As I said in a previous post, my husband and I are in the process of cleaning out and doing much needed maintenance on our forty year old home. Work, kids, and other excuses kept us from doing it in the past and now we are paying the piper. There is a ton of work to do. And we have to do a lot of it ourselves. Our children have their own lives and aren’t close by, so while they might be able to help a little, the long term, day to day commitment isn’t possible. It won’t be easy, but that’s the way it is.
Our situation seems to parallel what is happening in our country. After 244 years, it seems we need to do some maintenance that has been ignored. We once had a brand new country with the promise of a great Constitution and the government it designated. Along the way, repairs were made, many with the blood and lives of Americans.
But, in the last 70 years or so, we have been so busy worrying about other things, we have overlooked what is happening to our country.
There were so many distractions. While we fought needless wars in Vietnam and the Middle East, worried ourselves sick about the “Cold War” with the USSR, spent our time watching television shows and worrying about sports teams, our country and our Constitution were deteriorating.
Maybe we thought others would keep things in good shape. We relied on Presidents, Congress, and the government to do what was needed. We should have realized that, for the most part, they were the ones tearing the country down.
They made deals that created wealth for them. Some were with other countries; others with corporations and the ultra wealthy. They played both sides to the middle, sucking up to the super rich while telling the poor and the middle class that they had our best interests at heart.
The Biden administration is a prime example. While they courted the unions for their vote producing machine during the election, they turned on them and screwed them out of jobs within the first few days in office. They claimed to be for the “victims” of poverty while allowing the cities to decay and imprison many of the poor in a hopeless cycle of generational welfare instead of independence.
The Republicans were no better. While in power, they conducted various wars and military actions that benefitted only the companies that built and sold the weapons and the oil companies. They expanded the size of government while creating rationale to invade our privacy and deny us our rights. Remember the Patriot Act? All in the name of “national security.” Do you feel more secure now that they are allowed to spy on political opponents without warrant or reason?
And all the while we stood by, mesmerized by other things. We were too busy to handle our own lives, so we ceded the education of our children to the public schools, the control of our medical decisions to the CDC, and the protection of our rights to the lawyers, many of them in Congress.
Elections? We took them for granted. What could go wrong? Certainly no one would cheat. Some of us didn’t even vote.
And now, like an old home, our Constitution and our country are in need of major repair. Many of us are overwhelmed, because the job seems impossible. Our votes don’t seem to count and our politicians don’t seem to care about us. They have other masters.
People are waking up.
But, like always, they are hoping someone else can solve the problem. President Trump seemed like the one who could come in and fix the damages. And he did, but he was blocked so much that he was unable to fix as much as he wanted. Then, before he could finish the job, he was cheated of that right. Honestly, he is just one man facing the opposition of the government bureaucrats, deep state, and hostile Congress. Even if all had gone as planned, it was going to be an uphill battle.
If not a man, then many look to God. While God certainly can do all things, I think we need to remember that God is not a genie in a bottle that we call on from time to time to clean up the messes we made. Remember, he gave us free will which also carries with it responsibility. Responsibility to work with him toward making things right. After all, people don’t appreciate those things they don’t work for. He will help, but only if we do our part.
What is that part? What can we do? We need to realize that, like a 40 year old home that needs repair, it is a long term job that starts with one day, one action. Some actions will be small, others will be big. All the years of neglect won’t go away in a flash so we need to be patient. Patience doesn’t mean sitting and waiting, it means doing something every day to get us on the right track.
In my home, I have to do what I can do. I can’t rewire electric, repair the roof, etc. Those jobs require contractors with expertise. But, I can get rid of junk, clean out closets, take on small repairs. The repair of our country is the same way. We have to each use the talents we have towards this goal. If you are a good organizer, then organize groups. If you are a writer, then write. If you are a motivator, get out and get people excited about the task. If we each use our talents each day, we take a step towards change.
And then, when we need to, we can call in the ” contractors.” A word of caution, we need to make sure those “contractors” ( i.e. politicians, public servants) are honest, understand what we want, can do what we want, and that they have the skills and ethics they say they have. Once they are hired, we need to support their work in any way we can.
Let’s face it, like my husband and me with our house, we have been letting things go and hoping the problems will go away. We didn’t even think of what the neglect would do to our children. But now we are.
And so the hard work begins, with some help from God and each other. It won’t be easy, but nothing worth having ever is.
