01/14/2017

My boys both play basketball. As far as skill, I’d say that right now they’re both somewhere between oblivious and awful. It’s easy to see that coaching them can be frustrating: they don’t pass (why would you pass the rock, when you can just shoot the rock?), the don’t move, they don’t really understand their positions, and they hack the living daylights out of each other. Oh, and traveling? This is a ten step league. But…. sometimes they make a play. And it is actually incredible to watch. Out of utter madness you suddenly see a kid get in position, a decent, and a nice bank shot off the baseline.

In order to get this done, the coaches are always bringing the kids back to fundamentals. And that never changes in sports! In order to be successful, you’re always having to go back to the start.

Why is it that we adults constantly forget this? We assume we’ve advanced; that we’re beyond kid stuff. Example: a family will sometime say, “We need to get back to church, for the kids sake.”

What now? What was that?

We send kids to bed on time, since they need to sleep. We have them eat vegetables, since it’s good for them. We don’t let them watch certain movies, because they’re immoral.

But adults! We do whatever we want!

Come back to the start. Get back to the beginning. As far as life is concerned, we’re all somewhere between oblivious and awful. We constantly need to start over, get back to basics. And when we do, sometimes miracles of love and friendship appear out of the madness.

Start over with me on Sunday. I need it just as bad as you.

Tom+