Teach & Serve IV, No. 35
Dying is Easy; Living Is Harder
April 3, 2019
Before we die on any hill – we should consider what living on the hill would mean.
There are moments in our careers which we believe force us to take stands. There are incidents that challenge us – our morality, our convictions, our constitutions. There are crucible moments which, when we recognize them, inspire us and galvanize us. When we confront these incidents, we can feel like this is the time, this is our time, this is when we say who we are and command respect from those around us. These are the moments when we can think we must define who we are.
These are the proverbial hills on which we choose to proverbially die.
And there are surely times when dying on hills is the absolute right thing to do.
Often when we die on a hill, we do so in spectacular fashion. Dying on a hill is frequently associated with burning bridges, with sowing salt in the land, with backing ourselves into certain and absolute corners. Dying for our causes is a last move. There is no coming back from it.
But we ought to be careful. When we are engaged so vitally as to die on a hill, our blinders can pop up.
Before we die on any hill – we should consider what living on the hill would mean.
Living on the hill, fighting the battle, continuing engagement, winning detractors to our side, these things are difficult. They are draining. They require humility and perseverance. But, in these circumstances, when we have determined that the issue at hand is so critical, dying for it seems the right thing to do. It is that important. We are willing to die for it.
Should we not, then, be equally willing to live for it?
Dying for something is a powerful statement, but it is also a final one. You do not get to influence change and debate when you are dead.
In the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Hamilton, George Washington tells Alexander Hamilton “dying is easy, son, living is harder.”
No doubt.