Sunday, February 2, 2014

Super Bowl / Russell Wilson Thoughts

The big game is about to start in a few hours.

There are nerves and excitement all around the country right about now.  Players, broadcasters, performers, and coaches preparing their minds and bodies for the biggest stage in the world.  Companies crossing their fingers that the millions they spent on advertising will pay dividends in profit margins.  Fans digging up any talismans that can hopefully help (or at least not hinder) the chances of their team winning the game.  Hosts and hostesses preparing food and facilities to manage the next several hours as friends and family members descend upon their homes for food, drink, and cheering.

The Super Bowl is a huge event, a big moment, and moments can be very important.  Wonderful and horrible things can happen for and to people in the blink of an eye, and the joy and pain we experience during these times can be permanent.

Right now Russell Wilson is preparing for the biggest moment of his relatively short professional career, and at the end of today, he will be judged based on how he does during it.  Many will say that he will be defined by what he does on the worlds biggest stage today.

But honestly, he won't.  Regardless of how many times we hear it, we simply are not defined by moments.  Neither our greatness nor our mediocrity, nor our success, nor our failures are the result of small periods of time.  They are not the results of singular events.



And the Seahawks did not get the Super Bowl because of a collection of moments.  Russell Wilson did not become the quarterback of this team because of a good practice or even several good practices in the Summer of 2012.  These things happened as the result of years of consistent sacrifice and work and commitment that resulted in the opportunity to be where they are today.  The moments we refer to only exist because the consistency of their lives was there prior.

And Russell Wilson is not loved in Seattle because of his moments, not because of his big plays.  He is loved because of the person we have come to know that he is.  He is loved because of the consistency with which he plays and lives.  (If you get a chance, read this article on why Seattle loves Russell Wilson.) Yet, even this does not define him.

Because we are not defined by our moments, but by the life we live as a whole.  As impressive as 25-year-old Russell Wilson has been in the past few years, these years will not define him.  He will be defined looking back through the lens of his personal history and the greatness of these years will either be confirmed or refuted by the evidence exhibited during the rest of his life.

And this is true of all truly great people.  They are great because of the consistent greatness with which they lived.   We remember Ghandi and Martin Luther King and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce as great because of the greatness of they exhibited throughout lives, not because of singular marches, or speeches or books, or legislations.  Their accomplishments, their moments were noteworthy, but their greatness comes from something that is evident over a much longer period of time.

And it is the same with us.  Great or not, our lives will be defined by how we live them.  Our impact on those around us will be the result of the preponderance of our moments, not just by our shining ones.  Our children, our wives, our neighbors will be impacted most greatly by the quality of our consistent behavior and time we spend with them.

And it is the same with God.  The fact that the God of the universe notices us is not in itself remarkable.  (From time to time, I notice things like ants and chewed up gum on the sidewalk.)  What is remarkable is that God consistently notices us.  He intentionally and persistently pays attention to our lives.  He shows his love both in the moment of the cross, but more so in the eternal consistent result of the cross.

And it is the same with the Super Bowl.  Today's game will not be decided by a kick off return or a big pass.  If those things happen, they will be the result of many consistent sacrifices and battles that allowed for the opportunity of a big moment.

So here is to consistency: may we all strive to be known by who we are in the mundane moments of life, and may we endeavor to have our behavior in the extraordinary moments be reflective of our lives as a whole, not exceptions to it.

Go Hawks!

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