Today didn’t start off much differently than most other days.  I arose and put on the morning coffee, let the dog out to take care of business and grabbed the first cup and sat down to scan the morning news stories.

One that caught my eye almost immediately was an account of a traffic accident, involving a black lady on the side of one of the interstates that crisscross the United States.  The person reciting the tale was following the accident, in which the lady lost control of her car and left the road, only to swerve back onto the highway, cross the median, and finally come to rest upside down, with the car sitting on its roof.

The gentleman was one of several cars that stopped to offer assistance, and upon nearing the overturned automobile, found the lady trapped inside, and contorted in such a way she was unable to unlock the doors to allow her would-be rescuers to assist in getting her to safety.

To shorten the story a little, a small group of those responding worked feverishly to extricate the lady, who was miraculously able to walk away from the wreck with assistance, but mostly unharmed.  The point of the story, however, was the group assisting her was comprised of an elderly white man, a black man in a business suit, a construction worker, a lady in a skirt and one in scrubs, and a young black man, with his pants sagging below his waist.

At this particular point in time, it didn’t matter what race, gender or religion these people were, they were all focused on helping out the lady in the accident.

I pondered on this a little while, and wondered how often scenes like this play out that we don’t even notice, or that we never hear about.  Sometimes it seems it takes a tragedy, or in this case, a near miss, to bring people together, as did the events of 9/11 years ago.

Later on today, I went to the local superstore to get some items, and as I was walking in from the parking lot, I met a black lady with two youngsters, apparently grandchildren, about 5 or 6 years old, coming towards me.  One of the young men had a bandage on his index finger, and showed it to me as if it was a prize trophy.  I laughed out loud, and his face and eyes beamed, and I realized he felt no hatred or fear of an old man from a different race.  In his eyes, I was just someone else with whom he wanted to share his prize.

In the store, I saw an elderly white lady stretching to reach and item on a higher shelf, and a middle-aged black man stopped to assist her.  She told him, “Thank you, sir,” and he replied, “You’re more than welcome, ma’am.  Anytime.”

Driving home, I passed a field where kids, out of school for a fall break, were playing soccer.  There were Latinos, blacks, and whites all playing together on the same field.  I wondered how many times I have passed by that same field and failed to notice.

Then I began to wonder how many times I have been caught up in the events that are happening across the nation, and had my focus on all the negativity and failed to see all the good things that are going on around me.  I felt sure this wasn’t the only day these things I witnessed were happening.  I imagine they are happening all across the country every day, they just don’t get the headlines.

America isn’t perfect.  There are a lot of bad things going on and a lot of bad people out there.  But there is also a lot of good, if we just take the time to look at it.

It has been a rough year in the United States.  Election problems, economic concerns, racial tension, terrorist worries, Zika, and any number of issues that plague us personally, tend to get us feeling like there is no hope.  I really needed a re-set.

Today was a really, really good day.