God, here I am, at your disposal, your child.
Use me to continue your loving the world,
by giving Jesus to me
and through me,
to each other and to the world.
Let us pray for each other
that we allow Jesus to love in us
and through us
with the love with which
his Father loves us. Amen.
-Mother Teresa
14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
don’t ask me about what’s going on in sports, i won’t know. i will suffer with my girlfriend as she tries to not shop for the next month, and not look at ANY sports websites until march 1st (no ESPN.com, cnnsi.com, misterirrelevant.com, realgm.com, truthaboutit.net, cbssportsline.com). I have already found it to be extremely difficult. my finger instinctively clicks on the ESPN icon and I have to quickly APPLE+W to close the window.
i can do this!
smh (Shake My Head)
Another year, another broken heart.
Washington sports teams never fail to rip my heart into a million pieces (actually, three pieces to be exact but eventually four, when the Capitals get knocked out again in the first round of the playoffs)
I mean where do I even start?
Redskins, you make me want to cry! Just looking back on this season, I have to restrain myself from throwing my computer across the room out of frustration. Being a Redskins fan is like being married to an abusive wife who cooks an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. They’ll wine and dine you during the offseason and then BAM once the season starts, they shame you! Years of emotional abuse has resulted in the loss of my child-like faith and fervor that once defined me as a Redskins fan. But what can I say, I’m a glutton for punishment! Each year I think to myself…maybe, just maybe they will realize the errors of their ways and not only cook an amazing Thanksgiving dinner but ALSO an amazing Christmas dinner (in the month of February, of course!).
Wizards, you FRUSTRATE me! Watching a Wizards game is like watching a youth basketball league game for 5 year olds. No joke, during the whole game I say three things: “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”, “WHAT IN THE WORLD?”, and “PLAY DEFENSE, YOU IDIOTS!” Gilbert, your 3-Point percentage is the same as the percent of successful dates I went on in high school (which means your game needs to grow like 5 more inches and not eat so much). Andray Blatche, I’m going to request that they put a dog collar-esque device on you so that every time you shoot outside of the paint you get SHOCKED. Hinrich, smh. Nick Young: ask me about him in a couple weeks. Javale: I see a lot of myself in you, THAT’S NOT GOOD!
Nationals, it’s okay…no one expected you to do well. Strasburg: REALLY?!?! smh…
Capitals, make me look good so I can make friends while I am in Hockey Country.
In conclusion, there is only one group I can blame for my heartache…CALI SWAG DISTRICT!! If John Wall didn’t do the Dougie, he wouldn’t have hurt his knee and ankle. If John Wall didn’t listen to music like Cali Swag District and love to dance then he wouldn’t have come up with the John Wall Dance. If John Wall didn’t come up with the John Wall Dance, then Stephen Strasburg wouldn’t have torn a ligament in his elbow while doing the John Wall. I dont know how they affect the Redskins and Capitals but somehow they do!
But my real conclusion…I’m tired of being the fat kid waiting for the big dance!
Which brings me to the next thing I wanted to talk about, ADVENT! I’m sure most of you know that we are in the Advent season now. On Sunday and today during chapel, the question, “what are you waiting for?” has been asked over and over again. In the context of our daily lives that question doesn’t provoke a lot of contemplation but in the Advent season that question really challenges you to look at your life in the context of the bigger story. When you ask yourself that question in the context of the bigger story, you find that many things in your life are so menial; there’s something greater to wait on. It’s all been a double blessing to me because, inadvertently, reading the Psalms while chewing on this seemingly easy question has helped me to focus on the significance of God’s “steadfast love.” In my Old Testament Foundations class I’m forced to read Psalms in large portions, so I don’t think in all that reading it was a mistake that the phrase “steadfast love” continued to pop out to me. With the combination of thinking about the coming of our Savior and of God’s steadfast love, I can’t deny that I need to be stop waiting on things so temporary and self-alleviating (I don’t think that’s a word but it works for me in my present situation). I need to find joy in the waiting and hold on to love that is steadfast and unconditional, the love we know as Jesus Christ.
I don’t know if any of that made sense to anyone else but it sure made sense to me.
Send me a sign
A hint, O whisper
Fill me with life
‘Cause I am listening
Come break the quiet
Breathe your awakening
Bring me the light
‘Cause I am fading
Surround me with the rush of angels’ wings
Shine Your light so I can see You
Pull me up, I need to be near You
Hold me, I need to feel loved
Can You overcome this heart that’s overcome?
You sent a sign
The hint, O whisper
Human, divine
Everyone is listening
Death laid low
Quiet in the night is stirring
All around the rush of angels
O the wonder of the greatest love has come
Shine Your light so all can see it
Lifted up, ‘cause the whole world needs it
Love has come, what joy to hear it
He has overcome, He has overcome
You need a flop to win the championship, would you rather have Manu Ginobili or one of the soccer players playing in the World Cup?
Ah, the art of flopping in the world of sports. Is it necessary or is detrimental to the integrity of the game? It’s not like I can flop in life when I want a free pass to the metaphorical free throw line of life.
I’m watching the World Cup and I can’t help but notice how annoying it is to watch the game being stopped everytime someone decides to jump 50 feet in the air and land on their face. C’mon…really? Play the game. When did flopping become part of the game?
Relating flopping in sports to the game we call life, I realized that we have a propensity to sort of keel over when get stopped from reaching our desired goal. We become limp in our faith and just wait for that whistle to blow (Look how dumb they look in those pictures, you don’t want to look like them). We roll around on the ground and throw a hissy fit, we fail to just get back up and go with the blows that life throws. When we get Hack-A-ShaqED in life, we should Hack-A-Back (POW, What up?). I find that it helps to be at the mercy of God in those moments but in the simplest way possible. No elaborate use of words necessary but a simple surrender of self-will. I’m just trying to figure out how to do that and at the same time be in a complete state of thankfulness. Thankfulness is life’s cookie crumble trail that helps us remember those moments that God showed us love and grace.
Wise is the Word. The Wise Guy for today’s Wise is the Word is the late John Wooden.
Quotes by John Wooden:
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
“Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
One time I asked him, “How many championships do you think Kobe can win?” “None,” he said, flatly. “None?” “Kobe doesn’t win championships. The Lakers win championships.”
While I know that I will never be the next John Wooden, I hope to be remembered the same way he was remembered. It wasn’t all the achievements and accolades that he accumulated over his career as the coach of the UCLA Bruins that was mentioned by those who admired him but who he was as a person, his character. He didn’t let his title of coach define who he was but at the same time he wasn’t afraid to use it as a tool to teach something bigger than the game of basketball. He taught LIFE.
God.Family.Basketball.Self. I think that’s how John Wooden lived his life.
Rick Reilly of ESPN wrote this about John Wooden:
“He made me want to be more humble. In the most self-obsessed city in the world — Hollywood — he was selfless. It only made him stand out even more, like a priest at a Chippendale’s convention…”
“I started noticing something on my visits. The TV was never on. He was always reading. Poetry, history, the Bible. Never sports. Never novels. He knew hundreds of classic poems by heart. Yet when he found himself coaching a bookish 7-footer named Alcindor in 1966, he memorized the poems of Langston Hughes, the black modern poet. It didn’t go unnoticed…”
“He took me into his bedroom once, in 2000. The clocks were all wrong. He stopped them at the time of Nellie’s death, 15 years before. Only one side of the bed was slept in, and above the sheet, not under them, and hadn’t been since the day she died. On her pillow were hundreds of little letters in envelopes tied up in bundles by yellow ribbons. He wrote her every month telling her how much he loved her and what all the kids were doing. Did it right up until the last few months of his life, when his eyes stopped working…”
John Wooden even though I didn’t know you, the people around you made me wish I did.
If even NYTimes.com is going to talk about it, I’m going to have to comment on it.
To be honest, I can’t say that I have a favorite baseball team. I didn’t grow up having a local baseball team to cheer for. Sure we had the Baltimore Orioles but everyone in Virginia knows that the Orioles are comparable to the actual state they play in, second rate. By default, I cheered for the most exciting and well, winningest team, the Boston Red Sox.
When the Nationals came into town I wasn’t the bit interested. We were inheriting a Bad-News-Bears-esque team that consisted of washed up, unmotivated players. At that point, the only things the Nationals had going for them was another team and color to choose from at Lids.
A lot has changed since 2005. They aren’t playing in RFK Stadium, where teams go to die, and they are putting together quite an exciting team through the recent drafts. I am excited about Strasburg’s debut today. Unfortunately, I won’t be watching it because I’ll be creating my own highlight reel on the FXA Co-Ed Flag Football field but I hope that he would be another piece to the development of the new era of sports in Washington, where the fans have been plagued by disappointment year in and year out.
Bryce Harper…My pre-MLB-diction= BUST but we’ll see, I’m usually wrong.
I don’t know why I created this. Let’s just play around with it and see what comes out of it. I can’t promise anything exciting but I can promise you that it will be 100% me.
