What I've Been Reading #14: Special Edition

I completed the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I read the book because I had wanted to see the movie when it came out earlier in the year, but missed it.  Since my experience tells me that the book is always better I thought I might as well read the book and then see the movie when it comes out on DVD. 

As expected after having read about the movie and seeing previews of the movie, the book was about Oskar Schell a 9 year old boy whose father died in the 911 events.  Oskar is not your typical child nor is he a typical boy.  Quirky and unique Oskar deals with his father's death in a very unexpected manner.

Because of the closeness Oskar had with his father and the very original activities they shared, Oskar is lead into a truly odd way of dealing with his father's death.  Oskar finds a vase in his father's closet with a small envelope with an unusual key in it.  On the envelope it says "Black".  Because he and his father have done similar things when his Dad was alive Oskar determines that this is his father's way of telling him something and now he just has to figure out what the key goes to in order to know what his father wanted to tell him.  So we are off to the races as Oskar with his great intellect and original creativity seeks to find his father's meaning.  The story is really great.  It is a real testament to how close and influential a father son relationship can be. 

However, there is an additional story that is woven through the book.  Oskar's grandparents have a unique story of their own.  Oskar doesn't know his grandfather and has never met him.  But the story of his grandparents marriage and relationship is told very open with sometimes too much detail. 

This second story serves as a counter point to show how hurtful a father's relationship can be as well--only this story is told from the father's relationship.  How emotionally harmed he is because of his poor choices with his son. 

The point seems to be that father's and son's desperately need the relationship with each other to have a meaningful existence.  Two other much shorter father-son stories are in the book as well.  One positive and one negative.  The author shares his point again that father's need their sons and sons need their fathers. 

The book left me a bit confused about whether I liked it or not.  There were parts that I found objectionable balanced by parts that I found very affirming of good.  Once again the balance, maybe intended by the author, forcing, I think, the reader to determine the meaning of the book.  Most likely each reader's determination of the meaning will be determined by their own relationship with their father, and that unwritten relationship influencing the reader will ultimately determine what the reader gains from the book. 

Then today, by chance, I saw a movie that helped me to put this book in perspective:  Facing the Giants.  This movie is an earlier one by the same group that put out Courageous which I have raved about in the past.  This movie is great as well.  Strong on the Christian values and slightly preachy, it touches the heart, especially male hearts.

There is a part in the movie's story that really touched me however and continued this theme of father son relationships from the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. 

A young man and his father move into the little town portrayed there.  The father is a college professor and is in a wheelchair.  His son is a soccer player but the town doesn't have soccer at the school, only football.  So the father encourages the son to try out and he does, but he is intimidated by the sport but is kept on the team as a back up kicker.  Consequently he plays very little.  The couch gives him a few opportunities to kick field goals throughout the season but mostly he rides the bench.  Each of the few times he kicks a field goal his father calls his name after his son is lined up and in an encouraging gesture from a seated position in his wheel chair raises both his arms straight up to indicate "You can do it". 

After losing their first three games miserably, the team ends up making it to the state finals through a variety of miracles.  As you might guess the game comes down to needing a field goal with 2 seconds left for the win.  The first string kicker is hurt during the game and so it is up to the young man with weak confidence.  But there is a problem.  A 51 yard field goal is needed and this young man has never hit one from that distance.  His longest field goal even in practice has been only 39 yards.  The coach encourages him but the young man tells the coach that he can't do it.  The coach sends him to the field anyways and the boy lines up to kick.  He is shaking his head as he lines up because he knows he cannot do what is required.  His coach sees the boys utter lack of confidence and wishes he could call a time out to encourage him more but they have used all their time outs.  The father calls the boys name to do his normal encouraging symbol but the boy refuses to look because he is so utterly sure he cannot do it that he will not allow himself to receive any encouragement. 

 

The opposing coach calls a time out to "ice the kicker".  The coach does his best during the time out to encourage the kicker and when he returns to the field and lines up to take his kick this time he looks over to his father's spot to allow his Dad to encourage him.  Now the boy wants to try his best.  But his father and his wheelchair are gone.  The boy is surprised and disappointed but must do his part.  He looks to the goal post down the field to get his bearings and there is his Dad standing just behind the fence behind the goal post.  Standing on unsteady legs, leaning forward against the fence to hold himself up with his arms raised straight up from his sides to encourage his son.  In essence saying "We can do hard things".

The kicker now will give it his all after the strong words of encouragement from his coach and his father who has done a hard thing to encourage his son.  The ball is hiked and he steps to the ball to kick it with all that he has.  He kicks the ball so hard that the motion pulls his left leg out from under him and he ends up on his back.  Yes the ball splits the uprights and the game it won.  Good prevails one more time.

So what is it about fathers and sons and the profound relationship of love and encouragement that they have between the two of them.  What is it about the son who listens, trusts and honors his father that makes the Father want to be a better man?  What is it about the father who loves, respects and encourages his son that makes the son want to do his best and be just like his Dad?  This relationship has the potential to really determine the path of both of them. 

Please father's don't let your sons down.  And sons, honor your fathers and that will help them be more worthy fathers. 

Here is a trailer from the movie Facing the Giants:

Here is the part of the movie that I've described above.  Little does the coach know that God wasn't done with him for that day.  Watch the movie to get the rest of the story!

Can ya tell...

Alright, I don't know if you've noticed but I like BYU.  I'm an alumni of BYU.  So is my wife and my oldest daughter.  Two daughters are finishing up and my youngest daughter is planning on BYU-I.  So is it any surprise that I would be a BYU fan?  I ran across a BYU questionnaire the other day that ask questions like "Do you wear BYU gear at least once a week?" etc.  My score was so high that I was designated a True Blue Fan.  That's a good thing from this point of view.

Despite the fact I am a BYU fan I haven't know a whole lot about their gymnastic team.  I was aware there is such a team but I am not a big fan of gymnastics.  I usually watch a bunch of that at the Summer Olympics but that usually lasts me just fine for the next four years.  But then I was directed to this video at the bottom of the page that features the gymnastics team and some of the pictures also below struck me as quite good art and creative in their presentation. 

So I think I'll claim all things BYU!  Enjoy!

The members of the team for 2012 are Megan Bain, Natalie Eyre Pickard, KayCee Gassaway, Jordan hayden, Krysten Koval, Jennifer Leseu, Marguerite Lindstrom, Holland Matheson, Mickell Merrell, Michelle Padilla, Haylee Rollins, Stephanie sander, Jordan Schult, Raquel Willman, Sarah Yandou.  Coaches: Brad Cattermole, Dawn Cattermole, Shauna Mertz


See the YouTube video below for the making of the BYU gymnastics pictures above.

Modern Hero # 7: Many Heroes here

Cory Weissman and his parents.

I don't know who to tell you the hero is here.  Or maybe more accurately put, there were lots of heroes here.  Lets start with Cory Weissman.   Cory played basketball at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.  He was a 1000 point scoring guard in High School and his freshman year at Gettysburg he played a little but did not score. 

Shortly following the his freshman year he had a major stroke while lifting weights with a teammate in the gym.  He was rushed to the hospital and had some close calls before he was discharged to a rehabilitation hospital just 11 days after the stroke. 

His type of stroke has a 50 percent mortality rate and the other 50 percent have resulting major disabilities through the rest of their life.  Cory worked hard at rehabilitation and progressed to using crutches to walk (his left side was paralyzed.  His mother was a rehab specialist and she would take him daily to shoot baskets with his right arm since his left arm didn't work. 

Time when on and Cory's goal was to return to basketball.  Finally a year later he was able to keep the clock and stats book for his team at practices.  Eventually he worked so that he could get back on the court and work out with his teammates at practices and finally he was able to be the guard for the scout team to help his teammates prepare for other teams. 

Coach Petrie

Coach Nugent

He didn't give up but he wasn't really well enough to play in a game.  Finally in his senior year his coach allowed him to dress for the games and he sat the bench cheering on his fellow teammates.  He was voted as a team captain even though he wasn't expected to play.  The last home game came around, senior night, and his coach, George Petrie, worked out a plan with the apposing coach,
Rob Nugent for the Washington College of Chesterton, so that Cory could start and achieve his dream of playing, even starting in a college game. 

The plan was for him to play a token few seconds at the beginning.  After accomplishing that to the applause of BOTH teams and the Gettysburg fans he retired to the bench.  Surprisingly Gettysburg found itself ahead by 18 points at the end of the game and the coach asked him if he wanted to go in for the last minute of the game.  Needless to say he was ecstatic and jumped at the opportunity.  In he went.  Chesterton scored a basket still behind by too many points to have a chance to win.  He surprisingly called a time out.

Coach Nugent gathered his players around and told his players the strategy.  The plan was to foul Cory--gently-- to give him two free throws.  After the timeout Coach Nugent gave a hand signal to Coach Petrie across the court to tell him they were going to foul.  The inbounds pass came to Cory.  He was guarded closely by a Cheterton player who promptly grabbed Cory's jersey and tugged a little.  Immediately the referee called a foul and because they were in the double bonus he went to the line to shoot two shots. 

Both teams were now on their feet clapping and yelling Cory on.  The audience, fans for both teams figured out what was happening and the whole gym was on its feet urging Cory to score his first points in his only start and last game as a college basketball player.  Cory went to the line and was nervous as every person in the gym was yelling for his success.  It was a lot of pressure.  He shot the first shot and just barely hit the rim and bounced away.  Immediately everyone was quiet as several hoped and some prayed for him to make the second shot.

Cory actually was quite an accomplished free throw shooter.  Even after his stroke and much rehabilitation he had become a good free throw shooter, often making ten and twelve free throws in a row...after missing the first one. 

So he looked at the basket, calmed himself and shot...and scored his point.  The gym burst into a raucous applause for the young man who had put in three extensive years of rehabilitation to score that one point and fulfill another dream. 

Hurray for Cory Weismann.  Thank goodness for Coach Petrie who wouldn't let the opportunity by to start surely his hardest working player and then let him play the last seconds in the game.  Then thank goodness for Coach Nugent who saw an opportunity to do the right thing even though the game had gotten away from him.  Kudos to the players from both teams that cheered Cory on and for all the fans who wanted him to succeed regardless of their affiliation.  That night there was a plethora of heroes in that gym. 

It turns out that win made Coach Petrie the winningest coach in the History of Gettysburg College.  So of course he was awarded the game ball.  He took the ball and gave it to Cory to commemorate his victory of overcoming his stroke to reach his goals of playing and scoring in a college basketball game.

Three articles about that game:
The first from Deseret News -- a quick summary if that's all you have time for. 
The second a more detailed article by Sports Illustrated.
Finally an excellent but longish article about it by ESPN. 

Here's a video that tells his story in about five minutes:

Here is another one of my favorite songs by William Joseph called Heroes.  If you think it is a little tame for you wait until the second minute and then you will see what I like about it.  Enjoy!

To be a Priesthood Man: Hard work pays off

I ran across this video about Tyler Haws.  Tyler Haws is a BYU basketball player (it is basketball season after all) and this video is an interview with him and his parents prior to his leaving to serve a mission in the Philippines.  This video is quite inspirational as it underlines two things that I especially appreciated.  First was that hard work is what has made him great in his basketball endeavors and will help him be successful in all his life activities.  Second is mildly underscored that being a Priesthood man, a good man, is more important than the other things he might be good at.  Enjoy the video and expect to see Tyler back with BYU maybe next season. 

Making Good Men: the Noah Hartsock family

Noah Hartsock is a player on the BYU basketball team.  He has been probably the most consistent player on the team this season.  He is great with shooting percentage and points per game and blocked shots and a lot of other basketball stuff.  He was even the WCC player of the month.  But basketball isn't the point of this blog.

In an article in the deseret news that you can see from clicking here, his father, Dave Hartsock, was quoted as saying: "We're fortunate all our kids have turned out well. Noah works hard, he's got a good disposition. We haven't been trying to make basketball players, we've tried to make good men and if he turns out to be a good basketball player in the process that's good and we're really happy for him."  Noah is known for taking things as they come and continuing on just as happy as before.  An example of that was Christmas 2010 he was driving home with his wife early morning Christmas Eve and their car flipped on some ice.  The injuries were few and he finished the season with his normal demeanor and good play.  Click hear to read more. 

"We haven't been trying to make good basketball players, we've tried to make good men" -- he says.  As a parent I try to think to make that my goal as well to help our children be good women and men rather than to give them some competitive advantage in a field of work or a sport.

I would hope that all parents would do the same, try to raise their children so they are good people.  Being good people has much more advantage in life than some other training we may give them.  Having a home that trains family members to be good people has a much more long term advantage than training in sports or even accounting, engineering or even social work.  The advantages go beyond getting a job with a decent salary.  Being a good man has advantages that goes even beyond life into the eternities. 

There have been some times in my life when I had to remember that I wasn't raising a great swimmer, basketball player, world renowned artist or even spelling bee champ, but instead was raising some great girls who were just good people.  Remembering that changed some actions and emphasis we put on things in our family. 

If you really do want to know more about Noah's basketball playing and stats you can go here to see more info about that. 

A tidbit of "Wow" from BYU's football season so far

So the season hasn't started out as wonderful as we might have liked for BYU football.  BYU won the first ball game 14-13 over Ole Miss.  Seemed like it should have been a bigger win, but it wasn't.  Last week they played Texas and lost 17-16.  The first half Texas was terrible and we looked great.  The second half we had so much empathy for them we decided to give that terribleness a shot and of course we ended up losing the game.  So to this point the offense has shown a little bit of good and a lot of messy.  The defense has shown a good portion of great and a little bit of "what's going on".

 

So what is the "wow" referred to in the title.  How about this: More people have watched BYU football on T.V. in the last two games (drum role) than have watched them on T.V. in the previous six seasons!  That's amazing.  That should have been worth an additional two points in last weeks game!

So today we play the University of Utah in the rivalry game.  Should be interesting.  Which team will win by one point?  Even though the game's meaning is different since we both have left the Mountain West Conference, it still, like always will be one of the games that gets talked about the most.  I mean if you are a cougar fan, what games do you talk about in years to come?  The games we play Utah.  For proof, I was on the phone with my daughter who likes football and of course we were talking about the upcoming BYU UofU game.  She got so excited that she went on her smart phone and was playing a replay of the John Beck to Johnny Harline catch the won the game as the clock ran out a few years back.  Her husband, not a big football fan didn't sound too excited.  I guess you had to be there which she was or in my case getting texts from her as the game went along.  This is the game we talk about regardless of what bowl we go to and all that kind of stuff. 

Maybe this picture symbolizes BYU trying to stake their claim in the rocky ground of football independence.

Oh, and by the way, keep your eyes peeled for Prime Minister of Tonga and his wife Robyn Kaho.  They are attending the game from Tonga and have family on both sides of the football. 

Modern Heroes #3: Brandon Davies

Brandon Davies is a basketball player from BYU.  At the end of the season this past winter Brandon Davis voluntarily told the school that he had broken the rules that he signed when he came to BYU.  He broke the honor code.  BYU was having its best season ever and was just 4 or 5 games away from the end of the season.  They were ranked #3 in the country and had a chance to really do great in the NCAA tournament.  The school didn't let themselves off the hook for this basketball player who was a starter.  They suspended him from the team.

When the world found out they couldn't believe that the school suspended one of their best basketball players when they were that close to a possible run at the championship.  BYU kept themselves to the honor code and did what was right, and what they would have done, for other students as well.  Brandon was suspended and not allowed to play.  They did decide to let him attend the games and let him sit with the team in his street clothes. 

Because of this action the honor code at BYU became big news.  Lots of news and sportscasters disagreed with the university for suspending him but they respected the university anyway because they stood strong with their rules.  Much ado was made about BYU standing by their own honor code when many other universities ignore, sweep under the carpet or wait to discipline students until after the big game or season. 

Brandon is a modern hero not for what he did to get suspended but for what he has done since.  He didn't go public and rail against the university.  Instead he followed the strict guidelines for his potential reinstatement.  He wasn't even guaranteed that they would accept him back at BYU.  But he went through the process and in essence repented of his actions and has recently been reinstated and now can practice with the basketball team as they prepare for their upcoming season.  Brandon is a hero for taking responsibility and going through the difficult process of making things right.  The whole time accepting that he might not be allowed back.  Hurrah for honor:  honor of the school that does the right thing at an inconvenient time and honor of Brandon Davies for sticking to his values and making it right.   

You can read more about it here http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700175462/Jay-Evensen-Brandon-Davies-should-have-been-story-of-the-week.html  and here http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/howard-110901/brandon-davies-return-byu-rare-positive-story-college-sports


Update: Click here for the very latest article about Brandon. 

BYU begins their independent season today!

BYU football has really taken the spotlight for this season.  After declaring independence from their football conference and then making a great contract with ESPN sports, added to their television station that will broadcast or rebroadcast the games, they really have gotten the attention of many football fans.  Today they play Ole Miss in Mississippi.  I'm excited to see how well they can do and see if they can do as well as the hype has suggested.

One of the things I enjoy about the BYU football team is that they recognize there are things more important than football.  Their head coach Bronco Mendenhall has commented on several occasions that some things are more important and football comes fourth or fifth on his list after such things as family and faith. 

Friday night the football team had a fireside at a stake center in Mississippi.  Bronco spoke along with a tight end and a defensive back.  A kicker also sang.  President Samuelson, the President of BYU and a member of the quorum of the seventy was given a key to the city. 

1200 people attended the Friday night fireside and Bronco said that the fireside is usually his favorite part of the trips.  He had this to say about the team in a deseret news article:
"I like football, but the events on Friday night are really special," he said. "I think it lends credibility when we play well. There have only been I think seven teams that have won more games the past five years than us. I just like the thought that it is possible, not only possible, desirable to do more than just play ball."
"There's a lot of them that are married and doing other things and I think in our life we can focus on other things and still be successful," he said. "Football, at the end of the day and at the end of our lives, will be just a way maybe you've helped other people.
"I'm not sure that in and of itself will be enough to really put our stamp on what we've done here on this Earth. Hopefully we're maximizing our talents and I'm asking our players to do the very best they can through the gifts they've been given to really maybe share a message."

Go Cougars!

Modern Heroes #1: Paora Winitana

I recently learned about a professional basketball player in New Zealand who is a Bishop in the church there.  He has become my most recent hero because he chose not to play basketball for the grand final championship on the Sabbath day.  As a result his team lost.  Paora Winitana is the starting shooting guard for the HBS Bank Hawks and was missed by his team. 

He has played for a few different teams but when he started his professional career in 1996 he was Rookie of the Year in the NBL.  He was captain of his team when they won the title in 2006 and he played on the silver medal team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. 

When his coach was given a chance after the championship game he admitted that they might have been better with Paora playing but would not say unkind things about him.  Instead he said the following:  "These things happen in sport. Paora's my brother and he's come into his faith so I respect him even more. To stand there [on the bench] and go through that - I look up to the guy as a human being. If everyone strived to be like Paora Winitana, the world would be a better place."

It is evident that Paora Winitana is a good ambassador for the church and lives the gospel in a way that shines forth to others.  It also seems clear that he doesn't do that in such a way that he comes across as "holier than thou".  I appreciate good examples of those willing to live the gospel even when it isn't convenient. 

Latter-day Saint basketball player Paora Winitana made a commitment long ago to spend Sundays with his family and as a day of worship.

He is sticking to his decision this Sunday and will miss the National Basketball League final."I love basketball, but I am a father, a husband and member of the Church first," he says.

"Basketball is what I do, not who I am."

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints set aside Sunday as a day to remember the Saviour Jesus Christ, to worship, and spend time with family.

Here are some highlights of an article from 2008 that feature his faith and family prominently which can be read in its entirety here:

Paora Winitana joins Adelaide 36ers NBL side   
   

"It is one of a number of anomalies about the ordained minister with the striking resemblance to former pro wrestler and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"I'm very excited to be coming to Adelaide and grateful the club understands about Sundays," he said.
A bishop with the Church of Jesus Christ – Latter Day Saints, Winitana's faith prevents him from playing or training on Sundays.
...
Almost still a rookie at 31, Winitana played with the Breakers' breakthrough debutant in 2003-04, dropped out of the NBL to be with wife Tia and then-newborn son Paora, before returning to play last season with the Breakers' break-out team, NZ's first to reach the finals.

...

A youth leader and a rock-solid citizen, Winitana is keen to also continue his off-court calling in the "city of churches."

...
The NZNBL Rookie of the Year in 1996, he debuted for the Tall Blacks in 2002 after missing several seasons on a Mormon mission."

Here is a video that features Paora Winitana:

This from another article about the championship game that can be read in its entirety here:

As Wellington Saints coach Pero Cameron cut the net down from the hoop, about five metres away a well-known Hawke's Bay parent, beaming from ear to ear, played with his child.

Paora Winitana extended his arms in front of his chest in the shape of a hoop as his son, Mana, celebrating his third birthday, deftly sunk the ball with dead accuracy before yelping with delight.

That's all the action Winitana, a Mormon bishop, saw last night as the HBS Bank Hawks stumbled at the last hurdle of their Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) campaign in Wellington.

...
Winitana laughed when asked if there was always next year, emphasising he battled with injuries for three years but this season played through without any hiccups.

"I played every game, bar the Sundays, and if I'm healthy I can always help," he said, revealing he had signed for two years with the Hawks.

...
Hawks franchise owner Rod Earnshaw didn't mince words, saying the timing of the play-offs in Wellington was nothing short of "political" considering they had banked on a Friday/Saturday series.

"It was changed because Sky TV could only cover [the grand final] on a Sunday and that had an immediate impact on us," Earnshaw said.

"I'm not a sore loser but I just didn't agree with the decision on Sky.

"I mean if you take the top man out of any team you're going to struggle," Hawks to 'learn from this', he lamented, lauding Winitana for standing by his religious beliefs and stance but feeling the code should accommodate for such commitment.
...
He took his hat off to the Hawks for a great season.

"The difference was we came out aggressive tonight and the guys were knocking down the shots," he said, adding Wellington upped the tempo and the Hawks got into foul trouble.

"Definitely, they [the Hawks] missed the Bishop. It's always good to have Paora on and they could have used him tonight," Johnson said

Rugby: the LDS connection

Now I'm not a big fan of rugby, and I don't really understand how you score points but this Saturday (May 21) BYU and Cal play for the Rugby collegiate championship.  Who would have thought that BYU was such a great Rugby school?  As a matter of fact, BYU and Cal have played for the championship the last 6 years in a row (and yes there are plenty of other teams that would like to play for that championship).  California is so good at Rugby that they haven't lost a game since 2009 when they lost to BYU in the championship.  This year both teams are undefeated as they head into the championship game.  You might be interested to know that Cal made it to the championship by defeating the University of Utah last week.  So two great rugby teams in Utah. 

Some of you might know that Utah has a good Rugby tradition.  A couple years ago a movie came out called Forever Strong about a High School Rugby team in Utah that has won numerous championships in their own right and rarely loses a game.  It is a good movie and worth watching. 

Rugby at BYU is a club sport, which means that it doesn't have all the advantages (like scholarships) of the sports supported directly by the school like football and basketball, track and baseball, etc.  Still BYU keeps coming with a great team year after year.  If you have heard of the rugby haka you might want to learn more about the BYU haka in the video at the end of this post. 

As a matter of fact LDS folks are getting a good reputation for being great at Rugby.  It is true in this country that Rugby isn't a big draw but in Australia for instance several great LDS players have set aside professional playing (for big bucks I might add) to serve missions.

Elder Andersen spoke in April Conference (2011) about a young man who served a mission rather than accept an invitation to play for the top team in New Zealand. Sid Going served faithfully and returned home, able to complete his rugby dream by playing many years on the top team.  Watch the video here to get the whole story and find out what he is doing now in addition too his taking time to encourage young LDS rugby players to put their religion before rugby.   

There is another young man who is setting aside a lot of fame and Money to serve a mission.  William Hopoate of Australia is leaving for a mission.

Read the article about him by clicking on the previous sentence, here is an excerpt: "Hopoate has decided to leave the NRL and serve his two-year mission with the church. He's not the first rugby league player to make such a call and he won't be the last. But arguably, he's the one with the most to lose, in a football (rugby) sense at least."

It is awesome to see young men leave behind anything and everything to serve the Lord.  The older I get, the more I enjoy seeing young people do what it right and let the consequences follow.  Who's on the Lord's side?  Who? 

BYU Haka

Competition or cooperation?

Sometimes we have strong competitive feelings.  That is the norm when we talk about sports and one team playing another.  In recent years we have taken that competition to greater heights where we vilify the other team and spend days and weeks identifying their weaknesses in the field of play and unfortunately in their life too.  We try to find any edge to help them play poorly so our team can win.  If we can make them feel too small, too week or too ill prepared, or barring all that if we can just make them lose their focus during the game then we can give them the impression that we are better or bigger than we are. 

That is despicable when it happens in sports but it has grown way beyond sports to life in general.  Anytime someone feels competition with another the field now includes jibes about their personal life. 

I remember when I was a child and this sort of thing was happening back then.  The last resort for a child to say in the school yard when nothing else could be said to gain an edge was "Your mommy wears Army boots!"  That always struck me as funny, even when I was a kid.  Nowadays there are plenty of mother's in the military and they do indeed where Army boots. 


In the video entitled "Same Jersey" we learn about two competitive boys who are quarterbacks on opposite teams.  They both want to win the game but simply by their team doing their best.  They have a very close relationship.  Watch it and be inspired. 

I was visiting a Branch of the church on an Army base a few weeks ago.  This branch was specifically for students in the military who are prohibited from leaving the base because they are at the beginning of their service and haven't earned that freedom yet.  Most of them came dressed in their military camouflage fatigues.  They were all on the same team and they treated each other with respect.  The ladies and the men were dressed the same and both treated respectfully.  

Although I was dressed in a suit I was on their team as well.  The outside appearance may have been different but our loyalties were the same. 

When I used to coach city league girl's basketball a few years ago, sometimes the girls would express that they wished players on the other team would play poorly or be sick for a game so that we could more easily win.  I taught them however that the key was for us to play our best.  And, that we wanted the other team to play their best so that when we beat them then we could say we really had done something meaningful.  The goal wasn't a win, but rather that we did our best.   

So when we sit at church and look around the congregation are we able to recognize that we are on the same team and not trying to out do, out dress, out cool each other.  When we make comments in Sunday School are we able to enjoy and grow from the comments of others or are we busy trying to figure out what we can say that is better than the other guy.  Can we remove competition from church and from the home and maybe find that while we are moving it out that we need to move it right on out of our life?  Can we recognize that all of the people around us are our brothers and sisters, and we can help, can love, can encourage, can support their best efforts instead of trying to outdo them?  Let's not compete with others and instead help all, including ourselves to be the best we each can be.

cooperation

cooperation

cooperation

cooperation