ into a precious commodity and actually hoarded it!

One elder explained to Eunie why they do this: “If they wished too many people well that would drain them of happiness and it would go to someone else, and if they shared too much of God’s grace it would remove them from grace.” Doesn’t this seem bizarre? It was to Eunie and her helper, Florence Cowan. These two nurse-linguist-missionaries worked very hard to help them understand that God’s goodness never runs out. In some of her writing, Eunie mentions the difficulty of getting that across to the Mazatec people because it had been so ingrained in them for decades.

How often do we not share good will, grace, a helping hand, and so much more? Are we afraid that if we give it away we can’t get it back? O child of God, there is nothing of God’s grace, goodness, mercy, love, forgiveness and outright-joy that can run out—not ever! Yet we still pull back, often in judgment—saying “get a job, pull-up-your-big-boy-pants and straighten up” etc.

If we are afraid of losing God’s grace and goodness, we don’t really understand God at all. Like the Mazatecs, our society has also ‘ingrained’ into us a similar idea that what we have is ours and ours alone; thus, we experience the selfishness, hoarding, and the “this is mine” mentality which has reduced us to having closed fists and closed hearts.

Scripture tells us in Romans 12:10 [VOICE] “Live in true devotion to one another, loving each other as sisters and brothers. Be first to honor others by putting them first.” And using the Amplified Bible for 2 Corinthians in 8:9, we read: “For you are recognizing [more clearly] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [His astonishing kindness, His generosity, His gracious favor], that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich [abundantly blessed].”

Good will is a limitless resource from our loving God. It never stops, it just continues to overflow and it is meant to be shared with others—liberally—and that is not a political statement, that is God’s command. We would do well to be a force of encouragement in this dark world by sharing God’s good will to everyone—no matter who they are and what they have become, where they live, the color of their skin, etc. We must reboot our words so we speak kindness instead of harsh words and bitter judgment.

So, I would like to propose this goal for us: Let’s start outdoing the naysayers and instead, become Christ-encouragers—liberally spreading the limitless resources of God’s goodwill, grace, mercy, hope and love. The outcome? One-by-one lives will change, including your own! AMEN.