"...and be of a ready mind..."
1 Peter 5:2
Someone has said the second most important player on a football team, right behind the starting quarterback, is the backup quarterback.
He never knows when he'll be called upon to step into the game and lead the team. Therefore, he must be prepared physically and mentally to insure the team's best possible performance should the starter leave the game. He also must fully understand the defenses that will be thrown at him. During practice, he throws the same repetitious pass plays as does the starting quarterback. He sweats and drills exactly the same as the starting thrower.
Some time ago I was watching a television sports show describing the rigors of an experienced backup quarterback. At mid-season the games were ending up like all the preceding ones. The team's starting quarterback was healthy and the chances of the backup playing were slim to none. This backup had entered games before, and he knew he could step up to the challenge if called upon. So during the preceding week of practice his mind drifted to other interests. He paid little attention to the films and didn't open his playbook. He suited up for the game expecting another day of wearing the headset and carrying a clipboard.
He was wrong. An injury to the starter thrust him into the action with no warning. It was a disaster from the start. The defensive schemes and blitzing attacks had been explained in practice but he had not paid attention and was totally unpreÂpared to perform his job and lead the team. After the game he admitted his lack of preparation and was cut the next morning. He lost his significant salary as well as the respect of his teammates and fans. He hadn't been ready at the moment of need.
His playing time was unexpected for sure, and he paid dearly for his failure. But in all fairness, his job was to be ready without warning.
Webster's dictionary defines readiness as being prepared or supplied with what is needed for some act or event. The Holy Scripture defines readiness as living in the spirit of biblical activities that will prepare a person to face what confronts him or her at any given moment. For the Christian, this can be accomplished by daily indulging in such disciplines as Scripture reading and reflection, prayer, worship and fasting. Our job is to be spiritually ready. Victory or defeat hangs in the balance. The dull axe should never complain about the toughness of the tree; it should just get its blade sharpened.
Theodore Roosevelt — a soldier, hero, leader and president who lived in the spirit of readiness, said it well: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."
As always see you next time and have a great day.
The Rev. Carl S. Mesiti is pastor of Niedringhaus United Methodist Church in Granite City.
