Warning: This may turn into a rant.

When people are lamenting war, poverty, ignorance, the destruction of the environment, or even the Tea Party, I want to yell,

“I’m not a legislator!
I’m not a journalist!
I’m not a billionaire who could be making big political contributions!
Why are you telling me this?”

(Who am I kidding?  I have yelled it.  Numerous times.  And wanted to even more often.)

We seem to be living in a world of discouragement, frustration, and fear.  And of course we think things have never been this bad in the history of the universe.

My first response is to read a “cozy” mystery novel featuring sweet old ladies and/or soccer moms who are always eating but never gain weight.  (Sometimes the books include recipes.)

But what is the Christian response? We are told to trust God and to do what we can to help improve things.  But what is the best thing that we can do?

There are those who think that giving a homeless person the apple you didn’t eat for lunch or organizing a food bank only offer temporary help, when it is Society that needs to be changed.  How about with each bowl of lentil soup served at the soup kitchen, we give the guest a pamphlet on community empowerment and a list of phone numbers of the local activist organizations?

Others say, “If those people would spend the time they waste demonstrating or lobbying working in a homeless shelter or tutoring in a GED program, they might be accomplishing something.”

Since this has turned snarky, I might as well say that my thought about trusting God is “Good luck with that, honey.”

A priest once told me that is it a sin to worry because worry comes from a lack of faith.  This made me feel good for a while, since people who do worry have said that I’m lazy and uncaring because I won’t join in.  But then when I did worry, I felt guilty.

And of course I’ve been feeling liberal guilt for years.  (I can’t help wondering if one of the reasons conservatism is growing in popularity it that you don’t have to feel guilty about anything.)

I am not offering any solutions as a Christian or a concerned person.  I apologize for ranting and I realize that you probably aren’t a legislator or a journalist or a billionaire.

But I am asking:  What do you think?

Some cozy heroines in case you want a break from thinking:

Miss Jane Marple – Agatha Christie’s queen of the sweet old ladies.

Miss Maud Silver – Not as well-known as Miss M., but just as much fun. She’s a former governess who turned detective.  Created by Patricia Wentworth.  The series ran from 1928 to 1961.

Magdalena Yoder – Mennonite owner of the Penn Dutch Inn in Hernia, Pennsylvania.    The books have great Pennsylvania Dutch recipes.  Created by Tamar Myers.

Lucy Stone – Reporter in Tinker’s Cove, Maine.  Each book centers around a holiday.  Created by Leslie Meier.

Kathryn Koerney – An Episcopal priest in a small New Jersey town, who works with the local police captain.  Author Cristina Sumners is an Episcopal priest.

For more on cozies, see Cozy Mystery www.cozy-mystery.com