She does the best she can with what she has. She may not be able to write a book, a column or run for office. But she can become informed and she can canvas neighborhoods with flyers and have a yardsale to raise money for candidates of her choice. She can support people who do write by saying "amen" to their columns, tweets and articles. She can copy links from stories that say something she wants to say and send it to people she knows.
She may think she cannot do something because it is impossible, but she can make a sign and take a stand next to others to protest something that means a great deal to her like education of her children and grandchildren.
She can buy the products that advertise someone she believes stands for her values, issues and policies and tell others to do likewise. "It only takes a spark to get a fire going." She can go to her local party's headquarters and drop off a basket of muffins, a tray of sandwiches.
In my case I can write-- not eloquently, not perfectly, and not always with words that make a hill of beans difference in the scheme of things. But I do what I can do. From this side of my monitor, I can connect with people I could never connect with during a day. With physical limitations, I sometimes feel totally and completely inadequate. If I were younger, less confined and more able, I'd publish another newspaper like I did in 1993. Looking back on what I did in Kentucky actually blows my mind. It was an impossible feat. But I prayed about it and God led every step of the way.
I got all worked up over the way a president's policies had taken our country the moment he got in office after he'd sold the country a bill of centrist goods. It annoyed me. No, it infuriated me. Because I'd bought into a lie, I felt personally violated. I wanted to right the situation. But what was one little preacher's wife in a rural area gonna do to make any kind of difference?
I started by writing letters to the editor of papers. I wasn't a novice at writing, mind you-- I'd had a few articles published in magazines, and even won an award for an article I wrote in a state Baptist paper. I had this grand idea to get syndicated in small county newspapers in every county in my state. I never made it to first base till about 6 years ago. A smarter woman might have given up and went back to canning tomatoes and green beans. I'm not that smart. Instead, I write letters to Senators, Congressmen, and editors all around the country. A few times I saw responses to those letters in the newspapers. I even got a few meaningless form letters from politicians. It wasn't til I had an editor tell me how important one letter was that I actually began rethinking the impact I had with my letters. I was told that one single letter from someone who took the time to write represented about 10,000 who felt the same way who didn't take the time to write. Letters are important.
HERE is an excellent article about writing letters to elected officials that has very helpful guidelines.
But it wasn't enough. I felt the need to do more. So I started going to political party rallies, picnics and club meetings. I went to both parties-- Republican and Democrat. I was tired of getting secondhand accounts. I went to news conferences that were open to the public and discovered that when I went home to watch the news report, it didn't represent what I saw and heard. I got informed. Then I began informing others.
We can't be everywhere. We can vote and our vote is still only one vote. But we can tell others and maybe get another vote. And yes, there will be defeats. But I am not called to simply win... I'm called to be faithful to God and my fellowman:
"Thus says the LORD, "Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place." Jeremiah 22:3
It's not always easy to discern what's just and righteous--but I must focus on God's Word and follow Christ's example as closely as I possibly can. I get informed, act on that information and trust God for the rest. Then I can sleep at night and stand in the gap by day. [see Ezekiel: 22:29-30]
