Good things happened yesterday and more will happen today. In fact, good things happen every day. Sometimes, they happen in far away places where they go unnoticed due to our lack of knowledge. Other times, they happen right around us, but go unseen because of our lack of awareness. Just because we don’t recognize them doesn’t make them any less significant, we simply miss their ability to change us and our worldview.

Random acts of kindness, small moments of beauty that occur with surprising frequency and they make the world better. These are the places where heaven intersects earth and lives, even destinies, are changed. They happen in classrooms, over cups of coffee, and, sometimes, in complete secrecy. These moments won’t make the news. Sure, as the holidays approach, some significant acts of generosity may receive a bit of attention, but daily, they take place without fanfare or recognition.

Bad news sells, and a constant diet of negativity dulls our sense wonder and beauty, while training us to find more problems. We slowly begin to define situations and people by their negative aspects. The current election season exemplifies this all too well. It was surprisingly difficult to learn candidates’ platforms and positions. What wasn’t difficult to uncover was their view of their opponents. Every commercial, mass mailing, and robo-call offered a reminder to vote along with a list of evils associated with the other candidates. Even worse, we now accept this as normal.

The good news is that we do not have to blindly follow this trend. We can choose to find the good in life, and in people. Instead of demonizing people and groups, we can open our heart to believe that everyone is created in the image of God. Instead of defining life by its problems, we can embrace the wonderful possibilities that surround us. Life is not easy. Jesus was clear when he said, “in this life you will have trouble.” Thankfully, the message didn’t end there. After a hard reality, he went on to offer hope, “take heart, I have overcome the world.”

The message of faith should not produce pessimism, nor should it create some form of blissful optimism. Our faith calls for realism. Life is hard, but there is more to the story. There is always a reason for hope and, if we will open our eyes to God’s vision, there is beauty, wonder, and possibly all around us. There is laughter and joy, compassion and love, kindness and goodness, and a world full of blessings for us discover.

I’ve said it here before, but one of the greatest life-quotes I ever received came from my grandfather. I increasingly see the depth of his simple statement, “What gets your attention, gets you.” So, I constantly have to ask myself what I want to give my attention, and myself to in my life. Do I want to be ruled by negativity, discouragement, and evil, or do I want to be found giving my life to beauty, wonder, and hope? It may be a question we all need to ask. Is Chicken Little right? Is the sky really falling? Or is the wondrous God of creation right when declaring, “Behold, I make all things new?”

Fear shouts all around us, and its prophets declare its promised destruction. Still, I will hope in the Lord. I will believe there is more to the story. I will trust that the story is still being written and that there is joy, not just at the end, but along the way. And though I have great faith that my hope is not misplaced, even so, I will be better off savoring the blessings and amplifying the beauty of life. Those around me, and the whole world will be better off as well. I can only imagine the impact if we all began to accentuate what is good far above all that is not. What a wonderful world it would be.