Disappointment fills the air these days when it comes to politics. It certainly seemed to be the general reaction when House Speaker Paul Ryan said he’d vote for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump the other day. But if anyone has to support Trump, surely, it has to be the most powerful Congressional Republican.

But what about the rest of us? I’ve known David and Nancy French for a long time, and was at first as surprised as anyone that his name was being floated as an alternative candidate for president. They certainly are exemplars of patriotism and self-sacrifice, and would do a world of good in any position.

I personally have had a steady succession of people asking me what they should do, almost asking permission to vote for Donald Trump.

And of his probable opponent Hillary Clinton, people announce to me: “She’s the devil incarnate!” By which they don’t merely mean that she’s “corrupt,” as Trump has branded her, but that her secular views on human life and gender, among other things, are in direct conflict with centuries of religious belief, as my friend Mary Eberstadt lays out quite clearly in an upcoming book, It’s Dangerous to Believe: Religious Freedom and Its Enemies.

I’m only certain about one incarnation, and I’d like to see the freedom to believe in it continue, that’s for sure. But politically what can we do to ensure that?

One formerly “Never Trump” friend said the other day that the idea of another four-plus years of a Democratic government, with its increasingly intolerant secular theocracy, has her in an apocalyptic mood.

Another friend shared that she has had “so many bizarre conversations about Trump with people I respect and admire who have given in to this idea that Hillary is worse. I truly don’t believe she’s worse — just a different kind of evil. I think in many ways that matter (cultural, mostly, I’ll admit) Trump is worse.”

If you find yourself thinking similar things, my best advice is to pray and open your eyes and get involved in things that change lives and the world.

On June 1, about 100 nuns managed to get an overflowing block of New York City to stop for the better part of the day. The Sisters of Life were celebrating their silver jubilee. Twenty-five years ago, the late Cardinal O’Connor took a gamble, asking women to come forward to dedicate their lives to Jesus and protecting innocent human life. The Sisters of Life accompany women, men and children at their most vulnerable moments, not merely saving their lives, but becoming part of them.

Yet another friend said to me: “Maybe Donald Trump will be good.” She recalled his car wreck of an answer to a question about abortion and whether women should be punished for having one. At least he must know it’s evil, she hoped. It’s the uncertainty that is keeping people wondering and worrying.

My hope lies in the people doing the real work of walking with others in hard times. These people overflow with love in their service. Just the other day, Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche community, which is dedicated to ensuring that anyone severely disabled has a home in which to thrive, commented on the assisted-suicide debate in Canada. He said that while we obsess in our national politics about “the right to” do things, maybe we could take a few steps back and instead love and live and serve. People have a right to be accompanied, he said. That’s not a legal issue, that’s a human one.

At some point, we must let the screaming go, and stop pretending to have all the answers and magic formulas in the form of political platforms. Politics is important, but it will only ever be as good as we make it, in every other aspect of life beyond Election Day.

If you’re disappointed in politics, do something beautiful beyond bemoaning its state.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at [email protected].

COPYRIGHT 2016 United Feature Syndicate