Ranting and Raving

Sometimes human beings just feel the need to rant and rave. I don't know why we do, but we do. It could be over some trivial little thing that just set us off, the wrong way. It could be over a huge fuss that's going on in our lives. But, the fact is that sometimes we just rant about the problem and rave about what we should do because of the problem. Some of us yell and scream; some just talk a little faster, a little louder; some just cry and never say a word. But, we all rant and rave, at times.

I do it when someone does something that I feel is utterly immature, selfish or narcissistic. And most of the time I'm talking with a friend or relative when I do it. I rarely say anything I shouldn't say but the whole conversation is really something I shouldn't be having. The person I rant and rave to had nothing to do with the situation that set me off. It's just my way of blowing off the steam from the boiling anger over the perceived injustice of it all. I mean, really? How could they?

But where is the ranting and raving over the utterly insane things going on in our lives? The people tryng to force their religion on us? The people who won't support themselves and pay their taxes like we do? Where's the ranting and raving over the injustice of someone getting free food while I have to pay for mine, myself? Where is the ranting and raving over the high taxes I have to pay to the government so that someone else can choose to sit on their butt and refuse to get a job?

Oh, wait a minute! That's what's going on in our homes, our neighborhoods, our congregations, our cities/towns, our counties/parishes, our states and our country! How could I forget that? I may have missed some of it because I'm busy trying to live on my Social Security Disability income that's not even enough to cover the rent in a run-down mobile home. I'm busy trying to figure out how to make the food allowance I get stretch for 30 or 31 days when the groceries are costing 2 or 3 times as much I have to spend. I'm busy worrying if I'll have a roof over my head next month with power, gas and water. I haven't had time to get involved in all those rantings and ravings because not only am I trying to manage my life, I'm trying to help those who are worse off than I am because they don't have a roof over their heads and they're sweltering in near 100° temperatures in the summer and below freezing temperatures in the winter. I'm worried about the family down the block who can't figure out how to feed their three kids even though they both work.

I'm tired of hearing that I'm a pariah because I'm on disability. No, I'm not lucky to be on disability. If I were lucky I'd be able to go to work 40 hours a week. No, it's not a blessing that I "have nothing to do." I have tons to do but I don't have the physical capability to do it. I'm talking about the basiscs of sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming and washing dishes. That's where my concerns and my concentration is. Not worrying if a lady on food stamps is buying herself a cheap steak because she hasn't had red meat in months.

We have our priorities turned around in this country. We want to focus on me, me, me and what I don't have compared to someone else. We need to stop and look at what we do have, because I've paid attention to some of those people who are the loudest voices in this debate. They have their health. They have enough money to pay their bills and still take nice vacations with their loved ones. They have the ability to walk wherever they want. They have the ability to climb stairs. They eat 3 meals a day, or more. They have nice clothes to wear. They have nice cars to drive. They have more house than their family needs, most of them. So why are they worried that some lady on food stamps bought herself a cheap steak?

We should be better than this in this country! We have children starving as we throw away billions of tons of food every year. We have people and families living on the streets when there are houses vacant in almost every neighborhood in this country. We have more billionaires in this country than the rest of the world combined, yet we have children who can't bathe even once a week because they have no home. And our leadership is more worried about what the have nots do have than they are about helping those who are less fortunate. They aim to take away what little the have nots do have. They want to get rid of the poor because they don't want to have to look at them. They don't want to help them, they just want to hide them away so they can't be seen. They want to stop abortions but they don't want to deal with the unwanted children in this country.

We are a nation in need of help that can only come from Almighty God. If we want this to be a Christian nation then we better, individually and corporately, begin acting like Christians and doing what Jesus told us to do. Otherwise, I'm afraid a whole lot of people are going to be massively surprised when they stand before Jesus and He tells them to depart from Him because He's never known them. And I really do not want to be one of them.