Category: Cool Stuff

Compassion

There is a video making the rounds on Facebook which many of you have probably already seen.  I’ve attached it to this post.  Before you read any further, please click on the word “Compassion” in blue above, and watch the video.

Now that you have watched, and possibly had to dry your eyes, let’s talk about it.

Let’s focus on the main characters in this story.  Peter the coach, Mitchell the team manager/player and Jonathan, the opposing player.

Listen to the coach, Peter Morales.  He planned to play Mitchell at the end of the game, no matter what the score.  When asked if he would do it even if there was a risk of losing the game, his reply was emphatic, “For his moment in time, yes”  And I believe him.

Watch Mitchell’s reaction when he misses the pass from his teammate.  Who does he feel bad for?  Himself?  It doesn’t look that way to me.  He isn’t throwing his hands up in the air or stomping his foot.  His head looks up to the heavens and then down as he walks away.  He appears to be someone who feels that he has let down not himself, but others.  His teammates, his coach, his parents.

Now listen to Jonathan, the opposing player who throws Mitchell the ball at the end of the game.  Listen not only to what he says, but try and interpret what he isn’t saying.  Does it sound like he feels sorry for Mitchell, I don’t think so.  He says,  “I was raised to treat others how you want to be treated.”

And what about the referee.  Mitchell actually walks a few steps after receiving the ball from Jonathan.  Technically that’s traveling and the ball should go back to the other team.  Fortunately the ref does not blow his whistle, he lets Mitchell continue playing.  Right now you might be saying, “Oh come on Dale of course he didn’t blow his whistle.  He’d have to be a real jerk to do that!”  Then I might say to you, “This world is filled with them, isn’t it?”

Even the fans did something special by chanting Mitchell’s name and rushing onto the court to pick him up and carrying him off on their shoulders.

I’m sure all of you have heard the phrase What Would Jesus Do. In fact some of you may think you have heard it so much that if you have to hear it one more time you will become physically ill.  Others are thinking, I love that phrase, I proudly wear my WWJD bracelet every day!

The fact is, I can’t help but watch this video and wonder just that.  What would Jesus do?  I’ve come to the conclusion that I really don’t know what Jesus would have done if He was a part of this story.  Maybe if He was the coach He would have allowed Mitchell to play the whole game rather than just the last few minutes.  Thus giving him a better opportunity to score a basket.

Maybe if Jesus was the referee He would not only have refrained from calling a traveling violation, but He might have carried Mitchell over to the basket lifted him up and allowed him to dunk the ball, insuring that the shot would not be missed.

Maybe if Jesus was one of the fans He would have hoisted Mitchell onto His shoulders and healed him as well.

The point is, none of us truly know exactly what Jesus would have done.  However we do know what these people did.  They came about as close as you can come to getting it right.  No, not just right, perfect.

There’s hope for us all.

I need to take more showers.  Don’t get me wrong, I take one everyday but I may want to increase that number because I seem to do my best thinking in the shower.  The only thing that troubles me a little about this great revelation is that I also think I do my best singing there.

Yesterday I was asked to give a devotion at an upcoming church meeting and discovered that my Christian devotional book had mysteriously come up missing.  OK, truthfully there is nothing too mysterious about it.  I hate to admit that I haven’t looked at it in years.

There was an outside chance my wife would have a suggestion on where to find it but that would mean calling her at work and asking.  Bad idea, a call could remind her to ask if I had mopped the kitchen floor yet.  Instead of going down that road, I decided to hop in the shower in the hope that either a devotion or the whereabouts of my book would come to me.

It helped.  The shower triggered a memory of the first devotion I ever gave almost 20 years ago.  I can’t recall what type of meeting I was at or who was there but I do remember that I was new to the church and I was terrified.  I didn’t realize at the time that I could go out, buy a book, read a passage and be done with it.  My impression was that it had to be something more elaborate.  So I made a 9×7 inch wooden cross and brought it, along with a hammer and some nails, to the meeting that night.  The climax of my devotion was for everyone at the meeting to write down on a small piece of paper, a sin for which they needed to ask forgiveness, then nail it to the cross.  While some worried looks were exchanged around the room, everyone did as they were asked, until 8 small folded pieces of paper, including mine, were nailed to that home made wooden cross.

Someone nervously asked what I was going to do with the papers.  I said that since our sins are between us and God, the only logical thing to do now would be to destroy them,  and that’s what we did. All remained a private thought between the sinner and the Savior.  I had never wanted or needed to see what anyone had written on their paper, and I know they didn’t need to see what was on mine.  If we all knew each others past indiscretions, could we ever look at each other in the same way again?  Probably not.  Fortunately God has reserved that burden for Himself, and I am thankful that He has.

The reason I know there were 8 pieces of paper is because I still have that cross standing on the work bench in my basement.  It’s always there, and much like Thomas, the doubter, it sometimes helps my faith to occasionally touch the 8 nail holes in that wood.

Today I looked for some symbolism in the fact that 8 people attended that meeting.  Did the number 8 mean something?  I wanted it to.  I wanted to find a message somewhere.  I couldn’t find one.

But maybe I discovered that God is not really so cryptic.  He is actually quite clear.  His message is simple.  It’s not hidden in codes or puzzles.  He wants you and me to get it.  8 people took a chance and trusted each other.  They laid their private sins at the foot of His cross and risked being found out.  Why?  Because they had faith that they were in a safe place.  They were in His house.

Maybe I found a message after all.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

To everyone, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Dale

One of the biggest annoyances I have when making either egg salad or deviled eggs is peeling the egg. Well I saw this on a website called Lifehacker and just thought it was really cool. It’s not a trick. This really works.
A BIG thanks to my daughter Nikki for shooting this video with her phone so that I could post it.

Check out the video. I think you’ll like it.

For all of you cooks out there.  I just ran across this helpful hint you can use when a recipe wants you to separate the egg yolk  from the egg white.  Instead of cracking the egg and then transferring the yolk back and forth between the shells until the white is separated, try this trick.

I tried it and it works great.