Wednesday, I drove my wife to the emergency room with what had been, only an hour before, a minor condition. Within a short time after arriving, a doctor said to me, “It is a good thing that you brought her in when you did.” Why did I bring her in when I did? Because we had health insurance. If we were uninsured, as we had been back in the 1980s, I would have held off. It’s just a bug, it will pass. My dithering may have been fatal.

Moses says, “See, I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19) Before the Affordable Care Act, neither of our adult children had health insurance. Today, many popular politicians are committed to rolling back Obamacare and choosing death, over life. Further, some states deny medical services to those who cannot document that they are here legally. I believe that healthcare is a basic human right.

As I write this, the doctors are waiting for lab work to come back to determine the nature of my wife’s infection. Each year, there are more and more ‘super-bugs’ that are resistant to antibiotics. The science behind this problem points to America’s agri-business, which uses carelessly uses antibiotics to speed livestock to harvest and lessen the effects of over-crowding. Competitive market pressures lead farmers to choose death. It may be only a matter of time before an apocalyptic order strain get’s loose. Moses would call that a curse.

Lately I have come to believe that all choices are linked. Moses is calling us live with  humility and generosity, such that, whether we are responding to our neighbor’s need, or deciding upon which presidential candidate to support, or buying hog feed, we will prayerfully weigh whether life is affirmed or cursed in some small way by our choice. God grant us all, wisdom and grace in this.