What can we learn from Penn State?

Yesterday Joe Paterno was fired by the Board of Trustees at Penn State University, having been the head football coach for 46 years.  JoePa leaves with more victories than any Division I football coach in the history of college football, but his departure has left college sports fans across the country wishing things could have been different, not only for Coach Paterno, but especially for the many innocent boys (many are now men) who were victimized by a former Penn State assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.

Having been a coach for my entire adult life, the definition of success occasionally rises to the surface in conversations with others as well as in self-reflection.  Success on the athletic field is something that is rewarding and fun, and victories very often used as a measuring stick of success.  But after the victories, what does one really have?  Are the victories and championships worth the price that was paid in State College, PA?

Coach Paterno is 84 years old and has been a symbol for doing things the right way in college sports, and even though we still don't know the whole story, it seems that one terrible decision (the choice to keep quiet), which seemingly was made by Paterno and several others every day for the past 10-12 years, has erased so much of the good that he has done.

I have often said to my own kids as well as to my athletes over the years, that before you do something, if you aren't sure if it is right, then just don't do it.  In the circumstances at Penn State, I guess we could say that if you think you should do it, just do it.

Most of us, certainly myself included, have done some things that we eventually wished we didn't do.  Some of us, including myself again, have neglected to do something and then in retrospect wish we would have done it.  When we fail at something, it doesn't make us failures.  It's when we don't admit our mistakes and failings that we become failures.  Skeletons are much heavier than they would appear.  We can all lighten our loads by removing them.

Tomorrow is a new day, no matter what happened today or yesterday.  As long as we keep our closets clean, we can be present and enjoy each moment of tomorrow with a lighter burden than we might otherwise have to carry.

Strength in God's Love

Earlier this evening I want to a visitation at a local funeral home.  Tomorrow is a funeral for a young man who died before reaching 30 years old.  As is usual when somebody that young dies, I was shocked when I heard the news over the weekend.  I admit that I cried a bit when I first heard the news, then again today at the funeral home.  I really don't cry very often anymore, but to think of the pain of the family members and close friends, not to mention the pain and turmoil that I suspect led to this unfortunate death, I was indeed brought to tears.

This young man was a wonderful and always smiling kid.  He was from a beautiful Catholic family; one brother is a Catholic priest.  I can't claim to have known any of them real well, though I did know John and his parents through church.  As a matter of fact, John was in my religious ed class back when he was in 8th and 9th grades.  He and his parents have always been more friendly to me than I could expect them to be, and I suspect they were like that with everybody.  I shared big hugs with his parents, and of course, I had no idea if anything I would say would be the right things to say.  I can only imagine their grief.  His mom did say to me that they know that John is finally with God and that John is giving them the strength they need to deal with their loss.

When I got home and was eating dinner, an ESPN show told me the story of former football player Randall Cunningham and the loss of his two year old son to an accidental death.  Cunningham is now a minister, and he said that he thanked God for the 2 1/2  years that he and his wife were able to spend with their son, whose name was Christian.  God gave Randall Cunningham the strength and love to have such a wonderful perspective.

I know God gives us all the strength we need to deal with everything that life brings us, but strength of heart certainly cannot be measured until we really need it.  I pray that God can continue to help bring peace to the hearts of all the lonely people, the people who lose their loved ones, to those who wonder why they suffer, and to those who doubt their own value.  Our Lord did put us on this earth together with others, so that we can share His love and thus multiply our strength in the comfort and support of each other.