Hills we die on

We spend time in our family talking about the hills we’re dying on. When one child decides she doesn’t want to wear her uniform, and wigs out that she’s not going to school, I ask if that’s the hill she’s dying on. She has to go to school (we don’t home school), so it’s the law. You can’t go out in public naked, so you have to get dressed, and sadly for you, the rules of the school say uniform. But, hey, if you want to fight this, let’s do it. You’re going to lose, but, by all means, you can choose to die on this hill.

I also, in my job, ask that question a lot. Is the software working exactly that way, and is that the hill we’re dying on? I ask that in my personal life, too. But, I’m getting really sick and tired of seeing the hills some of us so-called Christians are dying on.

How about rather than dying on a hill about a red cup, we die on the hill fighting for churches to open their doors to the homeless, instead of locking them and spraying water on those seeking sanctuary. How about we go buy a few gallons of hot coffee and take them to the cold, homeless under bridges? You know – worry about OUR reflection of the season we celebrate?

How about instead of dying on a hill worrying about families with two moms or dads, we worry about families broken apart as they flee Syria? We find ways to get the families back together in a safe place that allows them to practice their faith, live their lives, and take care of their kids together as a family.

How about instead of dying on a hill because a company is open or not on a holiday or not, we worry about the people working there? You know – the ones who don’t get paid enough to making a living wage to really engage in all that life has to offer. The ones working 2-3 jobs to put food on the table. How about we look at the problems these men and women are facing and find real ways to help them? Or, we can throw a fit because a company is open and embrace a company that’s not (and hey, maybe won’t be paying their people for their ‘forced holiday’).

How about instead of dying on the hill of repealing Affordable Health Care and defunding Planned Parenthood, we figure out why so many of our people are choosing to buy food or medication, because they can’t have both? How about we figure out what to do with families that are kicked out of their houses because medical bills have become staggering? How about we make sure that physicals are open to everyone, not just those that work at a job in a corporation?

Instead of dying on a hill that #alllivesmatter, let’s remember that there’s a bunch of evidence to the contrary. That #blacklivesmatters is important because, right now, they don’t. Let’s die on the hill of getting all of our people equal access to health care, real education (and not some crappy school that’s barely able to turn out a kid who can read and do math at 18). Let’s die on the hill of making sure that schools are safe; when a girl goes to school, no officer is going to throw her on the ground; no one is going to open fire…

The Good Lord died on the hill at Cavalry for me (and you too, but you may or may not believe and I’m generally okay with that). His battles were taking care of the poor, the ill, the left-out, the down-trodden. Maybe, just maybe we should be a reflection of his soul. Maybe those should be the hills we die on, too.