There Is Something We Can Do

As I move among the several news sites on my iPhone this morning and read the continuing narratives from St. Paul, Baton Rouge, and Dallas, two things come to mind.

One, racism is a pernicious evil that creeps into the soul and relentlessly whispers lies until they become “truth” that is finally acted upon in words and actions both subtle and catastrophic. Racism is highly communicable, easily attaching itself to opinions that become belief systems and stories that manifest as primary narratives that shape families and networks of friends. What begins as a seemingly harmless joke or anecdote becomes lodged in a crease deep in our hearts only to become dislodged when jarred by a life-event or news story that seems to validate what the joke implied. And no one is immune from the disease. It’s part of our fallen humanity that crashed to the ground at the foot of a fruit tree in the garden.

Two, violence will not stop racism any more than a fire can be extinguished with gasoline. To the offended it offers a false and temporary sense of control in a reality where they sense no control over their situation. To the offender it merely reinforces the belief that they are right in their hatred toward another person or group. Perhaps Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put it best when he said this:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,

begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.

Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.

Through violence you may murder the liar,

but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.

Through violence you may murder the hater,

but you do not murder hate.

In fact, violence merely increases hate.

So it goes.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,

adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness:

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

I believe that racism, along with every other scourge that besets humankind, began with that thunderous crash in Eden. But, I also believe that the fall of humankind began a series of God-ordained events that resulted in the opportunity for all of us to rise out of the ashes of our fallenness. The image of God we all possess was damaged in the crash at the foot of that tree. I believe that the ultimate answer to racism lies at the foot of another tree. This is why Jesus came. This is what Jesus does. He shines that light, to which Dr. King alluded, into the deepest crevices of our broken hearts and offers kingdom reclamation that will put us on a path toward wholeness. The beauty that fell from the tree in the Garden of Eden was restored on a tree at Calvary. Our job, as followers of Jesus, is to make it so in everyday living.

In light of what I’m reading in the news I am going to invite Jesus into those deep places in my heart with his kingdom flashlight and take a good look to make sure I haven’t missed something. I invited you to do the same. I wish we had the power to immediately heal the brokenness in St. Paul, Baton Rouge, and Dallas, but we don’t. We do, however, have the power to heal any brokenness in our own lives so that we may be messengers of peace, love, and reconciliation in our circles of influence. With Jesus as our Champion and source of strength, we might be surprised how far that could go.

"Wanting to Win is the Point" - Pat Summitt

Sally Jenkins is a columnist for the Washington Post and co-wrote a book called "Reach for the Summit" with her good friend, Pat Summitt. In a column she wrote on June 28th, the day her good friend was released from her battle with Alzheimer's disease, she shared a letter Coach Summitt wrote in 1981 to a freshman player, Shelia Collins, on the occasion of her first game as a Lady Vol. Here are excerpts from that letter:

Shelia, this is your first game. I hope you win for your sake, not mine. Because winning's nice. It's a good feeling. Like the whole world is yours. But it passes, this feeling. And what lasts is what you've learned. And what you've learned about is - life. That's what sport is all about - life. Winning is fun, sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point. Not giving up is the point. The secret of the game is in doing your best. To persist and endure, 'to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'

I'm proud to be your coach...

Later that season, playing against a highly rated Southern Cal team featuring Cheryl Miller, one of the greatest the game has seen, the Lady Vols were down one point with 12 seconds left in overtime. They had missed a shot on their last trip down the court and Coach Summitt called a timeout. Southern Cal would have the ball, so Coach Summitt turned to Sheila, playing in her first big game, looked her in the eyes and said, "We need the ball." Somehow Collins tipped the lobbed inbounds pass, grabbed the ball, and streaked down the court for the winning layup. The young freshman took her coach's words to heart and refused to give up. She wanted to win, and, in this case, the desire to win resulted in winning. The same lesson learned that night would keep her motivated later that year when Collins suffered a severe knee injury. The desire to win would drive her to win that battle and return to play, again. 

In the past five years, Coach Summitt took her own words to heart and refused to give up. Drawing upon lessons learned in the hay field with her father, in the kitchen with her mother, and on the court with countless players and coaches, Coach Summitt never gave up even as Alzheimer's made its cruel and unyielding march through her brain. Some might say that, in this case, the desire to win wasn't enough, that the disease defeated her. But that would be to simply look at the story from the surface. Deeper investigation reveals that the desire to win was, in fact, enough. With the disease giving her its best shot, Coach Summitt made public appearances to support her foundation which is dedicated to defeating this terrible opponent. She met with Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers to offer support and encouragement even as she was receiving the same from her support network. I firmly believe that her commitment to "seek," "find," and "not yield" will have a major impact on the ongoing quest to one day find a way to prevent and cure Alzheimer's. 

As we get up each day to live this precious life God has granted through his great grace, may we remember Coach Summitt's lessons that are ratified in the Scriptures and our Wesleyan heritage. Perfection is not the point. We can never attain it. However, we can "want" perfection and strive for it as John Wesley exhorted his early "methodists." "Strive" to do no harm, "seek" and we shall surely "find" ways to do good, and "do not yield" to Satan's encouragement for us to give up loving our God who loves us so dearly. May God bless Coach Summitt's family and friends with comfort and peace, as well as all who are touched by dementia in any form, and may we all seek a life of commitment to Christ and his kingdom that reflects Coach Summitt's commitment to her players and the game to which she gave her life. 

Blessings,

Larry