Wisdom from a Fifth Grader Goalie.

Quite a story that has been told and retold until it reached me. An eye opener and a conviction worth sharing and emulating...

One father shared......

I have really enjoyed your devotionals about soccer. I, too, remember when my daughter started in first grade. Usually, she was the goalie. Mostly she was a ballerina. She couldn’t prevent the other team from scoring unless she was in the middle of a very intense dance routine like pirouetting, doing the arabesque or practicing her positions. To all of this, her coach would just laugh. We had that coach for four years and I think patience is probably his best virtue.

This year, our coach was different. He is a former military man. He is fierce, disciplined, unforgiving and unfortunately, extremely sarcastic and belittling. Great for marines, I suppose. Not so great for fifth grade girls. But, we stuck it out, kept our mouths shut, and counted down the weeks until the season was over. After our final game, I stared in amazement as my daughter, who really disliked this man, went to him and thanked him for taking the time to coach her. I couldn't believe it. She had endured his insults, ridicule and snide remarks. I asked her why she had done that, and she said that maybe he was not nice because no one had been nice to him.

From the mouth of a fifth grader comes incredibly simple wisdom. Almost always this is the case. Abusers have been abused. Oppressors have been oppressed. The neglected become neglectful. How else do we know what to do? We have been trained in our vices.

Two lessons here: 1) Realize how important it is to treat people well. 2) Realize that those who err in their own handling of relationships have most likely had poor examples from which to learn. This is not an excuse for bad behavior, but it does help to understand and break the cycle. When possible, it helps to give a different response than what a poor attitude typically engenders.

How about that? Shining light isn't it?
Have a blessed day!

Verse-Meal
Matthew 5: 47
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? (NIV)