Stand on Principle
This past Sunday after work I sat down to watch the Masters
wind down to finish. At first glance the event was all but won by this
seemingly inexperienced no name youth experiencing the glow of beginners
luck. Having traded in my sticks and
clear days for my Harley-Davidson Softail Standard I have lost touch with who’s
who of the PGA tour.
Drawn by the color and mystique and tradition of Augusta
National I found myself at first resistant to the hyperbole of the announcers
and their praises of the young tournament leader from Dallas, Texas. Twenty-one
years old and breaking all youth related scoring benchmarks I soon began to
experience a wonderment of how this young man was conducting himself. It
reached crescendo with his walk up the eighteenth fairway onto the final green
and the enormity of the event struck me as the cameras focused on his family
waiting with elation of what son and brother Jordan was accomplishing. This
witness via television was welled up with teary-eyed emotion as 21-year-old
Jordan Spieth sealed the deal with a short putt. And then I watch as Jordan
parted the sea of awe struck fans on his way to the Butler Cabin. It was Grace on display for the world to
see.
And that was not the end as shortly thereafter I watched a
60 Minutes expose on a life lived on firm Truth. This story was of Mike
Pressler a leader of young men not unlike Jordan Spieth. Mike Pressler is a
Lacrosse Coach - as a matter of fact the reigning National College Lacrosse
“Coach of the Year”. He was also the
head coach of the same Duke Lacrosse team that was falsely accused of gang rape
nine years ago. That case is perhaps
one of the greatest travesties of misjustice in my adult lifetime. Coach Pressler was the only Duke employee to
lose his job in the scandal that would see all team members exonerated. He lost
his job because he knew his players and believed them when none of the
authorities did. He refused to turn his back and distance himself from his
boys. He stood by them when the college community did not and for that loyalty
he lost his job. Mike Pressler was
loyal to his players but more he was loyal to the truth. He stood by his team.
He stood by his principles.
It took me till Monday afternoon and little help from Rush
Limbaugh to understand the significance of what I experienced from these two
stories. In the chaotic world that we live in - a world full of false premises
- Jordan Spieth and Mike Pressler were
beacons of light showing us that there is a still a lot of light in a dark
world. Thank God for that! Amen
For more on Mike:
For more on Jordan:
No comments:
Post a Comment