Reality Face Slap

I've heard the term "Reality Check" before, but the incident the other night felt like a "Reality Face Slap". Did you see it in real time? With the internet, we can all go find the clip, but it was different to be in the throws of the game and experience it. We call it March Madness for a reason. A good portion of the country gets into it with their brackets and the potential for cinderella stories like FGCU. But when that kid from Louisville broke his leg with a compound fracture after a simple attempt to block a 3 point shot, we all stopped.

I think they only showed the replay once because, like the Joe Theisman injury, it was too gruesome to watch. But what followed was the face slap. Silence. The crowd went silent; his teammates dropped to the floor in tears and horror; even the announcers were quiet. There was nothing to say. We were all stunned and horrified. It was like we all woke up for 9 minutes while they stabilized and treated this kid and we remembered "this is just a game."

Now of course the medical staff did a great job, both coaches rallied their teams through their own tears and the game ended like some made for TV movie. But for 9 minutes we all woke up and had to deal with reality in the midst of our American sports obsession.

I remember many years ago when I was pregnant with my first child watching first hand an event like that. I was sitting about 10 cars deep at a stop light when two boys, maybe 9 and 5 years old cut in front of my car to cross the road. The older boy looked out at the on-coming traffic and hurried across to beat the traffic. But the younger boy hesitated, never looked and when he finally darted out, the on-coming car had no time to stop at all. In horror, we watched this little boy be thrown over the top of this car like a rag doll. That would have been horrific if you had just seen it on TV, but we had a front row seat. Just before he darted, we started yelling in the car for him to stop, but he couldn't hear us and it all happened so fast. I can still feel the powerlessness of the situation and the panic that overtook me as we pulled over and tried to help.

It happened in a predominately black neighborhood and the boys themselves were also black. People in the houses started pouring out to try and help while calling 911. I remember being impressed with how quickly they took control of the situation as if they all had done it before. Eventually the ambulance came and the police came, but through it all there sat a short white man on the sidewalk near the little boy. The little boy was not moving though he was talking. The short white man just sat there staring at the boy. I could not place him right away in all the commotion. At one point the parents showed up and the mother just screamed and ran away while the father started yelling at the older boy. Trauma does strange things to people. But the short white man just sat and stared at the broken little boy. Eventually I realized this was the driver.

To say this man was undone, is an understatement. He was completely devastated. We did what we could to help, but mainly we wanted to tell the police what we had seen and assure them it was no one's fault. It was just a tragic series of events. But before I left I spoke to the driver as well. I assured him there was nothing he could have done and it wasn't his fault, but I have no doubt, that event changed his life. I know it changed mine.

I have often pictured America as a powerful giant being slowly rocked to sleep by our love for entertainment and sport. Please understand that I am a big sports fan and I am more than willing to rearrange my schedule around the Colt's football games. But events like this wake us up to the fragility of our lives. We are not our own, but even as a Christian I often forget this truth. Jesus Christ laid down his own life for me, that I might live, and yet most days I don't even think about that truth much less thank God for it.

So today I will thank God for this life, however long it may be. I will not withhold my praise of other's because I know how much a good word can lift a man's spirit. The scripture says Prvbs 25:11 "The right word spoken at the right time is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl." Everyone needs to know that you can see them. Specific praise helps people feel seen.

But I will also get back to counting my blessings. I started a journal awhile back that listed my blessings. I was inspired by a book called "1000 gifts". The habit of listing my blessings is so good for my soul. It wakes me up to reality without the face slap and helps me see the way my God sees me and provides for me all the time. As a result I feel seen and that is a very good feeling.