As the school year gets into full swing with the mounting responsibilities that follow, I’m sure I’ll find things to be stressed out about and convince myself that I have it bad. The reality, however, is that God’s goodness and mercy pours over me every waking minute of my life.
Eat Drink and Be Marry
But lets indulge the “stressful” areas of life for a minute and come back to God’s goodness later. First off, I just found out that my favorite restaurant made the “Worst Restaurant in American” list. Sweet! Now every time I invite friends to Cheesecake Factory, instead of it being a beloved gesture of communion and fellowship it’ll suggest to friends and family “Wait a minute! You’re inviting us to the WORST restaurant in America!” Look, I don’t care how these people came up with this list. The food their rocks! I don’t care if each slice of cheesecake has enough calories to feed a small village for a month. If I cared about my health at that particular moment, I wouldn’t be going to Cheesecake Factory.
In the same vein, Jesus was against drunkenness. However in the 2nd chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus turned water into wine. Why? If He were against drunkenness this would seem counterproductive. But it wasn’t… because it was a wedding and weddings call for cerebration (Cerebration = Wine). So if you’re going to cerebration with friends and/or family, it won’t hurt to have a slice of cheesecake every now and again, just don’t get drunk off the cheesecake and we’ll be fine.
Death and Taxes
Secondly, I recently started a Tax class that H & R Block offers. This is preparation for my Tax class for the CFP program at UCLA. After attending the first class session I thought to myself, “What the h**l did I get myself into?” The class meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights from 6pm-9pm. Usually, classes that meet really late at night let you out early. So does this class let you out early? Nope. It’s going to be intense, and I have no background in the subject. In addition, the President’s proposed tax plan is going to almost make this class irrelevant because of the potential changes. Consequently, the proposed tax plan has also made the stock market extremely volatile, which could have long-term affects on the already slowly recovering economy. This is stressing me out on two fronts. First, I have investments both long and short-term that will be effected by this plan, namely, getting screwed by taxes and I’m not even in the “wealthy bracket.” Secondly, this will discourage other people from investing because they’ll get screwed over in taxes, thus slowing the economic recovery while making the market stagnate at best or send it plummeting back down at worst. Sweet! Never thought I’d see the day when I actually cared about politics. My wife is rubbing off on me.
Moreover, as if the class wasn't stressful already, there are people in the class who talk very loudly. I can't believe there are full-grown adults are so oblivious to their surroundings. This class goes until Thanksgiving. What's the over/under in weeks before I punch someone's lights out? Three? Four? Four and a half? How do you kindly say, "Shut up . . . you're getting on everyone's nerves and you don't even realize it!" to someone? Please enlighten me.
Life Without NBA Basketball
Third of my list is the fact that the NBA is nearing the third month of the lockout and training camp is only two weeks away. The entire season could be canceled if the owners and players don’t come to a solution quickly.
I grew up in the heart of East Los Angeles with my buddies Dom and Bryan. None of us had any Christian influence, and Dom and I were from broken homes. Bryan was Bryan. Given the facts, you’d think that we would end up dead at a very young age. However, by God’s sovereign grace and mercy we ended up turning out semi-okay (Well, at least Dom and I did anyway).
One of the ways that the Lord kept us from getting in trouble was giving us a love for basketball. Although we still managed to still find a fair share of trouble, I could only imagine if we didn’t have basketball the kind of trouble we would’ve been in. The love for the game wasn’t restricted to just playing, even though we worked hard and put in several hours of play well. We also loved watching the game at the highest level. And the highest level of basketball is the National Basketball Association (“The Association” for short).
I know I’ve had friends and relatives tell me before about how much they dislike the NBA for whatever silly reason, but I really don’t care about their opinion. Loving The Association helped keep my boys and I out of trouble during a time when we were young and vulnerable, living in a place where trouble seeks out victims to consume. Instead of going out and getting in trouble we got together to watch games. It’s no coincidence that we most often got into trouble during the off-season when we had more time on our hands. So, The Association has some meaning for me well beyond a mere game. It helped unify and strengthen friendships that I still have today. It gave me heroes to look up to when I had no father figure. It gave me fond memories of my mother and I going to Laker games together. It gives me a starting point to initiate conservation with other basketball fans and build relationships. It gives me the perspective of viewing basketball as not only a sport but also an Art to be appreciated. Finally, the life lessons that can be drawn from the game are too numerous to count.
Now as the current NBA Lockout threatens the 2011-2012 season, I’m supposed to sit back and not care? If you think that, then I don’t know what you’re smoking but I have to cry “Foul!”
The other night I was watching my father-in-law (aka Big Pappa) go on a college football binge with his buddy from church. After the third straight college football game both of them were dosing in and out of la la land looking like they were about to fall into a coma. It made me think about the days when I went basketball bingeing. I miss basketball. This lockout has been like a dark cloud over my head the entire summer. Now that we’re about to start losing actual games, I feel this big hole right in the middle of me.
I check out ESPN’s website for updated news, and even the website is getting awkward because they’re trying to scrape up material to write and all they can do is rank all 450 NBA players. Like I care about who is ranked 421st in the league, really? Some of you might be saying, “Why don’t you just watch college basketball?” My reply would be, “Did you see the championship game, Butler vs. UConn, last year?” That was some of the ugliest basketball I’ve ever seen. Kevin Durant would’ve scored 125 points in that game. I don’t want to settle for JV. I want to see basketball at the highest level and that means NBA basketball!
My mother-in-law has already asked me what I am going to do without basketball. For the first time in my life, I had no answer, no comment, no quick-witted humor, no response, no comeback, nothing! I searched and searched. Still nothing. I simply have no comeback when billionaires and millionaires don't know how to split 4.5 billion dollars annually during an economy so crippled that unemployment rates are highest in decades. It's indefensible and down right depressing for the NBA fan. Especially if I can't even offer a witty comeback.
Perspective
Are there bigger problems in the world? Of course there are. Sometimes we get so caught up in our little world that we forget the struggles of others and fail to see the blessings, which are right in front of our faces. As I mentioned before, I am showered by the goodness of God every day of my life. Every breath is a gift from Him. I have a good job teaching young children not only academics but also social skills that will help them function in real world situations. I have the most beautiful and wonderful wife in the world who puts up with all my non-sense. I have a great church and godly leaders who also put up with all my non-sense. And I don’t think I could ask for a better group of friends even though they’re currently scattered throughout the United States.
I know that I want to pour myself into the lives of other young men, feeling as if they could benefit from the theological training I received from Biola University and Talbot School of Theology. There are always seasons when things get rough but they’re always for a purpose. The Lord doesn’t allow for “randomness.” There’s a purpose in everything that happens and knowing that God is both sovereign AND good, we can rest assured and confidently say, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18 – NIV).
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
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