January 26, 2022

“You can't sink one end of a boat.” – Officiating Wisdom

Unbeknownst to most people, a football game is played with three teams: the dark jerseys, the light jerseys, and the striped jerseys. This is actually true of most sports where two teams vie against each other, but since I'm a football guy . . .

During a game the lights and darks strive to defeat the other team by scoring more points. The stripes are there to ensure that the two teams play by the rules and don't gain an unfair advantage by using, shall we say, creative interpretations of the rules.

During that same game you may very well see one member of the lights yelling at teammate. Or you may see a coach of the darks yelling at a particular group of his team. This is understandable, as football is a very emotional game. As the game goes on and the clock ticks down, the pressure to win goes up. We may have seen clips of Tom Brady yelling at his receivers for running wrong pass routes. Or maybe you watched Matthew Stafford screaming at his teammates to hustle downfield as time was winding down. I saw a clip just recently of normally calm Peyton Manning screaming at his center, Jeff Saturday, about the offensive line's inability to block the defense.

But you know what you will never see during a football game? You will never see one member of the stripes yelling at another member of the stripes. You will never see one member of the stripes trying to show-up another member of the stripes. If the back judge makes a questionable call, the side judge may ask him if he's sure of what he saw. If so, then the crew lives with that decision. If not, then the crew supports the one who made a mistake to keep him from dwelling on past errors so that he can focus on getting other calls right.

This is because, in a football game, the only people who care about the striped team are its members. We do not have the luxury of yelling at or berating our teammates for mistakes made. I, as a back judge, cannot – MUST NOT – throw a flag in the referee's area the prove a point. I cannot – MUST NOT – tell a coach, “Well, you know, that referee really doesn't know the rules and I'm pretty sure you're getting screwed.”

The officials are all in the same boat. If I don't like what the referee is doing, I cannot go to his end of the boat and put a hole in it to teach him a lesson, because you can't sink one end of a boat.

Jesus spent a fair amount of time with his disciples in boats; and for often as they “didn't get it,” he never once got frustrated enough to sink Peter's end of the boat.

In this thing known as Christianity, may we remember that, ultimately, we are all in the same boat.

Blessings,

January 12, 2022

 Many are saying, “Oh, that we might see better times!” *  Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord. – Ps. 4:6

Psalm 4 was one of the appointed psalms for Evening Prayer on Monday, and it is a psalm that I have heard many times over the years.

As the COVID pandemic of 2020 moved into 2021 and now stretches into 2022, I hear or read sentiments along the lines of Ps. 4:6. People are tired. Tired of the pandemic. Tired of trying to make ends meet with part-time, minimum wage jobs that provide no benefits. Tired of wondering why we have money to create and maintain a fifth branch of the military but no money for universal health care or reducing the cost of life-saving drugs. Tired of flipping from in-person to online venues. Tired of arguments about vaccinations and masks. Oh, that we might see better times!

The psalmist, and most likely all of us, cry out for better times. We cry out for God to pour some sunshine into our lives. Because, really, wouldn't that be wonderful if God would just wave a magic wand (or finger or whatever) and put an end to the pandemic and restore everything to something that we felt good about?

But this been the cry of the faithful forever – “How long, oh Lord, how long?”

Sometimes that cry is necessary. But sometimes it only serves to shift the blame or the responsibility to God for things that we could very well take care of if we worked toward those goals.

I know we are all tired of the pandemic. We are all feeling any number of pressures and stressors. These past two years haven't been ideal, and 2022 doesn't seem to be off to a bright, shining start. But in the midst of the psalmist's lament, there is also a shift from asking God to provide better times to seeing better times in the world around him.

The next verse of the psalm reads, “You have put gladness in my heart, more than when grain and wine and oil increase.”

May we not be so focused on verse 6 that we miss out on verse 7. In the dumpster fire of 2020 and 2021, and continuing to burn into 2022, let us recognize that not everything is bad. Let us recognize that God has put joy and gladness in our hearts – we just need to be willing to actively pursue God's goodness in a manner that shapes how we view the world around us.

Let us recognize that God has put gladness in our hearts; more gladness than all the good things of the earth.

Blessings,