“NOTHING BUT NET!”
With March Madness at our doorstep and on many TV screens, I thought I’d consider what I like most about watching the playoffs. It’s not the brackets, though I make sure I find one so Joe and Joey can have fun filling it out! It’s not the hours these games will be played, although we love the excitement and fun they provide! I do love, however, when a player scores with “Nothing but Net!”
What that means is the player shoots the ball into the hoop without the ball touching the rim or backboard….touching only the net! It’s a clean “swish” basket that the player just made. When you see it, it’s quite remarkable. It’s even more special and remarkable when it’s a 3-pointer! AND what’s even BETTER? When the buzzer goes off, while the ball is in play for a 3 pointer, and it’s NOTHING BUT NET and it’s the winning score! You HAVE to get excited about that one!
We’d all like for life to be like this – all the time: being at the top of our game, making every point count, and moving at lightning speed in a forward motion…and all is good; all is going our way! Life is on our side!
Real life isn’t like that. We find ourselves panting – just trying to run the court and hang on to the ball; not always happy for the advancements of others….forget making points – we just don’t want our opponents to grab the ball, run, and score! We want to win, making those exciting 3 pointers with “nothing but net” – but perhaps we’re not meant to!
In real life, in the madness of the moment when life gets crazy, just like on the court, we have to play as a team (in marriage, work, and ministry related settings, on committees, and in families).
We have to be OK with others:
- Getting the swisher while we might be sitting the bench
- Achieving their best, sometimes putting ourselves out of the game for the betterment of the whole
- Needing the cold cup of water only we can serve even though we’d rather be playing
- Being in the limelight while we cheer them on to victory
- Winning the title
Each of these actions is a part of the whole team experience and each fills a spot. Using our gifts and talents to the very best of our God-given abilities makes it all work together. You’ll never find me on the basketball court, but you will find me cheering my family and friends on to victory in whatever they’re doing….even if I have to sit the bench to do so. I won’t be making any 3 pointers, but some meals I’ve made for others have gotten applause when their day just couldn’t have handled another moment to make their family a meal. And I’ve had others serve me or stick up for me at just the right time….even as the buzzer is sounding and I think there is no win in sight.
And in some small way, I think all those things count for “nothing but net” in caring for someone else in the court of life.