I don't like to complain, but...

I don't like to complain about the weather, we, actually I guess I really do because if I didn't complain about the weather, I would have to consider things of real import, things I could/might be able to do something about. It's much easier to express my frustration with temperatures that one day are in the 50s and the next in the teens. Who doesn't get ticked off about the snow that has to get plowed and shoveled, only to be hit with a coating of ice the next day and rain the next? But the effect I can have on the weather is about as great as the effect a parent has on a thirteen year old, seemingly very little.

So, if I'm not complaining about the weather, maybe I will be forced to actually look at what I can/might be able to effect t as a person of faith. That "person of faith" thing is kind of the kicker. It calls me to think about things like how I use my money (one of the things Jesus was always talking about. For example,  "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12:34). It makes me consider my position relative to others in society and around the globe. The peculiar penchant in the Bible is to always be on the side of the least among us. In Luke's rendering of the Beatitudes he says, "Blessed are the poor (not the poor in spirit) for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)

Jesus makes me consider how I treat others, those whom I think of as being less than I, even those whom I would consider my enemies. In all of that I can have an effect because I can change how it is that I behave. I may not be able to change the hearts and minds of city, county, state and national officials so that they act with more equity toward those who have less and thus need more opportunity. But I certainly can change what I do. I can change how I use my money. I can change what and whom I support by what I say and what I do. I can change the way I treat others in so many ways. That I can do once I stop talking about the weather and all the other stuff I can't change and get in touch with the things I can, and by the way, should change because I need to act as the person of faith I claim to be.

By the way, it's supposed to snow and get cold and get sunny and snow and ...