Celebrate Good News

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Most of the leakers and sources people choose to report are people who are unhappy. I get a real kick out of the fact that when people choose to acquaint themselves with my Faith, they pick someone who does not practice, and when they try to find out about me, they always seem to be able to find a girl who didn't want to date me. What would never pass the muster in court and counts only as hearsay or second hand knowledge is taken not only as truth but as the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Considering the source, are people who are unhappy with something possible of giving anything but a negative report?

All too frequently, we turn to miscreants and malcontents for information instead of stellar examplars. We laud the leakers of the world like Asange of wikileaks, insiders who write tell-all books about administrations, etc. It's almost as if we like to see other people fail. What it really means is however that we're glad we're not the only ones who get the shaft. Good news just isn't sufficiently sensational to be newsworthy.

I have made it a point to be different when I can. I once called one of those "how's my driving" numbers on the rear of a semi truck. I was towing a trailer in a dangerous canyon at night and needed to move over. The semi held traffic at bay, flashed his lights to signal it was safe, and let me over. When I called, the operator didn't know what to do with praise. A few weeks ago, I was called by Wal-Mart HQ to follow up on some feedback I gave about a store manager. He had been particularly helpful and deserved attention, so I wrote them an email praising his performance. He called me at home to thank me for the kindness. During a trip to Mt. Vernon a few years back, I took the initiative to write a letter of appreciation for how our guide handled a difficult situation with a patron. This patron had complained, and my independent and unprompted comments protected the tour guide's job. She actually wrote me a thank you card, something I have sitting next to me as I type this.

It is too frequent that we are excited to hang other people for a moment. Just as one good deed does not erase a lifetime of wickedness, one mistake does not negate a life of righteousness. Since my job performance is tied to 'teamwork and cooperation' with no more than one certifiable instance of not being a team player, I have been collecting comments in writing as a hedge against the day when they try to hang onto a single negative comment in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Most of the time we are good people, and those complaints are countered by commendations.

Celebrate good news. There is lots of sadness and misery, but it isn't constant in most of our lives, nor are our lives as dire as we feel. Birds still migrate, rain still falls, the sun still rises, there is food in the supermarket, we have electricity, running water, and even a few friends. Life is good. Maybe it's not a panacea, but that was never the promise of this life. Utopia comes only when we apply both the semblance and substance of heaven. Until then, there's plenty for which to be thankful.