Last night Connecticut beat Butler to win the NCAA
championship. No matter who you were rooting for it was not a pretty game to watch. Neither team shot very well especially Butler, the rebounding was ugly, and neither team ever developed a flow. I feel for the athletes of Butler because they will have to live with a lot of “what ifs” for another year. I am reminded of the character in Field of Dreams – Dr. “Moonlight”Graham. While Ray is asking him if there was some wish he could have, could have some “do over,” Doc responds that he would have liked to have gotten to bat in the major leagues. He asks, “have you ever come so close to your dream,
you can reach out and touch it, only to have it snatched away?” Later Ray
grants him that wish only to have Doc give it all up again to save a little
girl’s life. Ray apologizes saying Doc had his dream, but it was again taken
away. Doc responds that the real tragedy would his not becoming a doctor.
Butler’s team should watch the movie. It will not take away the pain they feel
this morning, but it might give them a faint glimmer of hope for the future.
What, at the moment seems like a tragedy; doesn’t have to
set your course. A moment in our past; doesn’t have to be our future. It can of course. I know a lot of athletes who can never give up the game. They may have lacked the skill to move up the ladder, or their
body gave out they couldn’t adjust to no longer playing, or a million other
reasons occurred, that should have caused them to move past the game, but they could not. They are not alone in this. A failed marriage, an unfair firing, a disease or injury can knock us to the ground. These types of setbacks don’t right themselves, we have to right it. And with God’s help, victory can begin at the very spot of the loss.
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