What hill will you climb?

​The other day, a friend and I had a conversation about what our lives would look like if we lived more driven by our love for God. I didn't expect to hear what she said.

She said, "Creating without fear. That comes to mind first. Writing without fear of judgment. Sharing ideas without fear of judgment. If I can somehow convince my mind to be creative and forget what other people think, that would be a miracle. But one God wants for us."

I'd had the McConaughey quote in the image below written on a note card and sitting on my desk for weeks. I wanted to write about it at some point. I sent that quote to my friend yesterday - I told her to read it - and that she needed to decide what her hill was.

Then I told myself when I went to bed last night that this morning, I would write about that quote and that conversation with my friend. When I woke up, though, for some unknown reason I decided to write about something else.

I know the reason now.

I hadn't yet heard Amanda Gorman read her poem, "The Hill We Climb." Like when I heard her read "the hill we climb", I literally looked down at that note card and had goosebumps.

God needed me to hear her, to be moved by her, before I wrote a single word about climbing hills.

He needed me to hear Amanda Gorman say:

Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it

Gorman is referencing a scriptural promise in Micah. This promise that one day we will all live in peace. A peace that will be granted us by the Lord our God forever and ever. That's the promise of Micah.

Here's the thing, though. That Lord, that Lord our God forever and ever, he chose a hill.

Actually, he chose a cross.

He came to this earth, completely unafraid of what anyone said, no interest in winning any popularity contest, and spent his entire ministry climbing hills for the world's least popular people. He didn't sit around waiting for the government to create peace, he went around climbing whatever hill was in front of him to deliver it.

Deliver it to the people to whom peace seemed most impossible.

Listen - I get the celebration today. I get that some are celebrating this day more than others. But soon, the celebration fades and we're right back where we were. We're right back to having to make some choices about what hills we're going to climb.

Maybe the hills get easier because someone else is in charge - who knows - but we still have to climb the hills.

being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it

Jesus came and stepped into the pasts of people who were hurting. He stepped into them to show us the path to healing - to repairing. He showed us the way to that repairing - to that forever peace - is love.

Most importantly, he said - and demonstrated on his hills, love for our enemies.

Oh, I know loving our enemies sounds like a tough hill to climb. But now, more than ever, we all need to start deciding what our hills are.

No election will ever take the place of choosing and climbing our hills. No forever peace is ever coming without that choosing and climbing.