Yes! That is exactly the downside of seeing all our social ills as the results of systems and institutions, isn't it? It robs us of agency in addressing and correcting them.

Way too long a story, but...over a decade ago I started visiting a new church in downtown Asheville that described itself as a ministry with the poor and homeless. Not to them, but with them. In one of the early services, a woman came in and lay down in a pew, fell asleep, and started snoring loudly. The young pastor didn't ignore her. "One of the hardest things to do when you're on the streets," he observed "is get a good night's sleep. Isn't it wonderful that she can do that here." Suddenly she wasn't interrupting what we were doing--she was the reason we were doing what we were doing. Experiences like that encourage me to look for beauty in the most unexpected places, even the broken ones, even in myself.

Yes, you'd have a lot to teach me, Amy, several pots of coffee or Zinfandels worth, that's certain. Thank you!