When Opportunity Knocks

Ben Woodburn:  1st Goal for Liverpool @ age 17

Scripture Passage:  'Be careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity...' Ephesians 5:15-16 

Enter Ben Woodburn, who started playing soccer for the Liverpool Football Club at a very young age.  He has proven himself through the ranks, from the U17s and now starting at the U23s this fall.  Because of injury, Ben was called upon for his first debut last weekend in the final minutes of a fairly meaningless EPL 2-0 win against Sunderland.

Last night, Ben comes in for the injured Kevin Stewart at the 66:00 mark in the EFL Cup playoff game vs Leeds.  Stewart, also a prodigy of Liverpool, has seen a lot of time as a midfielder this season and has done a nice job of controlling and disrupting opposing offenses.

Back to Woodburn: Due to the numerous injuries this year in the Liverpool midfield and striking positions, they have to turn to their farm club (U23) for position players.  Because Woodburn had been playing so well at the younger levels, he was moved up this fall and had taken advantage of his opportunity by scoring goals at the higher level.  This gave the Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, the confidence in bringing the youngster on. And the rest, they say, is history.

Ben becomes the youngest player ever to score for the Liverpool football club at the age of 17 years and 45 days, a record formerly held by the famous Michael Owen for more than two decades.

Klopp said this in an interview after the game:

"We always want young players to get a chance. You can't expect 10-12 appearances. You might get one or two and you have to take your chance."

Work hard and prepare.  You never know when your name will be called.  When it is, be ready and make the most out of it.

Grace & Peace

PLW

Friendship: Chad

I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.-Thomas A. Edison

At the end of 6th grade, we moved from Mankato in 1984 to a small McLeod County city named Hutchinson, the existence of which I had never heard of until moving in August of that year.

At the time, I was a pimply-faced 7th grader, awkward and friendless.  Leaving a community with great childhood chums and entering a small town was not the easiest transition in the world.

Of course this experience is hardly uncommon and certainly an everyday occurrence today.  But because of my desire at that age to be accepted,  my transition perhaps was harder than most.  In an age where social media didn't exist, phone calls to Mankato were difficult, expensive and eventually led to a realization that I needed to start finding friends on my own.

Fast-forward to 9th grade.  After a life-changing and emotionally difficult middle-school where I surrendered my life to Christ (thank you, Youth For Christ and Mr. Mark Anderson), God put Chad into my life.

While only casual acquaintances in middle school, Chad and I started hanging out.  Mostly out of a joint appreciation for hunting and sports, but also because I think he knew I needed a friend and he was willing.  I really had nothing to offer him.

He was popular, accepted by the 'in' crowd, and seemingly had his crap together.  I was the opposite.  My teachers liked me, but that was about it.  My older brother thought I was a spaz and offered very little in terms of support, mostly condemnation and 'brotherly love' that only an older brother can give.

Chad and I hung out all the time and went on to be roommates in college. Chad was one of my groomsman in my wedding, present for my college graduation, and also a visitor in the hospital for the birth of all of my children.

Even today, after 25 years, Chad still supports me and my family with a his life, his casual smirk and warm handshake and embrace.  He's been a rock of support for me, despite my lack of reciprocal attention.

Jesus mentions him and others like him in the gospel of John:

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13)

Thanks, Chad, for being there.  For making the phone call and stopping by.  For your friendship, despite your overalls!

Grace & Peace

PLW

Friendships: Gene

 C.S. Lewis, the renowned Christian author, penned this about friendship:

"For we all wish to be judged by our peers, by the men "after our own heart." Only they really know our mind and only they judge it by standards we fully acknowledge. Theirs is the praise we really covet and the blame we really dread." (The Four Loves)

I'm starting a series of blogs dedicated to a few of my friends (not all of them of course), with the purpose of exposing to my readers their unique and profound impact on my life.  I am extremely thankful to God for all of them, as they continue to lift me up and keep me accountable to the higher calling God has for my life.

Gene:    

     Recently a college friend of mine, Gene, was traveling in the area and reached out to me for dinner. As I made my way toward the entrance of Pittsburgh Blue (one of our favorite hangouts from our last couple of visits), I was greeted with the friendly handshake and the encouraging smile of my long-time friend.  Gene looked well and fit, and had obviously been working out more than this author.
   
     We had a great dinner: glazed pork chops, a small filet done just right, and heavenly mashed potatoes followed up with some chocolate layer cake and some decaf coffee (for me).   Conversation was long, fulfilling and fantastic.  But what struck me as a bit troubling was the fact that we hadn't visited for about four years.  Four years!  What kind of friend am I?

     During our conversation,  I realized what unique and great qualities God has given Gene:  thoughtfulness, his listening ear, wisdom, and also his fantastic mind which provides the ability to instantly recall detailed moments of history.  Gene also challenges my thoughts and personal convictions, helping me dive into the 'why' verses taking someone else's word for it.

     Gene has been present to me during two very unique times in my life:  the decision to leave college sports and pursue financial pursuits (he bought me the Principles of Finance, which I still use to this day); and conversations before and after the death of my mother in 2012 / 2013.

     Also unique about our relationship is the fact that I only knew Gene for about three months before transferring to another college.  Unlike other friendships, our time actually spent together was brief but deep, if I may use such a term.  We share the love of reading, well-written literature, political diversions, and of course, golf.

     Politically, spiritually, philosophically, one might be hard pressed to find any two individuals more diametrically opposed.   However, his kindness extended to me in difficult circumstances,  his personal interest and unique and differing perspectives from my fairly myopic upbringings continue to push me to dig deeper about my beliefs.

    Gene, thanks for being a friend and your willingness to share your life with me.  I am truly honored and rewarded by God for it.

Grace & Peace,

PLW



 

   

 

An Originalist: Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016)

Justice Scalia was my favorite Supreme Court Justice.  Not because of his unprecedented wisdom and intellect, but rather the conservative voice he believed in, often moving upstream against a barrage of liberal currents and obstacles.

This 'originalist' opinion was found in sharp contrast to the SCOTUS majority,  who favor more of a 'Living Constitution', a phrase he met with great disdain.

His witty and sarcastic remarks to fellow judges, contemporaries on the SC, law schools, etc.. extolled in written dissents to the 'mischief of" the majority opinion will be quoted for decades and perhaps centuries later.

Certainly, Justice Scalia never backed down on speaking his mind, even to the extent of espousing disdain for recent Presidential and Congressional decisions in speaking tours at colleges and universities, using sarcasm as his means of delivery.

Maragret Talbot, a journalist for the New Yorker, wrote a tribute, of sorts, to Justice Scalia in this article, published in 2005.  She wrote that Scalia, when compared to other Justices, was "most likely to offer the jurisprudential equivalent of smashing a guitar onstage".

Below are a list of a few of my favorite 'Scalia-isms':

Lee vs. Wessman (1992): (Public school-prayer issue where the Court found it unconstitutional)

I find it a sufficient embarrassment that our Establishment Clause jurisprudence regarding holiday displays has come to “requir[e] scrutiny more commonly associated with interior decorators than with the judiciary.” But interior decorating is a rock hard science compared to psychology practiced by amateurs

United States v. Virginia (1996): (Majority ruled against Virginia Military Institute admissions policy of male-only students)

If it were impossible for individual human beings (or groups of human beings) to act autonomously in effective pursuit of a common goal, the game of soccer would not exist

 Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): (Majority overturns state ban on gay marriage)

"It is one thing for separate concurring or dissenting opinions to contain extravagances, even silly extravagances, of thought and expression; it is something else for the official opinion of the Court to do so," he wrote, calling the opinion's "showy profundities ... often profoundly incoherent."

Justice Scalia was a devout Catholic and Christian, and I am sure today he will be welcomed home by  his Savior, and the cloud of witnesses before him.  Well done, good and faithful servant.

Grace & Peace
PLW

Legacy

Ever think about your legacy? What, who or how do you want to be remembered? Is that even important?

If all I am remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job at the rest of my life. (Isaiah Thomas, NBA)

Fancy bring remembered around the world for the invention of a mouse. (Walt Disney) 

Who really gives a damn about being remembered?  That's really for amateurs (Gore Vidal)

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.  Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.  Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.  You are already naked.  There is no reason not to follow your heart. (Steve Jobs @ Stanford University, 2005) 

Timothy Keller in his book, Every Good Endeavor writes this:

Christians should be aware of this revolutionary understanding of the purpose of their work in the world. We are not to choose jobs and conduct our work to fulfill ourselves and accrue power, for being called by God to do something is empowering enough. We are to see work as a way of service to God and our neighbor, and so we should both choose and conduct our work in accordance with that purpose. The question regarding our choice of work is no longer, “What will make me the most money and give me the most status?” The question must now be “How with my existing abilities and opportunities, can I be of greatest service to other people, knowing what I do of God’s will and of human need?”

Luke 9:23-25 says this:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

I Thessalonians 1:3

Remembering before our God and Father, your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ

Understanding that we are called to a profession, job, marketplace by God is significant.  Embrace God's calling and work as unto the Lord.  Let that be your legacy.

Grace & Peace.

PLW