Pulpit of Poison

I didn’t know anything about Charles L. Worley’s incendiary comments about gays and lesbians until I read talented fellow blogger Juwannadoright’s post the other day. He’s the pastor of a North Carolina church, and his rant went viral and made national news. Juwannadoright wrote of how she read C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and the profound effect it had on her–basically not being judgmental of others.

However, when she found out about that empty-headed, judgmental pastor and his “Christian” views, Juwannadoright concluded that maybe she read the wrong book.

How sad. This is not about that pastor or about homosexuality, although I have strong views on both, this is about certain individuals who have their own stage and built-in audience and use it to spew out poison, all in the name of Jesus, thereby giving Christians a bad name!

When pastors and preachers fall into some type of sin or say controversial things, it gets big news time.  It paints a dim scene of being a Christian. No one wants what we have to offer because of this. No one talks much about the good works that the good ministers do. Those who truly have a relationship with God do accept people for who they are and can act in a non-judgmental way towards them. True Christians can “hate the sin and love the sinner.” Jesus didn’t grab the woman caught in adultery, shake her and call her a wanton woman. He called all the other folks into question. He didn’t condemn her. This would have a more profound effect on that woman and help her to get on another road than locking her up with other adulterers behind an electronic fence. And I’m sure Jesus was interested in knowing where was the man she was with, cause the woman wasn’t in that bed by herself!

Some of the most judgmental people in the world can be Christians, I’m sorry to say. Many of us do not walk in love as we should. The word “love” in this case means how we treat people. Jesus always treated people right. He would free those contained in Worley’s electronic fence.

 

(To read Juwannadoright’s post:)

http://juwannadoright.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/mere-christianity/

 

On Laflin Street

Paradise Lost

I cut my teeth and skinned my knees in a time long ago on the far southern fringes of Chicago. Maple Park—yes, Maple, not Morgan, or West Pullman, or even Calumet Park—was a fresh off-the-press neighborhood marketed exclusively for blacks in the early 60s. We’re bordered by Halsted Street to the east, Ashland Ave. to the west, and 115^th and 119^th streets to the north and south. We still don’t get any props, but it was a nice place to grow up then. It’s still pretty quiet. Maple Park was actually built over swamp land, and the vestiges of that swamp would rear their ugly heads every now and then in the forms of grass snakes and crawfish, sending little girls like me screaming into the house.

My friends and I lived idyllic lives on 117^th and Laflin, back in the days when there were standard 2-parent homes and the moms were home all day cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner. We got called in from playing outside to eat lunch. Soon after lunch, the smell of chicken frying and cakes baking permeated the air, all for dinner and the return of hungry fathers from work.

We had lemonade stands and built clubhouses and tents in the backyard. We played the standard games of Red Light, Red Rover and Hide-n-Seek. We drew hopscotch grids on the sidewalk and played many variations of jump rope. My best friend Linda and I were really excited about our new bikes with the banana seats, and we would go on “bike hikes”, which consisted of riding around the bike 14 times. What significance the number 14 had, I have no idea.

I was an only child, so all the older kids on the block looked out for me. My mother was well-liked by the Laflin kids, so there was always somebody on our porch either playing with me or talking to her. Having all these surrogate brothers and sisters came in handy the summer Derrick Cruthers terrorized me.

Derrick Cruthers was a goofy boy from my third grade class whose elevator didn’t reach the top floor. He never did his work; he would just sit at his desk and draw pictures of 45 rpm records. He would talk out in class and basically just exist in his own little world in whatever galaxy that was. Then came the day Derrick decided to put my name on one of his drawings. He also included Linda’s name, as well as our friend Carla’s. I don’t know if we were the singers or the songs on his stupid 45s, but we didn’t like it one bit. Derrick also knew the way the three of us walked home, and he would hide behind one of the garages and jump out at us as we walked by. Why we were his targets of choice is beyond me.

There was a class field trip coming up, and Mrs. Shayfer, our teacher, said that the only way Derrick could go on the trip was if his mother accompanied him.  My mother, social butterfly that she was, actually befriended Mrs. Cruthers while on the trip. They got along like two old college roommates. So in turn, Mommy was nice to Derrick. My mother, in her sweet, non-offensive manner, straight up asked Derrick why he looked so ugly on the class picture. On that picture amongst all of our smiling 8-year-old faces was Derrick, fists clenched and facial expression contorted. He told my mother that he was pretending to be a fireman. Oh, mystery solved. Mommy also told Derrick that he could come over to play or have lunch sometime. This was not new to my mother; she always extended hospitality.

But Derrick Cruthers?! Who, this side of wacko-ville, would want to break bread with him?? I was mortified, and more than a little annoyed.

Now it was because of this little love fest with Mrs. and goofball Cruthers that a door probably was opened for Derrick to feel that he could venture over to our side of Maple Park and dare set foot on Laflin. This boy lived closer to Halsted, yet he would get on his orange banana seat bike and come way over west to our block, ride past my house and yell out strange babblings at me.  He started doing this a few times a week.

Enough was enough. I told a few of my friends and also some of the “big kids.” We lay in wait for ol’ Derrick to come breezing by. Derrick and his orange bike soon showed up. As soon as he rode past my house and turned the corner to ride down the alley, we cut through my backyard to catch him. The big kids pushed Derrick off his bike and threw rocks at him, and probably got in a few well-placed jabs too. I didn’t lift a finger; I just ordered the job. Needless to say, we never saw crazy Derrick Cruthers again. Laflin and my world returned back to its idyllic state.

About Mommy

I’ve never eulogized my mother. She suddenly died on a Wednesday, two days before my tenth birthday. Monday was a school holiday, Columbus Day, and I’m thinking I may have gone to the show with friends. She was fine. That Tuesday, Mommy was sick and she couldn’t even comb my hair. That had never happened before. She sent me down the street to a neighbor to get my hair combed. When I came home from school for lunch, she was still sick and in the bed. My father was home by then; he may have been working on a second shift. He was trying to help her. That evening we took her to the hospital.

I remember the phone rang in the wee hours of the morning. My father came into my room and told me he was going to the hospital and would be right back. I went back to sleep, and I awakened to voices downstairs. I thought my mother was home. I happily went back to sleep. When I woke up later, I got myself dressed for school and went down for breakfast. My mother always fixed me breakfast.

Dad was there alone. Apparently, my aunt and uncle had come over, but they were gone by that time. He sat me down and gently reminded me of when he said I needed to be prepared just in case the angels came. He said that a couple of years prior when Mommy went to the hospital. Dad said the angels had come. I cried all morning.

Later, I remember making a decision that I had cried enough, and I got out of the bed that early afternoon. I remember going with my father back to the hospital and the nurses being very sympathetic. Neighbors were coming in and out. That Friday was my birthday. I went to school. The class had bought me a cake.  I didn’t go to her funeral. I was very emphatic about not wanting that to be the last way I saw my mother. My father honored that request.

I remember a ton of stuff about the ensuing days, weeks and months following her death. Years even. In fact, I was 17 years old before I could actually say the phrase “My mother died.” I could go and on about that, but here are some things I remember about Mommy.

• Mommy’s name was Allie Mae—she went by Mae. She came up north from deep south Mississippi.

• Mommy was an excellent cook. I guess she’s where I get it from! I still have her cookbook—it’s a year older than me. She also liked to bake. I do, too.

• She taught me how to cook bacon and scrambled eggs.

• She was very sociable—all the neighbors liked her. Going to the bus stop 2 blocks away would take forever because she stopped to have so many conversations.

• She was a registered nurse.

• I once asked her why was she white when Daddy and I are colored. She let me know that she, too, was colored. (Just of the “high-yellow” persuasion.)

• She always bought me Little Golden Books. I had so many of them!

• She didn’t want me to let go of belief in Santa Claus when my detective work on the dude started. She said all those guys in the stores were Santa’s helpers. I wasn’t buying it.

• When I was five, the power went out on Christmas Day. Mommy said Santa tripped over some wires outside. I opened my gifts by candlelight.

• She went on a lot of my class field trips.

• She and I took a Greyhound bus ride to Springfield to see the Abraham Lincoln exhibits.

• She took me to swimming lessons at the Y.

• She gave me a whipping on a bus stop in front of a crowd of people because I was being a brat.

• She always fixed me breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an after-school snack.

• Once Mommy cooked huge pancakes for our dinner. That was so cool! Dad, who wasn’t home, would have frowned on that!

• For my ninth birthday, Mommy cooked my favorite meal—fried chicken and rice.

• She liked soap operas, R&B music and the news.

• She loved to sew and would make all my play clothes on her Singer sewing machine. Sometimes she would make a little outfit for my best friend so we could match.

I could go on and on. I’m glad I have so many great memories of my mother.

Cell Phone and Bible Behavior

This courtesy of my friend Brenda Moore…

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go….hmm…where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.

Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

[And with Him, there are no dropped calls, you always have enough bars, and He can always hear you!]

The Cold-Blooded and The Constant

Life in workaday America…

So I’m wondering why Amy’s emails kept coming back to me. Then I remembered her saying to me last week that she would send me a document that I can do all the updates on myself. “Okay, whatever, ” I said, at the time swamped in my own stuff and not giving it another thought. I went down to Amy’s cube, and Julio said he hadn’t seen her all day. “Something’s up, ” I’m thinking.

I go in my team leader’s office and ask him if there’s something up with Amy. “Oh, Amy was let go last Thursday,” Corwin said.

I’m totally shocked. Why? What happened? I didn’t ask, but of course I’m wondering. Amy had been here for years.

Cold-blooded.

Just a few weeks ago, Amy had returned from extended sick leave. They didn’t have anything for her to do. So guess what? They gave Amy MY work. Can’t have a full-timer sitting around with “unbillable” hours. So boot the freelancer out. Me, a person who is dependable, been coming in everyday for well over a year and does excellent work, out of a job for a week.

Cold-blooded.

Now Amy is out the door. And she just came back from sick leave.

Cold-blooded.

Now I don’t know the story; maybe Amy forgot how to effectively perform her duties. Maybe her work was crap. But I do know that companies don’t care about you. They care about “billable” hours. They care about their bottom line. They don’t care how long you’ve been working for them or the quality of work you produce, the company is about the company. I wonder about the “head honchos” who make such decisions. I guess they can’t take into consideration an individual’s life–their health status, their financial state, whether or not there’s others in the family they support. They have to make cold-blooded decisions and deliver cold-blooded news. Personally, I wouldn’t want to do that. I’d want to hire, not fire.

However, there is one Constant. The Lord.

Companies don’t care about you, but the word says “Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you. (I Peter 5:7)

Companies flip the script all the time, but the Lord says, “I am the Lord; I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)

Companies cannot be trusted, but the word says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not unto your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Companies care about billable hours. Jesus paid your debt.

He is the Constant in this life.

Being a creative freelancer, I have been in and out of work so many times. Because I trust in Him, I have seen Him do so many cool things for me in this area of employment and money. The Lord is the Constant in my life.

Hmmm, didn’t know Amy that well, but I hope she knows The Constant.

The Fall of the Great American TV Theme Song

What happened to it? A cool, sing-a-long theme song used to be part of the fun of watching a show. A great theme song could get you excited and in the mood to watch a show. Sometimes the theme song was the best part of a bad show. A theme song that caught your attention could get you to check out a show you weren’t normally watching. Theme songs used to tell what the show was about, like The Brady Bunch. The opening was the only way viewers knew that show was about a stepfamily. We would never have known WHY Gilligan and the gang were on the island or HOW those Hillbillies made it to Beverly Hills were it not for the theme songs. (Those two shows also had cool closing theme songs  B.H.— Sit a spell. Take your shoes off! Y’all come back, now, ya hear?).

The 60s, 70s, and 80s were bastions of great theme songs for TV shows, but the 2000s saw a trend developing where the 30 to 60 second theme song has been whittled down to a few seconds of music—a la the Seinfeld bass line—to only a quick slate, like Grey’s Anatomy. Grey’s had an opening theme when the show first aired in 2005, but now it’s a 4-second “slate,”  which is my term for it.  A Gifted Man, Once Upon a Time, The Good Wife, as well as many other shows all have slates. Another trend was shows using well-known pop songs from as their theme music, such as the CSIs, The Sopranos, Joan of Arcardia and Smallville.  Both Alcatraz and Person of Interest have ominous voice over openings that tell what the show is about. If you look closely at the openings of Once Upon a Time and Person of Interest, you’ll see a quick peek as to what a particular episode is about. P.O.I. will show the subject of that week’s episode, and for example, when O.U.A.T. featured the 7 Dwarfs, you saw them hi-ho-ing off to work. But other than that, there’s no theme song fun anymore.

“[The theme song] is a rarity today,” TV historian Tim Brooks said of the catchy, tuneful opening. “It’s kind of like the Broadway musical producing hit songs — it just doesn’t do that anymore.”… And Tara Ariano, co-founder of Television Without Pity.com and a contributor to MSNBC.com, isn’t sweating it. She thinks a “full-on opening credit (and) theme song is kind of a waste, from a business perspective.”

“The networks sort of assume we watch the show, so we don’t need to have the premise explained to us each week … In the era of the DVR, half the people watching the show are just fast-forwarding that anyway,” she said.¹

Because of this sad little chapter in television land, I want to salute some of the TV theme song gems of the past. They’re instantly recognizable, we quote them in our everyday language, and somehow we just can’t get these tunes out of our heads. Many of these shows currently are on the air in syndication, so if you’re not totally familiar, you can catch up. I’m sure you have your own favorites, so don’t hesitate to weigh in! By all of us fondly reaching back into our TV pasts, the noble TV theme song will live on.

Friends (NBC 1994–2004)  http://www.televisiontunes.com/Friends.html

Cheers (NBC 1982–1993) http://www.televisiontunes.com/Cheers_-_Short.html

Why they’re cool: We can all relate.

The Addams Family (ABC 1964–1966) http://www.televisiontunes.com/Addams_Family.html

Why it’s cool: The finger snaps, and the closing theme’s sound effects.

Gilligan’s Island (CBS 1964–1967) http://www.televisiontunes.com/Gilligans_Island.html

Why it’s cool: People still question why they had so much stuff for a 3-hour tour.

Laverne and Shirley (ABC 1976–1983) http://www.televisiontunes.com/Laverne_And_Shirley.html

Why it’s cool: It’s fun to do their opening  “schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated” bit while walking down the street with your best friend.

Green Acres (CBS 1965–1971) http://www.televisiontunes.com/Green_Acres.html

Why it’s cool: You can sing it as a duet.

The Flintstones (ABC 1960–1966)

http://www.televisiontunes.com/Flintstones_-_1965.html

Why it’s cool: EEEEE yabbadabbadoo!

BTW—Cartoons also had great theme songs back in the day!

Honorable Mentions:

The Odd Couple—Love the music, and the opening VO of how they came to room together.

Star Trek (original)—C’mon, admit it, you know you can quote this famous VO! Space… the final frontier…

The Jeffersons—Every time a person gets a promotion of any kind, someone has to say, “You’re movin’ on up!”

Dishonorable Mention:

Good Times

This is a terrible theme song! Temporary layoffs? Easy credit rip-offs? Scratching and surviving? How are any of these, and the rest of the stuff mentioned in this song good times? The Broken Punch Bowl Award goes to the writers who penned this little aria. (For the punch bowl reference, get the DVD. It was featured in part two of the episode where James, the father, died.)

Great Instrumentals

Bonanza

The NFL on CBS

The Twilight Zone

^1. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15320031/  © 2007 Associated Press

Photo credits: ABC.com; lucywho.com; crazyabouttv.com

Watching Me on TV: Reflections of Blacks In Prime Time Past

I’m not old, but I am mature. I’m not in the let’s-go-clubbin’-this-Saturday-night set, but I’m still in the coveted demographic that advertisers like. I’m old enough to remember when vampires were scary—not hot. And I do have those wonderful memories of big, boxy television consoles with three major networks and some local stations with really bad programming. Color television shows were a major big deal, so much so that announcers would actually let you know—“The F.B.I.— in color!” That was probably because not a lot of folks had a color TV. It’s also cool to see how the physical television itself has evolved. I was part of the generation that sat down with the whole family in front of a huge TV as a piece of living room furniture.  We didn’t have a remote control—well, the adults did.  We kids served as the official channel changers. No VCRs. That would be Video Cassette Recorders. If you missed your favorite show, too bad. Now there’s a sleek, flat screen in every room—connected to a DVR, of course.

Color TV. That held a different meaning in my neighborhood. I’m on the cusp of being called “colored” before we sequed into being called “black.” Back then, it was so rare to see a black person on TV that when we did, we’d get on the phone and call relatives. “Aunt Shirley, quick, there’s a colored woman on channel 2!!” I was not born when Amos and Andy was on, and I’m too young to remember Bill Cosby in I Spy, but in the late 60s I loved watching Diahann Carroll in Julia, a show about a widowed single nurse and her young son Corey. That was a first— to have a black female lead. (It’s still a first.) Julia lived in a very nice apartment building. There was Clarence Williams as Linc on The Mod Squad. Bill Cosby had a self-titled show that came on Sunday nights. He was a gym teacher. There was Room 222, where there were several positive black characters in the fictional Walt Whitman High School, notably Richie, whom all the girls had a crush on. Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) graced the small screen weekly informing Captain Kirk that “the communication channels are open.”

In the 70s, things took a stupid turn. Gone were the positive images. We had to endure the likes of Good Times, Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons. It still was slim pickings for us, so we laughed at JJ and his endless “dynomite” rantings, and Fred Sanford always calling Lamont a big dummy. George Jefferson lived on the east side, but his worldview was Ghetto Ave. I guess TV was reflective of the movies, which at the time was the “blaxploitation” era. The shows were funny then, but as many back-in-the-day reruns that I now watch, those three are and will NEVER be on my TV.

The 70s did bring us arguably the most spectacular mini series of all time, Roots. Anybody who was anybody in black Hollywood was in it, and the show was grand to see. Like I said, there were no VCRs or DVRs, so everybody made sure they were in front of the television as to not miss a second. And woe to the person who dared call while Roots was on… Roots dominated conversations for days afterward in school. And in classes where there was a black teacher, we’d spend the whole class period discussing it.

Bill Cosby was our TV liberator in the 80s. The Cosby Show was loved by all. There were those in the beginning who felt that such a show with black leads was “unrealistic”—we simply did not have two-parent households where the couple was loving towards each other, had professional careers, had normal kids and lived in a nice house. ABC passed on Cosby. NBC flourished because of the show. Now in my frame of reference, Cosby was the reality. That’s how I grew up. Good Times definitely was not the norm. I loved A Different World, the Cosby Show spin-off. It was fun seeing young black adults in college, and their day-to-day shenanigans too were my reality.

The 90s had some decent shows, albeit they were comedies. At least they portrayed us positively, like Roc, Living Single, and Family Matters. (Urkel was pushing it!)

My beef with network programming is there are no black dramas. There are plenty of jivey comedies to go around, especially on the CW and the WB, but they don’t interest me. It may be heresy to say, but I don’t like Meet the Browns and House of Payne. Love and admire Tyler Perry; hate his shows and the farcical characters. Soul Food (1997) was very good, but if you didn’t have Showtime, you couldn’t see it. Black people are in dramas, but they are never the stars. If so, it’s a one-way ticket to Cancelville, hence Under One Roof (1995), City of Angels (2000) and just recently, The Number One Ladies Detective Agency (2009), Lincoln Heights (2007–2009) and Undercovers (2010).

I have resigned myself to accepting that there is always going to be a small number of black folks on television. I try not to get too attached to a black-centric show because I know the shelf life is very short and it will not be given the chance to find its audience. Being a TV-aholic, I have my favorite shows and it can’t matter whether blacks are in them or not. We may not be the stars, but there are lots of excellent black actors on the small screen now in really good roles. There are powerful  attorneys, like Anika Noni Rose in The Good Wife, hospital chiefs of staff, detectives, forensics experts and presidents.

Certain actors will cause me to give a show at least one look. I started watching Memphis Beat because of Alfre Woodard. I came back to CSI because of Laurence Fishburne.  I checked out Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior because of Forest Whitaker. I tell my friends and family about the shows.

Even now, I still get excited about watching “me” on TV.

Shows You Should Be Watching Right Now

It’s the end of January, and we’re pretty much back in the TV swing of things. The Holiday Lull is over and the DVRs are humming again. That said, here are some shows you should be watching on a regular basis–(I have my nerve, don’t I? Dictating your TV life…) These shows are chosen based on entertainment value, originality and ingenuity.

ONCE UPON A TIME

I first caught the October premier, but it didn’t strike me. Then my best friend started raving about it, so I decided to give the show a closer look. I caught up during the Holiday Lull, and now I’m totally on board with the denizens of Storybrooke, Maine.

Why you should watch

The worlds of the present and the Fairy Tale. We get the backstory from the Fairy Tale, and you can’t help but root either for or against the characters in their present form. Some plots are self-contained and wrapped up within a show, and the ongoing threads–the evil queen/mayor who is at the cold heart of the matter and whether Emma/child of Snow White and Prince Charming will get closer to setting things right and breaking the curse–are very easy to follow. And you gotta love sincere, 10-year old Henry–Emma’s birth son and adopted son of the Evil Mayor, and purvey0r of all things fairy tale. He holds the book. (You have to have someone in these types of shows who has a clue, although it’s never explained HOW Henry knows what’s going on. Just go with it.)

GRIMM

This show reminds us that you never know who truly lives among us. Who knew the Fairy Tale world was so…grim? If you never read the real Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which are not pretty, this show is closer to what I guess the Brothers Grimm were talking about.

Why you should watch

Likeable Nick, who’s a detective and one of the last remaining descendants of the Grimms, and all the crazy stuff he has to deal with since he found out about his true calling. The “historical” information about and the weapons and equipment used to combat the dark side of the world of monsters would make the Pawn Stars guys squeal with delight. Gotta love Monroe, the resident know-it-all and Blutbod (werewolf) with a heart of gold fills in the blanks for Nick and adds comic relief. (See? Didja know a werewolf is actually a species called Blutbod? You can learn things from this show!)

How cool would it be to have a cross-over between Grimm and Once Upon a Time!! I could see Henry and Monroe comparing notes while Nick, Hank (Nick’s partner), and Emma butt heads with Mayor Queen.

PERSON OF INTEREST

Why you should watch

You are being watched. And if your number ever comes up, you will want the cunning Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson) and ultra-cool and tough John Reese (Jim Caviezel) on your side! These two guys work in secret by a machine that Finch built to save innocent lives and catch perps. By use of technolgy, weapons and plain ol’wit, street smarts, they try to prevent crimes from taking place. When I watch that ruggedly handsome Jim Caviezel, it’s  hard to imaging him playing Jesus (The Passion of the Christ) when he’s kicking tail as John Reese. What a range, huh? And Taraji Henson brings her brand of class to the table as Detective Carter, the cop who’s on Reese’s trail.

ALCATRAZ

Love the concept of this show! When Alcatraz closed in 1963, the prisoners were supposed to have been transferred of the island. Only they disappeared. Where did they go? And why are they back now? Who are they? Guess we’ll find out!

Why you should watch

Twists and turns! The sci-fi element! Jorge Garcia! This show captured my devotion from the very first episode. It also made me want to learn more about Alcatraz, the island where only the most notorious and nefarious crooks ended up. In a post-Lost world, this is the show that hopefully will have us speculating for quite a while.

Photo credits: IMDb; fox.com; cbs.com

The Game of Life (Part 2)

In Part 1, we learned that life is the ultimate game, and we know that we all have a game we’re best suited for. Here, we will get more in depth about where and how we fit in and the perspective we should have.

Seasons and Times

Think about the game that you’re in. Are you actively playing now ? If not, you’re not in the season. That’s the reality of it. In April, there are no NFL games being played anywhere in the world. It’s not football season. So, if you’re not playing, you’re not in your season. But that doesn’t mean you’re to be dormant! There’s always an off-season conditioning program! Maybe you’re in the season and time for marketing your business, finishing your degree or straightening up your finances. Perhaps you and your spouse need to get your relationship straight before you bring children into the mix. There are different seasons of our lives. Meanwhile, you continue to work out, stay in shape and keep up with your game.

Observation: Stay in the Word and operate the way the Lord directs.

The Draft

There is a draft that is held in most pro sports, which is how organizations get new players and build teams. Ideally, players come from colleges and universities and have already been playing ball for sometime. (Remember—for our purposes, we’re talking football.)

Eligible for the draft

If a player is ready to be drafted, that means he is ready to play. He has satisfied all requirements for education and the football program at the college. He has played successfully, now he can move on to the next level—pro ball.

• A college dropout isn’t eligible.

Observation: Have you dropped out and given up your hopes, dreams, your Word that God gave you? If so, get back on track! A dropout can go back to school and you can start again. Also, how much do you want it? Are you willing to pay the price to achieve success? Will you stop eating the wrong things and work out so you can lose weight? Will you network to find work? Nothing just happens!

Once a guy gets drafted, he goes through a training period, and in essence is ready to play in the NFL. The training period is brief. He goes to rookie mini-camp and the regular team training camp. Then he can begin playing, depending on whether or not he’s a starter. He already knows how to play the game. He just needs to learn NFL rules and regulations, and his new team’s playbook and his teammates.

A high-performing college player who set records and won awards comes with a high price. He would probably get selected in the first round. First-round draft picks are usually signed right away and get a very lucrative contract.

However, the teams that get first bids on the top players are the teams with the worst records in the NFL. Losing teams. I guess the rationale is that losing teams need all the help they can get.

Observation: Does that mean that, for example, a really great man or woman—first-round draft picks—will be chosen by a loser? No. Not on God’s team. He doesn’t have losers, nor will He allow His top draft pick to get hooked up with a loser.  And another thing–YOU might be called to elevate somebody else’s game! Cam Newton, 2011′s Heisman Trophy winner and number one draft pick, is just the quarterback the Carolina Panthers desperately needed!

Some players never get to make great plays because they’re stuck on the sidelines. They aren’t starters. They’re second and third string. It’s not that they’re not good; they’re just not the starter. There’s no way they’d be employed by the NFL if they were not good on some levels.

Case in point: Kurt Warner, current analyst for the NFL Network, was the starting QB for the St. Louis Rams from 1998 to 2003. However, he wasn’t always in that position. He was bounced around, cut and totally disregarded when he first started his NFL career. Kurt even held down a $5.50 an hour grocery store gig. He went from being 3^rd to throwing the game-winning pass in the 2000 Super Bowl. He also got a multi-million dollar contract! Kurt Warner also led the 2009 Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady, regarded as the NFL Network’s number one greatest player of 2011 and number 21 on their list of The 100 Greatest Players of all time, was chosen 199^th in the 2000 NFL draft. He was chosen in the 6^th round. Brady still gets emotional as he speaks of his excruciating wait as player after player was selected before he was. Tom Brady has been to four Super Bowls and has won three.

Observation: Your turn will come. Be ready when it comes, and play your butt off! Just because you weren’t the first chosen doesn’t mean you’re not the best.

Some people play and never get noticed. They never get their names in the paper or mentioned by TV commentators. But they’re still playing well every week.

Observation: Just do what you’re supposed to do. God sees you.

Power and promotion come from nowhere on the earth, but only from God. Psalm 75:6,7

Riches and honor come from God alone; His hand controls power and might and it is at his discretion that men are made great and given strength. I Chron. 29:12

Yet, the question remains:  How do you know when you’ve won the Super Bowl? Isn’t that the ultimate goal down here on Earth? I don’t care what nobody says; we want to see the goodness of God down here in the land of the living. I’m not just looking for rewards in the “sweet by-and-by”: I’m looking for the Super Bowl ring. Even the team who went home in December with a 1–15 record goes into training camp with the mindset of winning the Super Bowl. To desire anything else is unacceptable. I think a head coach would be fired immediately by the team owners if he should say, “Well, we just want to play the best we can and win a few more than we did last year.” No way! If a team and coach don’t go in with a Super Bowl win on the brain, why bother?

I believe we’ve won when we get what we want. Everybody has a heart’s desire. When you get it, you’ve won. Maybe it’s a house. Maybe it’s a spouse, or children, or getting out of debt. You may want to get published, or you’re waiting to be recognized for your singing or acting talent. Maybe you’ve had health problems. Think about your game. Think about all the elements of that game. Maybe you’d rather win the World Cup or an Olympic gold. Ask the Lord what your game is, and where you fit in the scheme of that game. Maybe you’re not into sports and you like television. God might tell you you’re in the script development stage! In that case, you want the Emmy award!

I just want to encourage you that you have a place here and God has a game plan specifically designed for you! You will WIN the Super Bowl!

Photo credits: Tom Brady: Jim Rogash, Getty Images; Cam Newton: Chris Trotman/Getty Images; jostens.com; Kurt Warner: daddycatchersrealm.wordpress.com; blogs.riverfronttimes.com

 

The Game of Life (Part 1)

(Happy 2012! It’s a new year, as well as the end of the 2011 football season. That being said, let’s start the new year off with some encouragement. Sports are life’s great metaphor, so decide to play your best game this year!)

 

 Some years ago, I went through a brief period of disappointment. I found myself comparing my life to the lives of women I know who in essence have no real impact or effect on my life in any way, shape, form or fashion. I felt like I wasn’t in, as I termed it, the Game of Life. I’m glad that I didn’t remain in this state for long.

Truth: We must be very careful about dwelling on those feelings; they can lead to depression.

It wasn’t until the next year that the Lord began to give me some really cool observations and revelations about the Game of Life. For those of you who are not sports savvy, forgive all the football references. (LOVE football!) Rejoice and be encouraged, because you are on the receiving end of those revelations!

Do you ever feel like you’re not in the game? Do you feel like everyone around you is an active player—marriage, children, careers, vacations, whatever—and you’re on the sidelines watching? Your friends are all discussing their kids’ Little League games and report cards. They’re talking about sons and daughters graduating and getting drivers licenses. You’re not in the Game of Parenthood because you have no children.

The men you work with speak of their wives in extolling ways. They don’t act like they are trapped with the “old ball and chain.” The women bring their husbands to the company Christmas party. They appear to have strong marriages. You have nothing to add to that either because you’re not in the Game of Marriage.

Homeowner buddies are excited about putting a deck out in the backyard; fast-track career climber friends are jet-setting all over the country. How do you fit with those scenarios?

Are you in the Game of Life? Yes. By virtue of simply being alive makes you part of it. Life is a game, metaphorically speaking, because Paul equates it to running a race. A race is a game. In the sports-crazy society we live in, games rule. What you need to understand is the season that your particular game is played, or that you’re in.

Games and Seasons

There are many different games—probably thousands. For our purposes, we’ll mainly deal with professional football and baseball. These are games that are played in different seasons. However, the football and baseball seasons overlap.

Each year, professional sports teams always have training before the start of the season. Those who perform well will make the team. For example, football starts training camp in late July. Preseason games are played in August, and the regular 16-game season kicks off in September. Play-off games are in January, and the season culminates with the Super Bowl in February.

Major League Baseball starts spring training in February, with regular season games beginning in April. Teams play 162 games. Their play-offs are in September. The World Series is in mid-October. It’s a long season, and in my opinion, not very exciting. Why get excited about a team on a winning streak in June, when they can lose 25 games in July? Personally, I wouldn’t get excited over a baseball team in April. Waaaay too early. With football, however, teams can start playoff hopes in the 7^th and 8^th week.

Training Camp

An athlete must train for his specific sport. Within the sport, players must train for their specific position. In football, the offense goes through different drills than the defense. Even within the two structures, players have different drills. The receivers spend quite a bit of time just catching the ball. The quarterbacks spend time throwing the ball. The tackles and linebackers are practicing their hits. The running backs are going through footwork and dodging exercises.

They must train mentally as well as physically. Coaches are yelling at players, “Stay with me! Focus!” If your body is in the game, but your mind isn’t, you might as well sit down. You won’t be effective.

Observation: Are you ready for your game?

The Baseball Game of Life

Baseball is slow. It’s actually more fun to go to the park and see it live because of the atmosphere. You may not be called to live a fast-paced life. Life is slow and steady. You don’t have to play in the rain. There’s not a lot of contact with other players. This is your game. You may get a hit or not. You may get on base, or not. You may get a home run, or not. Whatever the outcome, there’s still another inning to play. You still get nine chances to get that all-important home run, and if you don’t get it today, there’s always tomorrow.

The Football Game of Life

Football is very exciting. It’s a short season, but full of energy, excitement, and very hard-nosed. It’s all or nothing in football. 16 games. That’s it. It’s rough. Players take hard-hits. It’s played in all weather—from 85 degrees in September to 20 degrees in December. Sometimes players can’t see the ball for fog or snow. There’s no such thing as a rainout in football. Sometimes you can’t tell who the players are because of the mud on the uniforms. There is no series in football. You have to be on. It’s a one-shot deal. Win or go home.

You may play a much more intense and faster game. You’ll have some warm and sunny days. You’ll have some dreary rainy and snowy days. You still have to play. You can’t wimp out. You can’t decide you don’t want to play because it’s raining. You can’t complain because you’re all covered with mud, or because you’re cold. It’s part of your game. It’s not always going to be great weather or physical conditions. Your game may not consist of a lot of chances.

Games (Lives) Can Overlap

In baseball, the World Series takes place in mid to late October. Therefore, baseball season overlaps football season.

In cities where there’s only one stadium, yard lines are painted over second base. Baseball players can look like they’re running for a touchdown; football players can look like they’re sliding into home. Maybe your game will overlap someone else’s game. For a brief period of time, you’re playing on the same field.

Observation: Maybe you will have toddlers while your best friend’s kids are pledging sororities.

People have different abilities. Chicago White Sox home run king Paul Konerko doesn’t play football. His game is different. He trains differently. His season is different and his off-season is different. The rules of his game are totally different than that of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. Jay has no  business complaining that his season is too short or it’s too rough. Paul shouldn’t talk about being tired after the 50^th game. That’s the nature of their game and that’s what they are. Konerko cannot be a quarterback. He’d get creamed. (Sometimes Cutler gets creamed.) He doesn’t have the training to play football. Jay Cutler can throw a football down field, but with that same arm can he swing a bat with the over-the-fence power of Paul Konerko? Konerko can throw a baseball, but can he throw a football to a  receiver 50 yards away?

Observation: It is a mistake to compare your sport/game/life with another person’s.

The Off-Season

The off-season is when the sport is inactive. During the off-season in the NFL, no games are being played anywhere. But is the sport inactive? No.

There is much activity in the off-season. Much. People get fired, like coaches and managers of losing teams, as well as under-performing players. A lot of people get hired, like new coaches and free agents signing on with other teams. There’s a lot of scrambling to snatch up good players who have become available. College players are drafted. Veterans come and go. Contracts are negotiated. New game plans and schedules are devised.

Observation: There’s always something happening. God is always doing something.

This is not a time for players to kick back and eat cookies all day. True, they should have some much-needed downtime and allow time for their bodies to heal. However, they should still be keeping their bodies in condition.

Observation: Don’t get weary in well doing for in due season you shall reap a harvest. You have to stay ready for your due season.

So, in essence:

¨     God is the Supreme Coach who drafts people for certain games.

¨     He knows who is best suited for a particular game.

¨     He puts us in the game He wants us in.

¨     God comes up with the game plan.

¨     God does not reveal the playbook until He’s ready. He calls all the plays.

¨     You can be in the game, but you may be not playing; it may be your season, just not your turn.

¨     He takes us off the bench when He wants us to play.

¨     Your turn will come—there are no bench-warmers in God’s Kingdom. Everybody has something to do.

¨     We need to stay in condition and in shape throughout the off-season as well, or you won’t be ready when the season begins.

(end part 1)

Photo credits:

gustey.com; Jay Cutler, Rob Grabowski-US Presswire, US PRESSWIRE / November 20, 2011; 123rf.com