Maybe it’s election year overkill. Perhaps the news ribbon running across my television screen alerting me to every major crime and crisis in the world has something to do with it. The current character of partisan politics that seems to care more about who rules than what’s right may be getting me down. Whatever the cause, I’ve had it with national negatives. Please tell me something good about America?

Tell me about Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston being appointed by the Continental Congress to write the Declaration of Independence and recognizing their responsibility as an assignment from God. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." they declared.

Describe President Lincoln at Gettysburg, four score and seven years later, quoting that statement at the end of the war fought to make equal rights real to all Americans.

Rehearse for me the bloody battles of World Wars I and II when Americans crossed the Atlantic twice to make Europeans free, finally delivering them from Hitler’s heel while at the same time liberating the South Pacific. Introduce me to South Koreans who enjoy SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT AMERICA, freedom because of the sacrifices of Americans who didn’t let them down. Let me hear about Vietnamese Americans who now prosper in the land of the free.

And tell me about the churches of America where faith grows and prayer flows for the needy here and around the world, for missionaries obeying their Lord in carrying the good news of His grace and demonstrating it to the sick, the troubled and the needy. Build my faith with stories of rescue missions and prison ministries that change lives every day through their message of hope for those thought to be hopeless, people who were chained by alcohol, drugs, and despair but now are free.

Justin Webb, the BBC correspondent in Washington D.C., as quoted in the August edition of Christianity Today, says neither he nor his wife believe in God and in their former posts never talked about God to neighbors but found the average American entirely different. In his words: "I’m talking about Mr. and Mrs. Average in Normal Town, U.S.A. Mr. and Mrs. Average share an uncomplicated faith with its roots in the Puritanism of their forbears."

How has this affected Mr. Webb? He says, "I’ll tell you I’m awed. I’m impressed and awed by Christians in America, who in facing unexpected tragedies, turn to God."

Does America have problems? Certainly! But I’m hearing you say God can handle them all so there’s no need to ring our hands and focus on our faults. We can focus on our faith, lifting our prayers to God and expecting Him to revive and refresh us.

Thanks! I needed that.