Praying for the Enemy
What it is peoples,
Hey hey…hope that everyone is having a great week, and I’m ready to bless you guys with this blog called ‘Praying for the Enemy’. It’s a special one to me, and it’s really a story of transcendation…just looking at basic situations and seeing how life trumps itself on a lot of levels. First off, just wanted to ask your continued prayers for those who send love to the BLOG, who send their prayers to the blog, and certainly those that continue to be affected by the rampant natural disasters going on right now. Two scriptures for you cats to look at:
(7) And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? (8) And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. (9) But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. (10) Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: (11) And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
--Luke 21:7-11
Now that may get the attention of a lot of you...because Luke 22 is a trill, yes, trill chapter. Everyone needs to peep it out in its entirety. That being said, this is why there are TWO scriptures for you guys to look at:
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
--2 Tim. 1:7
Whew. Everybody breathe easy now. Well, let’s get to it:
------Praying for the Enemy------
The final score was 28-20, Westside. That being said, the final score wasn’t important, the time on the clock wasn’t important. What was important to me was….well, let me catch you up.
The Thoroughbreds faced off against Westside High School (Rams) this Friday night, and the home T-Breds were ready to battle against one of the best teams in South Carolina. The T-Breds were led by sophomore quarterback Calvin Fuller, a talented young man with a compassionate spirit woven together with youthful exuberance. This in combination with the speed of a cheetah is what makes him the story.
The first time I met Calvin, he was the player of the week for our local paper. I met him right after practice, and the first thing you meet before you meet the dude is his smile. I say that because in my profession, I meet so many people without personality, and it’s just interesting that his personality would get there before he did. Fun-loving guy, and it’s easy for his teammates to rally around him. I could tell he never really done any interviews, but still, there was something about him that was special. Special, like in 10 years, Nike might be interviewing his high school coach to do one of their spots.
That’s who he reminds me of, a young Mike Vick. For you football heads, South Aiken runs the power option, and he’s a perfect fit, truly a dual threat on any given Friday. So to have seen this guy in practice, to see the majestic Calvin run with, like, and for…well, the Thoroughbreds, it was a surprise to see this…
It was about the third quarter, and SA had the ball. Calvin got the rock, had to check down and started running. SA was at home, so the crowd revved up in anticipation for a big run, and rightfully so. Calvin ran towards the right sideline, where he was tackled after he got about six yards. Normally Cal would just jump up, ready to get the first down on the next play.
But that was the thing…you see, Calvin didn’t get up. He just laid there…and I’m a living testimony to the fact that when the sounds of thousands of people screaming and yelling for their respective teams is replaced by a collective silence, there is a BIG vacuum. In that vacuum is relevance. It makes the game seem trite by comparison, and all we really care about is whether someone, in this case Cal, is fine or not. In my case, it was the excitement in my belly being replaced by the emptiest, sickest feeling in the world. In my militant mind, I was reading the irony of it…to see a gifted, talented runner, a horse if you will, laying there helplessly, not being able to run, no longer an asset to bigger business. And what do they do with a horse that can’t run?!?!?!?
We waited until Calvin’s coach, Dan Pippin, came out to the field to help out his QB. Rightfully so, I mean, a lot of players see coach more than they see their own families. So when Pippin and a trainer carried Cal off the field, it was one thing to cheer, but another just to see how the family would deal with it.
I couldn’t really concentrate during the rest of the game, which the home team would eventually lose…all I was really worrying about was talking to Cal.
I got to talk to the coaches after the game, immediately asking Pippin about Cal’s status and whether he was fine. He said Cal would be ok, and that he should be ready to go.
About this Pippin guy though. He always looks at me with this clever grin, he too being aware of what’s going on around him. Everytime we talk, there are so many factors at play. Aside from the coach-media relationship, he knows something about me that the rest of his players don’t know. Four years prior, I graduated from Aiken High School, which happens to be a rival high school just across town. It’s funny, because just four years ago, I would’ve been ecstatic to hear that South Aiken’s star QB had gone down with an injury, all the better for my hometown Hornets!!! Point of relevance has come though, no doubt…
So now out of the corner of my eye I see the limping Cal, who is flanked by two young ladies, much like in a split back formation. So I go over to Cal, and per usual, the smile says ‘what’s up’ first. I go over to Cal, and the first thing I do…what my instincts tell me to do…
Is pray.
I go over to Cal, put a hand on him, and prayed with him. Apparently prayer served to shed the young ladies, so it’s hard not to call them…well, they might not be groupies. Just Cal fans. A lot of us are. But I prayed with him, and I hoped the best for him…I hoped that he would be at full strength, not just for his team, but to be a testimony, to ultimately be an example for the community of perseverance. That his play be a microcosm of what he really represents, an ambitious young man with the imagination of a child, and the determination of someone 20 years his senior.
Now, if Cal beats my Hornets…I might be a little peeved. But there is the joy and the excitement that comes with Fridays. Covering these young athletes is something else…you can see the love of the game, and just seeing different teams on a weekly basis is a lot like seeing different cultures…it enlightens the most seasoned of life-livers and life-givers. But yeah, this Blog is for my, for my…
For my young athletes…
Cal, Ash’s kid sis Whitney…she my lil’ sis too, all the dudes that play for AHS…just e’rebody…trust, I understand the game and what makes it beautifully human, perfectly imperfect…take care and keep making them get out their seat!!!!!
------Praying for the Enemy------
The Good Doctor
Oh yeah, I want to hear from you guys about the top 50 songs from the artists I talked about in a previous blog, and man, this is for my folks trying to make it…if you busy all the time, and you need a boost, send some love to the BLOG, just saying that you trying to make ends meet, and we’ll send the love back. Trust me, I know I’m trying to make it on this end, and I know it gets tough. But ‘Pac says keep your head up. I do as well. Take care.
P.S. Blue, Ebony, Baby Dee and Charmin all got b-days from Oct. 12 through the 14th...happy birthday to all my beautiful birthday ladies, no doubt...
Hey hey…hope that everyone is having a great week, and I’m ready to bless you guys with this blog called ‘Praying for the Enemy’. It’s a special one to me, and it’s really a story of transcendation…just looking at basic situations and seeing how life trumps itself on a lot of levels. First off, just wanted to ask your continued prayers for those who send love to the BLOG, who send their prayers to the blog, and certainly those that continue to be affected by the rampant natural disasters going on right now. Two scriptures for you cats to look at:
(7) And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? (8) And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. (9) But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. (10) Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: (11) And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
--Luke 21:7-11
Now that may get the attention of a lot of you...because Luke 22 is a trill, yes, trill chapter. Everyone needs to peep it out in its entirety. That being said, this is why there are TWO scriptures for you guys to look at:
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
--2 Tim. 1:7
Whew. Everybody breathe easy now. Well, let’s get to it:
------Praying for the Enemy------
The final score was 28-20, Westside. That being said, the final score wasn’t important, the time on the clock wasn’t important. What was important to me was….well, let me catch you up.
The Thoroughbreds faced off against Westside High School (Rams) this Friday night, and the home T-Breds were ready to battle against one of the best teams in South Carolina. The T-Breds were led by sophomore quarterback Calvin Fuller, a talented young man with a compassionate spirit woven together with youthful exuberance. This in combination with the speed of a cheetah is what makes him the story.
The first time I met Calvin, he was the player of the week for our local paper. I met him right after practice, and the first thing you meet before you meet the dude is his smile. I say that because in my profession, I meet so many people without personality, and it’s just interesting that his personality would get there before he did. Fun-loving guy, and it’s easy for his teammates to rally around him. I could tell he never really done any interviews, but still, there was something about him that was special. Special, like in 10 years, Nike might be interviewing his high school coach to do one of their spots.
That’s who he reminds me of, a young Mike Vick. For you football heads, South Aiken runs the power option, and he’s a perfect fit, truly a dual threat on any given Friday. So to have seen this guy in practice, to see the majestic Calvin run with, like, and for…well, the Thoroughbreds, it was a surprise to see this…
It was about the third quarter, and SA had the ball. Calvin got the rock, had to check down and started running. SA was at home, so the crowd revved up in anticipation for a big run, and rightfully so. Calvin ran towards the right sideline, where he was tackled after he got about six yards. Normally Cal would just jump up, ready to get the first down on the next play.
But that was the thing…you see, Calvin didn’t get up. He just laid there…and I’m a living testimony to the fact that when the sounds of thousands of people screaming and yelling for their respective teams is replaced by a collective silence, there is a BIG vacuum. In that vacuum is relevance. It makes the game seem trite by comparison, and all we really care about is whether someone, in this case Cal, is fine or not. In my case, it was the excitement in my belly being replaced by the emptiest, sickest feeling in the world. In my militant mind, I was reading the irony of it…to see a gifted, talented runner, a horse if you will, laying there helplessly, not being able to run, no longer an asset to bigger business. And what do they do with a horse that can’t run?!?!?!?
We waited until Calvin’s coach, Dan Pippin, came out to the field to help out his QB. Rightfully so, I mean, a lot of players see coach more than they see their own families. So when Pippin and a trainer carried Cal off the field, it was one thing to cheer, but another just to see how the family would deal with it.
I couldn’t really concentrate during the rest of the game, which the home team would eventually lose…all I was really worrying about was talking to Cal.
I got to talk to the coaches after the game, immediately asking Pippin about Cal’s status and whether he was fine. He said Cal would be ok, and that he should be ready to go.
About this Pippin guy though. He always looks at me with this clever grin, he too being aware of what’s going on around him. Everytime we talk, there are so many factors at play. Aside from the coach-media relationship, he knows something about me that the rest of his players don’t know. Four years prior, I graduated from Aiken High School, which happens to be a rival high school just across town. It’s funny, because just four years ago, I would’ve been ecstatic to hear that South Aiken’s star QB had gone down with an injury, all the better for my hometown Hornets!!! Point of relevance has come though, no doubt…
So now out of the corner of my eye I see the limping Cal, who is flanked by two young ladies, much like in a split back formation. So I go over to Cal, and per usual, the smile says ‘what’s up’ first. I go over to Cal, and the first thing I do…what my instincts tell me to do…
Is pray.
I go over to Cal, put a hand on him, and prayed with him. Apparently prayer served to shed the young ladies, so it’s hard not to call them…well, they might not be groupies. Just Cal fans. A lot of us are. But I prayed with him, and I hoped the best for him…I hoped that he would be at full strength, not just for his team, but to be a testimony, to ultimately be an example for the community of perseverance. That his play be a microcosm of what he really represents, an ambitious young man with the imagination of a child, and the determination of someone 20 years his senior.
Now, if Cal beats my Hornets…I might be a little peeved. But there is the joy and the excitement that comes with Fridays. Covering these young athletes is something else…you can see the love of the game, and just seeing different teams on a weekly basis is a lot like seeing different cultures…it enlightens the most seasoned of life-livers and life-givers. But yeah, this Blog is for my, for my…
For my young athletes…
Cal, Ash’s kid sis Whitney…she my lil’ sis too, all the dudes that play for AHS…just e’rebody…trust, I understand the game and what makes it beautifully human, perfectly imperfect…take care and keep making them get out their seat!!!!!
------Praying for the Enemy------
The Good Doctor
Oh yeah, I want to hear from you guys about the top 50 songs from the artists I talked about in a previous blog, and man, this is for my folks trying to make it…if you busy all the time, and you need a boost, send some love to the BLOG, just saying that you trying to make ends meet, and we’ll send the love back. Trust me, I know I’m trying to make it on this end, and I know it gets tough. But ‘Pac says keep your head up. I do as well. Take care.
P.S. Blue, Ebony, Baby Dee and Charmin all got b-days from Oct. 12 through the 14th...happy birthday to all my beautiful birthday ladies, no doubt...
posted by The Good Doctor at 12:49 AM
3 Comments:
On topic, this was an excellent read, on so many levels.
Off topic:
"So now out of the corner of my eye I see the limping Cal, who is flanked by two young ladies, much like in a split back formation…(man that was deep, I hope ya’ll see it)"
boooooooooooooooooo.
Of all the things you could self-promote, this snipet was not it. :D It's aight though.
I like it..it left me thinking about how all sports, not just football, are just small things compared to the people that play them. Each life on a football field, basketball court, golf course,etc. has the potential to give glory to GOD...
Editor's Note:
Thanks Iceman. And yes, it was corny...it was written early, early in the morning. I made the change accordingly... Thanks for the love from e'rybody, and Lil' Sis', I love ya much...take care now,
K. J. Makin
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