patriots

The Game of Life

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disappointWhen I turned on the TV and tuned in to watch the Packers and Falcons, I was expecting to watch an entertaining and competitive game of football—I was disappointed.  When it came time for the second game between the Steelers and the Patriots, I was confident the game would be much better than the earlier fiasco—I was wrong.

While the games were minor disappointments to me, I have learned that Mr. Disappoint is a frequent visitor to some and he presents himself in different forms.  To correctly identify this culprit, think of him as a PUNT which is usually the result of a frustrated effort on the gridiron:

  • People are culprits who can disappoint.

The minds of some people are laced with memories that are full of disappointment.  These are recollections of the past when they feel as though the people whom they cared for the most could not have cared for them less.

  • Unrealistic expectations can deceive and disappoint

Sometimes we place people on pedestals and we are disappointed when they do not live up to our expectations. There are other times when a tendency toward self-perfection will lead us to be disappointed in our own accomplishments.

  • Networks will disappoint you.

Some networks consist of a complicated grid of wires and electronics; others are a complex meshwork of emotions. The latter can be frustrating because it’s full of people and their passions that conflict with ours.  When you’re involved in an organization, whether it is faith-based, educational, or work-related, you take the risk of being disappointed—one or all of these can falter in its potential or fail to keep a promise.

  • Transitions will disappoint you.

The one word definition for stress is transition, and the stress associated with any change can be disappointing. These life-altering occasions force us to make changes that move us out of our comfort zone and reshape our daily routine.

When we have been PUNTED, and we experience a let down in one of these areas, it helps to refocus:

  • Face the fact: No one is perfect. Disappointment is as old as Adam and Eve and their disobedience in the Garden of Eden. There simply is not a person alive who will be able to fulfill all of your dream.
  • Forgive and release it. Resentment is the rope with which you hang yourself. We need to, Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled (Hebrews 12:14-15).

We may not be responsible for the circumstances of life, but we are responsible for the way we respond to them.  Emotions and attitudes are the responsibility of the individual, and when God is added to the equation of life our perspective can become more positive:

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD.

I will be joyful in God my Savior

~Habakkuk: 3:17-18

Sackomania and The Quarterback Sack

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palmerAfter watching the gleefully satisfied look of the defensive players on the Broncos and Panthers, I’m adding a new classification to the list of impulse control disorders.  This list usually includes dysfunctional behaviors such as kleptomania, pyromania, trichotillomania. 

Impulse control disorders are characterized by a person’s inability to avoid behavior that might bring harm to themselves or others. Typically, the pot of anxiety is about to boil over immediately before the behavior occurs.   Committing the act is like opening a pressure relief valve, and in spite of the potentially dangerous consequences, there’s an immediate feeling of relief and even happiness:

  • Kleptomania: People who struggle with this disorder will steal when they get anxious or frustrated and find relief by doing so.
  • Pyromania:  This describes the act whereby a person feels a sense of excitement or relief after deliberately setting fires.
  • Trichotillomania:  This is the person you’ve seen who is constantly pulling and twisting her hair to gain a release of tension or a sense of satisfaction
  • Sackomania is the new classification that I am adding to this list.

Sackomania is usually observed on Sundays, and it most often occurs between the opposing goal posts on a field consisting of 100 yards.  If you watched the Broncos defeat the Patriots or endured the massacre of the Cardinals as they were devoured by the Panthers, you saw a classic case of Sackomania.

Some of the actions of the defensive players were characterized by their inability to avoid behavior that might bring harm to themselves or others.  In these instances, the harm resulted in very little pain to self, but Tom Brady and Carson Palmer, were left in crumpled piles of agonizing pain.

The NFL is the dream of many young boys, but football odds are stacked against them.  Out of the  310,465 high school seniors who play football, only 6.5% of them will make to the NCAA division of football; and, out of that number, just 1.6% of them will make it to the NFL.

Even though you probably won’t make it to the NFL, there is a 100% chance that at some time in your life, you’re going to struggle with an impulse—Mr. Temptation is going to knock on your door and invite you to come outside and play. No one is immune to the enticing power of temptation:

  • David struggled with it, and in the Psalm 46, he found hope in God as his “refuge and strength, and a very present help in trouble.”
  • James said, “Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin (James 1: 14-16).”

The impulse to yield to temptation can be managed by putting on the “whole armor of God,” and “hiding God’s word in your heart (Ephesians 6:11; Psalm 119:9-11).” The next time an urge or impulse is pulling you away from the safety of the shore and enticing you to engage in some questionable behavior, let me suggest you get into one of God’s RAFTS:

  • Resist the urge:  Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4: 7).
  • Align with God:  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4: 7–8).
  • Follow:  Pursue what has God’s approval. Pursue faith, love, and peace together with those who worship the Lord with a pure hear (2 Timothy 2:22).
  • Trust:  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
  • Seek God in prayer: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

Manning’s Gritty Performance

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manning20 to 18 was the final score, and the Broncos defeated the Patriots through the combination of a tough defense and an offense led by an aging quarterback.  Peyton Manning is the comeback kid of 2016, and he has been dreaming what has seemed to be the impossible dream.

Other than the Denver faithful, most people, including the odds makers, thought the boys from Boston were the kings of the mountain, and they would win this game.  Manning, however, has a history of trekking up the paths of rugged trails and scaling a mountain’s summit.

Manning is just half the age of another mountaineer.  When he was 80 years old, Caleb was still a man of grit.  His spunky nature and “can do” attitude is seen in his five-word request: “Give this mountain!”

Forty years earlier, the giants who lived on that mountain had spooked all of the Israelites except Joshua and Caleb, and the fearful chose the life of wilderness nomads rather than the promised land of “milk and honey.”

People like Peyton Manning, Joshua, and Caleb, are not deterred by challenging detours—they make mole hills out of mountains.

The many hardships these men overcame reminds me of the perseverance of the Apostle Paul, who said, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8).”

While there is a reservoir of strength that is available through Jesus, scaling the mountains you face will also require a little grit or what Webster calls, “firmness of mind and spirit, unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.”

Old number 18 was pumped full of it on Sunday.

Playing Second Fiddle

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Let the hype begin!  Today is Super Bowl Eve and the airwaves are full of football, football, and more football.  When football aficionados go to bed tonight, they will hang their stockings on the chimney with care in hopes that a win will soon be there.

While I am not a huge fan of either the Patriots or the Giants, I’ll probably cheer a little harder for Eli, his offensive line and the rest of the team.  I hope you noticed that I mentioned the seldom-credited offensive line.

Usually the offensive line is not mentioned unless a player jumps offside or gets called for a hold.  They are the perennial second fiddlers of the world of football.

Second fiddle can be a very important position.  A good example of this is Ernie Adams.  To be honest, today is the first time I have ever heard the name Ernie Adams.  In the story I just read, Adam’s is described as one of Bill Belichick’s closest advisors.  This second fiddler is the secret weapon of the Patriots.

As I was thinking about the important role of playing second fiddle, I found a comment by the celebrated maestro, Leonard Bernstein.  He was asked which instrument in the orchestra would be the most difficult to play.  Without hesitation, Bernstein said:  Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.

The words of President Harry Truman can be applied to the concept of playing second fiddle:  It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

History has been full of people like Ernie Adams, we just don’t hear much about them.  They are more concerned with the melody and harmony of life than they are with the world acclaimed solos.

If it had not been for another second fiddler, the course of Christianity may have taken a different path.  Barnabas is the man of whom I speak.  He was called the son of consolation.  He was the guy who would pat you on the back and say:  You can do it.  Come on, I’ll help you get it done.

The most notable person that Barnabas helped was the Apostle Paul.  Because of his past history, Paul was shunned by most Christians.  Not so with Barnabas, he welcomed him with open arms.

The confirmation and encouragement of Barnabas empowered Paul as an individual and Christianity as a whole.  Barnabas wasn’t concerned with who was going to get the credit, he just wanted to accomplish something for the Cross.

Henri Nouwen may have captured the essence of playing second fiddle when he said:  When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

I hope you take the time to think a thought about who it is that you can help today or some where along the way.