Finding Your Second Wind

Easter week is on the horizon, and the “fourth quarter” of Lent is here. How are you holding up in the trenches of your Lenten discipline?

There were countless years where, by this point in the season, I had totally “fallen off the horse.” I felt like I’d missed the free throw at the end of the half and now I was removing splinters on the bench, or I had missed my block and our quarterback was being administered oxygen. Nobody back then said, “the game isn’t over just because you fumbled,”  or you can always get back on the horse—or, more accurately, back in the huddle.

My friend David Dickey used to tell me that the most important lesson he learned on the gridiron was simple: “When you hit the ground, get back up quickly.” He’d follow that up with a bit of defensive reality: “Otherwise, Hubbell, a bunch of guys your size would jump on top and pound me.”

There is a mountain of wisdom hidden in the playbook of sports. We’ve all heard that “you can’t score if you don’t shoot.” Then there’s that grit-testing mantra I never quite understood until recently: “You have to know the difference between pain and injury.”

In our spiritual lives, a missed day of prayer or a broken fast is pain—it’s the sting of the hustle, the soreness of the soul. But letting that lapse turn into total defeat? That’s an injury we or the world can’t afford.

So, if you’ve been sacked by your Lenten discipline, remember: it’s okay to get back up. In fact, “Coach God” is standing on the sidelines, headset on, calling your name for the next play. He’s not there to bench you; he’s there to encourage.

There is still plenty of injustice to remedy, yards to gain, and lessons to learn. Don’t let a 250-pound linebacker of guilt pile on you. Don’t let the weight of self-doubt or the “penalties” of regret keep you pinned to the turf.

The clock hasn’t run out. Shake off the mud and get back in the game.

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About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.