"GOD held to 8 Points By Aptos Defense"

               

During halftime of the North Salinas game I was sitting under a tree on a slope behind the scoreboard.  The North Salinas players gathered in the end-zone beneath me, so the coach could address them.  The first thing he said was "We knew this wouldn't be easy", and followed it with "Aptos is a good football team".  The kids didn't respond. So the coach said something I didn't expect to hear.  He said "Boys, Aptos knows they're staring into the face of GOD right now, and they're scared".

A quick  analysis:  The North Salinas team is "God", and Aptos is "just as shocked by their lead, as we are".

Excuse me, but.....  WHAT?!!  

     (*I am  NOT a religious scholar.  I am not a prophet, or a priest, or a Fabio, or a  Jesus.  I have

never read the Bible, and I only attend church when I'm desperate.  I do not support any religion, nor do I doubt them.  I'm as unqualified to speak of God as anyone.  Take that into consideration as we proceed.
     Having said that, I'm a believer.  I KNOW there's something bigger than any of us, out there.  "God" is just our name for it.
     I can't explain what or who he is, and I can't tell you what he expects from me, or from us.  I can't tell you he's a Man.  And even though I can't prove his existence, I KNOW he's out there.  There have been too many serendipitous events in my life to doubt him.

There's one observation, above all else, that confirms for me, the existence of a conscious plan or intent, that guides everything.  It's this:  When Human Beings  confront events they can't control, they abandon Reason and Science, and turn to faith.  That's a big deal considering we point to our ability to Reason, and follow logic, as the clincher when placing ourselves at the top of the zoological charts.  We may exhaust those abilities before we agree to prayer, but prayer is what's left at the end.

We will, all of us, find it someday.

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Today children, we are going to discuss 'G-O-D', and his inability to pick one team, and stick with them.  Seriously, you can't have every team, and every player, pointing fingers at you every time they score, or sack someone.  Pick somebody already."

If Aptos was facing "God" in North Salinas, who were they facing in Aptos?  Oprah?  Obama? Jay-Z?  No.  They were facing their mirror image.  I think we confuse the intentions of God with our own.  We enter a stadium adorned in school colors, and sit on designated sides. We accuse referees of favoritism when calls don't go our way.  We make excuses, or blame others, when our children receive a substitute role, or never play at all.We see things as "them against us", and ignore the fact that "them" are exactly like us.  "Them" has worked all summer, just like us.  "Them" get penalties, just like us.  "Them" are learning and maturing and growing, just like us. "Them" are the children of parents full of hopes, and fears, just like us.  If circumstances arose that caused us to move, and go to "Them's" school, our allegiance would move with us. We all do it. We're all fickle.  God isn't.

God doesn't care who wins.  He doesn't care who scores a touchdown, or records a sack.  He wants every individual who agrees to the risks inherent in living, to get closer all of them.

to the vision held of who they are.  He wants that because he's the architect behind 

He doesn't care who points their finger upward, as long as everyone gets the opportunity.  He doesn't keep track of the score, either.  He sees two groups of individuals working together, through opposition, to dispense of the limitations placed on their talents and discover new depths of determination.  

     It's not about God at all.  It's about us.  Why do we require a winner, and loser, in everything we do?  Why do we celebrate the outcome, instead of the effort?  And why do we admire the most powerful among us for defeating those who are smaller?  Here's what I think.  I think God let's everyone point a finger in thanks, as a hint.   

We all know, deep down, that the outcome of any game means nothing in the grand scheme of things.  We beat you today, then you beat us tomorrow, then you beat us again the next day, then we beat you again.     If they teach us anything, they teach us that sometimes the team that should win, doesn't.  They teach us that sometimes all that preparation doesn't matter.  They teach us that sometimes the outcome of a game is determined by something impartial, like a gust of wind, or an ice storm.
They teach us about the uncertainty inherent in any outcome: A game. A marriage. An overture. A dream.  A decision. A life.
 'The Face of God?'                    

                                                        Really?

The  violence that arises, and the hatred that separates, and the disregard of empathy comes from us,   because we need it.  Outcomes will be required, until we don't.
 We cheer the superstar who wears our jersey, and throw beer bottles at him when he dons another.  We abandon the rules when we're losing, and poke and bite and pinch, then praise it as a 'gutsy', or a 'no quit' attitude.

Anyone who's competed has been in a situation where you know you're beat, where nothing's left but to acknowledge  your ass, over there, on a platter,  being garnished before it's handed to you.  Learning how to do that, with humility, is one of the best lessons learned from playing competitively, because we all lose occasionally. Even the best.  Yes, even the face of God himself, North Salinas.

The North Salinas coach missed that opportunity because of a  false premise most of us adhere to:  If you tell your team they're out-manned, they'll quit.  Maybe, but I doubt it.  The desire to know where they stand against that opponent won't fade, and the score will no longer be relevant, the effort will.

But if you tell your team that the opponent who is brutally dismissing you in a rout "fears" you like 'God', they won't buy it.  They won't buy it because it's their asses that are getting kicked.  They can feel it, touch it, taste it.

And because if they were God, they would have covered the spread.