A current meme starts with “I don’t know who needs to hear this…” and then says something.
I’m going to use my little corner of the internet to say something.
Our country, we’re responsible, but we don’t got this. We don’t got whatever it is that needs getting. We’re not sure what it is we have, except we know one thing. This country? It’s a mess. Everywhere we look, the messes pile upon each other. All the systems and institutions feel bloated and broken, encrusted with bloat and wasted promise.
We do not know how to get out of this mess –of skyrocketing costs of tuition for college, unaffordable homes, groceries and cars. The American dream has become something of a faded relic of a bygone era in the hearts and minds of those who still live at home after college, wondering when and where they will begin living their own lives.
We need something other than promises, platitudes and pontificating. Everyone has plans but no one is willing to discuss the details. Everyone promises the other person will wreck the country –I’ve got news for everyone, it’s a mess now –not because of one or another, but because we keep (regardless of administration) not addressing the problems.
There are no details on what will be done, only promises that if elected, everything will crystalize perfectly to be happy sunny wonderful for everyone. We need to do some hard soul searching as a nation, and no one who is seeking power seems particularly interested in such things. The nation cannot sustain itself when the political machinery demands that everyone hate each other on principal. Our society cannot weather spending as we do without any reaction other than, well, we really should do something about this…next time.
Our nation has weathered bad leaders before, so it can endure what happens, whatever happens.
That being said, the reality is, if we want a better country, we should start with our own selves. What are we doing today that will make the community we live in, better? It’s simple. The world we want requires work. Here are fifty ideas –one for each state.
50) Donate 50 things from your house each month. (It’s the slow burn Marie Kondo method).
49) Pray a rosary for the country –from today through the election. (54 days from today).
48) Decide that you will volunteer an hour a week somewhere (52 hours in a year).
47) Give to a food kitchen pantry program –50 items.
46) Pick up 50 pieces of trash from your neighborhood.
45) Register to vote, and canvas fifty homes. (yes, there’s a theme).
44) Read our founding documents. It helps to go back to where we started.
43) Plant fifty bulbs.
42) Throw a block party to meet your neighbors.
41) Write a letter a week to someone in our government about something you care about.
40) Pay it forward in the grocery store.
39) Get vaccinated –so you’re a healthy person.
38) Check in on your friends –especially those who you consider strong.
37) Take the Citizenship test that immigrants must pass.
36) Instigate Sunday Dinner –invite people to come.
35) Learn our history –beyond the basics.
34) Bring a thank you gift to the police or fire department.
33) Ask your kid’s teachers what they need. Organize the class to get it.
32) Find out who is running in your LOCAL election.
31) Volunteer for one of those people’s campaigns.
30) Stand for our national anthem when it is sung.
29) Say the pledge when the opportunity presents itself, hand over heart.
28) Thank a veteran.
27) Fly the flag.
26) Read the op-eds you don’t agree with, and try to see why someone might think some way other than how you think.
25) Sign up for a 5K for a cause, and make it happen.
24) Plan a atrip to your state capital.
23) Be a kind and gracious, patient driver.
22) Take mass transit if you can.
21) Adopt a rescue pet, or donate to sponsor a rescue pet.
20) Shop local.
19) Visit a national park.
18) Respond to someone who says something you really disagree with, with kindness.
17) Pray for peace, in our hearts, homes, work, world.
16) Fast as a form of penance for all the injuries we’ve done to our brothers and sisters in Christ whether we knew or did not know.
15) Donate to a homeless shelter, or a safehouse for women and children escaping an abusive situation.
14) Part of what makes our country better, is see the task, be the task. So look for what the need is in your community, and start meeting that need.
13) Decide to go to an extra mass each week, just for the country.
12) Volunteer or be a booster at a public school.
11) Call your local political offices, see about being an Election judge.
10) Alternatively, offer through your church or school or work, to bring people to the polls.
9) Call your family, write down your history.
8) Recycle. –really.
7) Compost too.
6) Pray for those you see along the road begging for money, and for the wisdom of when to give. Listen to that reality.
5) Compliment people and mean it.
4) Smile more, and wish people good morning or have a great day –mean it.
3) Stay informed about all of it.
2) Vote.
1) Go to adoration, and really pray for everyone. We all need it.
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