Today Was a Good Day

My son, Zach, likes to talk about his day. He gives me a report the minute he gets in the car after school. Occasionally he has things that worry or concern him, and we’ll converse about those, but usually, when I pick him up, Zach will declare, “Today was a good day.”

He’ll then give specific details about why that is so.

The way Zach views the world challenges me.

We live in a culture that does not champion goodness, but negativity and bad news. We even tend to joke about it and find twisted pleasure in someone else’s misfortune. A recent band competition video was posted on YouTube with the camera focusing on one deadpan girl who was playing the cowbell. She never blinked. She showed absolutely no emotion throughout the entire piece as the music swelled and changed around her as she intently played her instrument. For three days, many mocking comments and jokes were posted about That Cowbell Girl, until a friend wrote, “She’s a nice girl. Stop making fun of her. She’s blind.”

The internet world hung their heads in collective shame.

Why is goodness so difficult to celebrate?

2 Chronicles 6:41 says that “the godly ones rejoice in what is good.” Hmm, I find that interesting - to be aware of good things (not bad) is seen as a godly characteristic. I guess that makes sense, because at the beginning of all things, when God looked back on his day, on how he had spent his time and on the things he had made, God declared it to be good. We, who are part of that created work, carry the fingerprints of the Creator on our souls and there is something inside us that needs to be like him, to imitate the essence of who He is. Part of that essence is goodness.

I want to display the fingerprints of God today. I want to keep my eyes open and have at least one reason to say, “Today was a good day.”

How about you? What good thing happened to you today?