The Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Again!

Some of you that have been following my blog know I have already had a post with this title – last December. Well I am not talking about the Christmas Holidays, I am talking about football season! This week was the opening of the NCAA football season. I love watching college football and for the first time ever I have a grandson (Nathan) that is playing Peewee Football. He is ten and this is his first year playing. I never played football. Our high school in Indiana was so small we did not have a football team. Well we did but it was the real football, or soccer as they call it here in the U.S. None of my sons played football as youth or in high school they played soccer and other sports. I officiate soccer, basketball and lacrosse, but not football, but I love watching it. I could have titled today’s blog “football and life’s lessons”. No matter what sport you participate in, or live vicariously through your children and grandchildren, there are lessons that help us get through all kinds of challenges in life.

This week Nathan and I went to the season opening game with Utah State University and Southern Utah University. The game was not fundamentally pretty. There were basically only two plays USU had that were exciting. They blocked an extra point attempt by SUU and ran that back for two points. Then with three minutes to go in the game SUU punted to USU and they ran 88 yards for a touch down and USU beat SUU 12-9. The same day (Thursday) the University of Utah beat Michigan in their opener and yesterday BYU beat Nebraska with a Hail Mary pass with 1 second left on the clock for a touch down to win it.

Yesterday, I took my grandson to his football game and the game before his was still playing when I came up with my chair. A fellow was sitting there with his family. His grandson was playing in that game. The fans were complaining about the referees. I said to the fellow that I knew the referees and they were some of the best. Two of them had been officials for 30 or more years. He joked that they probably had been making the same mistakes for that long too. He then said he had played football for years and also officiated it. I said then you know that officials are human and make mistakes and that the players needed to learn that lesson and we should not expect perfect games from the referees anymore than we expect the kids to play perfect. One of the things I try to teach players when talking to them is that referees sometimes make calls that change the out come of the game, we don’t like that especially if it was a bad call. But how many plays did they fail to execute properly that put them in the position where that one call changed the game?

As I waited for the game to end and Nathan’s game to begin, I continued to talk to the fellow next to me. He said he played football in High School in Utah and played against Merlin Olsen who played for Logan High. Merlin was three years older than this guy and he said the Logan quarterback would just tuck in behind Merlin and no one could stop him. He also played at BYU and would play against USU and Merlin Olsen. He was fun to talk to as long as I kept him off the subject of the referee of his grandson’s game.

Nathan lost his game 27-0 this week and last week Logan lost 27-6. Their first game they won 12-6 in overtime. The players, coaches and parents were so excited for that win and they were optimistic for the season. Now with two consecutive losses the mood was much more solemn than when they won. It will be interesting to see how the coaches talk to the players in their next practice. Last week after their first loss, they said that the other team worked harder and were better prepared, that they needed to work harder to be better prepared for the game this week. That might have been true, maybe not. We don’t what the other team did, probably they were just better and that is the way it is, especially at this age.

In sports there will always be a winner and a loser. Some think that it should not be that way, that everyone should be winners. I am not sure if that is the right thing. While we need to be proud of the youth, win or lose, if they did their best. In life there are winners and losers and sometimes not everyone plays fair. In sports we have referees enforce the rules to keep the game fair for both teams. Probably the judicial system is what is closest to sports officials. Judges are there to enforce the law and keep things fair. But even that does not work all the time the way we like it. But how we deal with losing a game can help us understand how we can turn what we think is a losing situation in life into something positive. Picking ourselves up after losing and working harder to gain the skills to win will also help us work harder at school, at work, and get along with our neighbors.

When I have been refereeing games, I have seen coaches that get in the faces of their players when they make a mistake. Some even swear at the players. I don’t think yelling and swearing at 10-13 year olds will do much good to encourage them to work harder. In fact, I don’t thing yelling and swearing works on any age group. I don’t know why some coaches, especially youth coaches, think that those tactics are effective. I guess that is what their coaches did and so they think that is what they need to do. Or that yelling at players and getting in their face will get them fired up to do better. It usually has the opposite effect. As a referee I want to yell at the coach and tell him how stupid he is, but that would only make me look foolish as well.

When we got in the car yesterday after their loss, Nathan started complaining about the referees. He knows I am a referee, in fact many times when we are at basketball games he will tell me that I should be refereeing the game because I would do much better than those refs are doing. It is nice to see he still believes in his grandpa. So he started complaining about the referees on his game. I reminded him that they were my friends and that they were some of the best officials around. They knew what they were doing, they knew the rules. He and his coaches might not like some of their calls, but they were doing their best just like the players were. He said that he wished that I refereed football. I said if I did he and his coaches would be yelling at me. He said “probably”!

I hope that Nathan and his teammates learn to love football, love to work hard, love to win and learn to lose with graciousness and respect for the other team. It is heart breaking to see the coaches and fans yelling at the officials. What example is that setting for these young players. I do love the enthusiasm of the parents for their children and even after the loss yesterday, they formed a victory tunnel for the players to run through after the game. I remember one youth soccer game that I officiated after the game the parents of one of the winning team formed a victory tunnel for their players. The players of the other team saw it and they immediately ran over to the other side and ran through the tunnel. The parents cheered them on just as loudly as they did for their children. What a great example, what sportsmanship and kindness to the other team.

Not long ago, I read about a women’s college softball team where a batter hit the ball over the fence but as she was rounding first base she injured herself and could not go on. The first and second base players picked her up and carried her around the other bases to home plate. Had she not been able to get to all bases, her home run hit would not have counted. But the opponents also knew that she deserved the home run and helped her get there. That is true selflessness – true sportsmanship. Something I hope we all can learn to exemplify.

It is truly the most wonderful time of year, whether our favorite teams win or lose we can learn from both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Let the games begin.

Your comments and questions are welcome.

Angels to Watch Over You

One winter a few years ago my wife and I had to drive to Salt Lake City. It was a snowy day and we waited until the snow stopped to go. Finally, we left and as we traveled the snow packed roads there were many cars that slid off the road and were stranded. We finally made it to Salt Lake City and thought we were safe. As I was changing lanes I hit the slush that was between the lanes and we started spinning. There were cars on both sides of us and we could see the looks of terror as we started spinning in circles. I am not sure why things seem to be in slow motion at times like this but it was. We spun around several time crossing three lanes of traffic and just before hitting the guard rail in the middle, we started spinning back across the lanes in the other direction and finally came to rest just off the outside lane. We did not hit anyone or anything. The only thing wrong with the car was one of the hub caps broke off. We sat there a few minutes thinking of what we just went through. I turned to my wife and said, I think we ran over a lot of angels just now. I could imagine them pushing the other cars out of the way and keeping us as well as the others out of harm. We really felt blessed.

Have you ever felt the presence of guardian angels? I would be interested in your experiences. You can share them in the comment section below. The Lord has promised us:

I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88)

There have been other times that I have felt the presence of someone unseen with me. One time while I lay in a hospital bed with my family not knowing whether I would live or die, I woke up to the sound of someone calling my name, but no one was there. I felt the assurance that Heavenly Father was aware of me and that all would be well. Jeffrey R. Holland bore this witness of angels that watch over us:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.”  On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.” (“The Ministry of Angels”, Jeffrey R. Holland, General Conference, October 2008)

This past April Conference Elder Holland shared another example of someone that reached down and helped someone from death. He spoke of two brothers that were rock climbing and came to a ledge that they were not able to get around. The older brother was able to boost the younger one over the ledge to the top but he was not able to get over it. Exhausted he knew he had to try to jump to the top. If he was successful, he would live if not he would certainly fall to his death. He jumped with all the energy he had and grabbed for something to hold onto, but there was nothing. He knew he would not be able to hold on and death was coming. Suddenly two hands grabbed his, it was his little brother and he helped him to safety. Elder Holland said:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, today is Easter Sunday. Although we should always remember (we promise in our weekly sacramental prayers that we will), nevertheless this is the most sacred day of the year for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that reached into the abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our failings, from our sorrows and our sins. Against the background of this story reported by John and Jimmy’s family, I express my gratitude for the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge events in the divine plan of God that led up to and give meaning to “the love Jesus offers [us].” (“Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet”, Jeffrey R. Holland, General Conference, April 2015).

What a blessing it is to know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be saved from certain death. Our older brother reaches down through time to grasp us and lift us to everlasting life. The gift is not free, just as John had to use all his energy and attempt to jump to safety, so we must with all our might, mind and strength love the Lord and our Heavenly Father by keeping their commandments. Only then can the Savior’s loving grasp raise us up from our sins and pull us to safety.

Once we have been rescued we must also reach down and pull others up and out of sin and lives of selfishness. We become the Lord’s angels who reach out and protect others who are struggling and need our help. The Lord has asked us to leave the ninety and nine and go out and find the lost sheep and once we find them we must feed them and nourish them until they too are strong enough to reach out as guardian angels to rescue others.

Your questions and comments are welcome.

The Title of Liberty

During the month of July, the U.S. celebrated their independence and the right to govern themselves. The right to be governed by elected officials, both locally and nationally has worked for 239 years and has been the model for other countries that have changed from a monarchy style of government to a republic. In 1976 when the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, this republic style of government was not new to America. About 100 B.C. there was another group of people that lived here in America called the Nephites who ended 500 years of living under a monarchy style of government and changed to a government where the people elected their leaders.

Mosiah, the last Nephite king was the one who proposed the change in their style of government. With the people’s consent he helped establish the laws that they would live by. These laws were based on God’s commandments and were established by the voice of the people. Mosiah said that as long as the majority of the people chose to keep God’s commandments and the laws that they agreed upon that they would be a free people. He also warned them that if the time came that the majority of the people chose iniquity, that they would be visited with destruction (Mosiah 29:26-27).

For 25 years the people under this new government prospered, but then came an important test. There were a certain number of the local elected officials that sought for more power. There was one man who wanted to be made a king over all the land and he promised the others that sought for power that if they helped him become the king he would give them the power they wanted and they would rule with him.

Captain Moroni, the commander over all the Nephite armies, did not want this small group of individuals to the freedoms they enjoyed. He knew if this man would be made their king, he would destroy their church and other freedoms they loved. The scriptures account said Moroni rent his coat and fastened it to a pole, he called it the title of liberty. The account said:

And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took apiece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breast plate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments. (Alma 46:12-13, 20-21)

Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty

The majority of the people responded to Moroni’s call to action and their government was preserved, those who sought to destroy the government and their freedoms were defeated.

We are living in a similar situation today, where some of our most sacred freedoms are being threatened by a minority of individuals that seek the destruction of the basis upon which our government was established. Our form of government can only survive if we are willing to keep God’s commandments. The founding fathers of our country understood that this new republic would succeed only as long as we remained a righteous people. John Adams, the second president of this new country said:

[I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue.

[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. (WallBuilders.com)

Benjamin Franklin had this to say when those who had gathered at the constitutional convention to develop how our new country would be governed could not agree on the balance of the states rights vs the federal powers:

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service. (WallBuilders.com)

When Franklin left the building after the constitution was finally finished, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked “Well, Doctor, what have we got?” Franklin replied: “a republic, if you can keep it.”

How long we keep this republic will depend on how the majority of it’s citizens respond to the current attempts to weaken the constitution upon which our nation was founded. Just as the people at the time of Captain Moroni, we need to raise our titles of liberty in defense of “of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children”. We need to gather with all those who believe in these principles – all Christians and stand up in defense of those “unalienable rights” given us by God. We do this by electing individuals that understand that God’s commandments are supreme and we must live by and protect those laws and that we must not give in to those who seek to destroy or redefine the constitution.

Your comments and questions are welcome.