There's a little bit of God in every can of paint. Brush not included.

Last week, Christian volunteers ranging in age from late teens to somewhere in late parenthood came to our agency and helped to give us a fresh coat of paint. I have to admit that when they came last year, I was exceptionally cynical, more so than I ought to have been. So I learned my lesson and was better organized this year. They worked for a few hours and really helped to make the tenants' doors look like new. They also sang a gospel for us after having lunch. So in a way, they kind of sang for their meal... but seriously, they were all genuinely sweet and good natured. They had already been in the city for about five days and they were planning to head to another state to do more volunteer work that evening. For all my snide comments about the religious right, I have to say that when Christians use their faith for good deeds, they can do some great things.

Their way of life, however, will always seem kind of foreign to me. And that's in a good way, in a way that speaks to the diverse beliefs that people have in our country of what it means to help others. I spoke briefly to one of the volunteers. He had been an engineer for 15 years before becoming a pastor. "That's when I got myself a real job." He truly believes in his work, in his charitable endeavors. Another pastor gave us a little monetary donation because "we just want to give something to you all." One girl wore a pro-life t-shirt but it advertised a women's health center. Still, I'm sure they all probably vote Republican. But that's okay because we didn't talk politics and just focused on their immediate work.

The tenants got along with them and had an opportunity to share some of their stories. I enjoyed observing the whole dynamic: a white, southern suburban Christian group coming to meet and help a community of northern, racially mixed mentally ill folks in an urban city. You don't have too many moments like these to draw optimism from, optimism for our country and how despite our differences, we still have good folks wanting to make a real difference, however small it is.