Chick Fil-a-ing me up!!

So, I was just mopping the kitchen floor, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I found myself getting all fired up over this Chick fil a busy-ness.  I don't know, maybe it was bringing me back to my days of mopping floors at the pizzeria, and I was finding a soft spot in my heart for workers of food chains, but whatever the reason, I felt I had to share my mind. 

I'm not one to share my opinions, mostly because very little upsets me, outside of husbands, children, barking dogs, traffic, to do lists, work, grocery shopping, and the like.  When it comes to politics and religion, I find myself fairly tolerant, and forgiving.  If you tell me a man murdered his entire family, in my mind, I figure he probably had a shitty life, missed out on a lot of love, and in the big picture, we can't be mad at him.  That kind of thinking drives some people CRAZY, they call it crunchy, I call it understanding.

Anyway, chick fil a, and all this hype is quite silly to me.  Before I moved south about six years ago, I had never even heard of Chick Fil A, but EVERYONE DROOLED when the words rolled off their tongue, so I went there.  The sandwich was, meh?  I didn't understand why there was one pickle there, and nothing else.  I've learned to love it though, and so do my kids.  I could live off of those party platters of chicken paws, or whatever they are. 

When I learned that it was closed on Sundays, I thought it was kind of cool, particularly in this day and age.  How many businesses stand up for what they believe in, at the risk of losing profit?  I support that.  BUT, when I'm driving down the highway, and see a sign for Chick Fil A, and I'm STARVING, and I've already eaten all my finger nails, and I see that it's CLOSED because it's SUNDAY, all I can say is DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT, and realize I forgot to go to church.  Then I say a little prayer, that they will change their policy, and that God will forgive me for thinking about chicken before Him.

So obviously, this company prides itself on it's Christian values.  How many corporate businesses close on Sunday?  Now, I never sat down and went issue by issue, considering what the Christian people at Chick Fil A would have to say about it, but if I had, I think it would have been obvious.  I mean, they are doing things "Old School", the way businesses were run when my parents were kids, and who supported gay marriage when my parents were little?  No one, not even the little children who knew they were gay.  It was too scary.

But, if I had taken the time to stare reality in the face, and ask myself the question, "I wonder how Chick Fil A feels about gay marriage?", the answer would have been clear.  Chick Fil A, more than likely, does not support gay marriage.  At that point, I could have decided for myself, as an adult, whether or not I wanted to continue to support their business.  

For the record, I completely support gay marriage.  It is my opinion that when a child is born, they are created with a set personality, and there are certain things you will never change about them.  Ella is strong willed, and stubborn as Hell.  I will never change that, and I don't want to, because she comes through me, she is not "of" me.  She is her own person, and I will not expect her to be anything else.  Cora is VERY serious, and has perfect comedic timing.  I did not give that to her, it is simply what God gave her.  If either of my children ever came to me and told me they were gay, I would embrace them, and hold them with the biggest smile ever, that told them they were my baby, and I was proud of who they were.  I would hold them tight,  so that hey felt safe and comfortable enough to share with me every detail of what they want for their life, even if it is terribly difficult and scary.

I simply cannot imagine either of my children approaching me to ask "why we can't go to Chick Fil A", and me answering "because we don't feel the same way that they feel".  What kind of world would I be teaching them about?  One where we don't tolerate differences?  One where when someone has an opinion that bumps up against ours, we cast them out from our lives?  How does that translate?

I believe in God, I believe in the Christian way of life, but the God I believe in does not, and would not create a person one way, and then state that the life they lead is wrong.  The God I believe in wants us to love our neighbors and our enemies as we love ourselves. 

My life has been enriched not by the people who are just like me, but by the people who are my polar opposite.  At first, they seem evil, so off base, but peel away the layers.  It's in that moment, when you finally find common ground, when you realize that fundamentally, you are all the same people, with the same issues, just different words put to them. That's when real living happens, that's when real loving happens.  And that is my crunchy post for the day, Amen. lol.