What makes greatness?
It’s a simple question. Greatness. A seemingly simple word…yet it encompasses much more than its simplistic approach on life. Great is good. Great is great….but greatness carries a thundering command performance that must pack a punch or knock the ball out of the park, or win championships…or speaks to large crowds and people listen intently…and follow the lead, etc.
Greatness. To win or to lose. What is it about LeBron James and the Cavs? Lebron is more than greatness on the basketball court, he is amazement (Bill Simmons, ESPN). LeBron carries this ora with him….or to say it that his reputation precedes him. He is larger than life when he enters a room! He’s….LeBron! The Cavs lost last night. LeBron will be talked about in many ways over the next month or so. So will Brett Favre! Again – winning; losing; urgency? Is it urgent to win? My brother says yes. Is it defining if the end result is a loss? How so? If LeBron never wins a championship is it that he was never really as good as most of us think he is? Will this topic and this fundamental play out in little kids lives..kids like my sons’ lives – as they get older….the sense of urgency to win! Will it make them a better man? Will losing make them worse?
I know a man in our town; he’s perhaps the most successful business man in our community – you wouldn’t know it. He never flaunts his stuff. He will not ever come across as wealthy, connected, or ambitious. He is brilliant. He is shrewd in business. He has the mind of a machine and the humor of a late night talk show host! He told me one time about the team he was on in high school. They lost every game for at least one season if not more! Every game! Their team was the laughing stock. The TEAM itself…my friend says, never gave up. They were tempted to quit. Tempted to fight people over stupid comments. Tempted to hang their heads. My friend likes to list the men on that team. Every one of the “starters” of that senior year of his are now in business or community leadership! All of them. He says something more than winning and losing was happening that year. Well, they didn’t win…..but they did lose; or did they win something else? Urgency?
Don Miller talks about ‘story” and how a good story involves risk…..and how a story is “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it”.
My friend and his team mates overcame conflict. They tell good stories from the lives they’ve lived. I believe that LeBron James has a good story. Maybe I’m one of those caught in the turbines of his magnetic vibes that scream greatness….but I think it’s a safe bet to say that he is someone who really wants something (title?) and is overcoming (wishful thinking?) conflict to get it.
Do you have conflict in your life? Have you attempted to get over it or overcome such mess in your life? I sure have it. It is in the little stuff. It’s in the big stuff.
Winning – it’s a great thing. Losing is a tough thing. Seems like we all want to win…but maybe there is more than the W or L on a score card…maybe it’s about something deeper that lurks within. Or is it something that is underneath the urgent needs of victory…something that speaks of eternity. Something that carries its own set of urgencies. Something that begs a question of me and really of you, too – Do you want to get well?
Namely, Jesus. He’s asking. He delivers – He overcame conflict and His story is a good story – it’s The Good Story. It would be fun to tell you His Story.
Read one of the gospels in the Bible sometime if you like….Mathew, Mark, Luke, or John (books in the New Testament) – I like the book of John the best, myself.
We’ll camp out right there. Here’s to a tough loss….and here’s to a great win. Great does not give way to the depth and value and hope and immense infinite power of what I’m really saying here.
A great affection – Jesus Christ…
Blessings,
-ao
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