Living in the Gray

In Sunday school today, we reading Matthew chapter 2 and got to talking about King Herod. He was an extremely ruthless man. He was known to have killed two sons and a wife because he thought they were rebelling against his rule. When he was dying, he ordered most of the leading citizens of Jerusalem to be imprisioned to be killed when he died. He wanted to make sure that people were in mourning the day of his death.

Herod was a terrible man. You always knew where Herod stood. He was a pretty black-n-white person. You either served him or you died. There was no gray in his rule.

As guys do, our class drifted towards sports. We got to talking about Calipari, Tennessee "hostesses", and other recruiting indescretions. We noticed how much gray there was with recruiting. People get away with so many thing because the live in the gray. Where is the right and wrong anymore? It's wrong to give ameture athletes anything that they could not have gotton on their own. But people try to justify their actions by saying that it's not as bad as out-right paying them. Are you kidding me?

I think the problem is that people don't want to acknowledge that there is a right and wrong in life. People want to live in the gray. We want to be able to explain off our actions. We don't want to know that we are in the wrong. Unfortunately, each time we decide to stay in the gray, the gray widens. More and more, our decisions to live in the gray open us up to more riskier choices. Each choice to stretch the gray a little bit makes it easier the next time.

So how do we leave the gray? How do we make the right choices? First, we need to acknowledge that there is right and wrong and that we don't have to play in the gray. We need to actively choose the right path. Then we need to learn what's right and wrong through studing God's word and talking and sharing our life and decisions. We need to surround ourselves with others that are committed to avoiding the gray. Only with support can we overcome the gray.

Football Dreams

Since a kid, I have loved football. Behind my house was a big field, almost 100 yards long. I loved to go out back with my friend from down the street and play catch or pretend we were in a real game. I used to own an imitation Tampa Bay Bucaneers helmet (don't ask me why it wasn't a Browns helmet) and shoulder pads. My friend had a set too (don't remember the team). They didn't have real padding in them (the helmet only had thin foam) but we acted as if it were real. We would play simulated games where the Browns always won.

I played real football starting in 7th grade and loved it. My jersey number was 44 and I played tight end and monster back. I think I played mostly because I was my brother's brother, but I didn't care. I only played through 10th grade. I remember getting knocked out of the game in 10th grade by two pulling guards from St. Ignatius (their Juniors played JV on Saturday if they didn't play varsity Friday night). It wasn't a serious injury, I just had my bell rung. But looking back on it, that was probably the beginning of the end. I played 6 more games and decided to hang it up when I didn't even get to play our rivals across town because, as the coach said ... you'll get to play next year but he is too small to play varsity ... by the way, we lost the game ... against our rival ... the biggest game of our season ... what kind of excuse is that?

Now I just watch football ... as much as I can/allowed. I love the game. But as I sit and watch Brett Farve and Kurt Warner play, I wonder "Could I have played at this age?" These are two guys my age. I couldn't take a hit when I was 15. How do these guys take it at 40+? Every year the game seems to get rougher. I've seen some pretty nasty injuries over the years - like Joe Theisman - and there was another one tonight. As I watch the Cardinals & Vikings, a Viking linebaker just bent his knee in a way that isn't supposed to be possible ... Ouch! ...

I think I just stick to watching the games. It is definitely more safer for me!