Some weeks ago, CBS 60 Minutes had a segment interviewing Baltimore Ravens place kicker, Justin Tucker. He was on their interview list because Tucker has a 91% accuracy rate as a field goal kicker, is considered the best ever place kicker in the NFL, and has even managed to kick the longest field goal on record at 66 yards.
At the end of the interview Tucker was asked how he manages the stress of kicking field goals, particularly when winning the game depends on his making the field goal in the last seconds on the clock. Tucker responded by quoting the first lines of an old country western song by Bobby Bare. Tucker smiled and said, “Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goal posts of life.”
Tucker’s point was to indicate that his faith perspective and sense of God’s presence in his life is part of his emotional and spiritual strength in such pressured moments. The interview ended without any further comment.
I checked out the song Tucker was quoting. The lyrics – like so many lyrics in country/western music – are clear, plain, and memorable.
Dropkick me Jesus through the goal posts of life.
End over end, neither left or the right.
But straight through the heart of those righteous uprights.
The song goes on.
Make me, Lord make me better than I am.
Give me a part in your master game plan.
Spare me from all the tempestuousness here below.
I’ve got the will, Lord, if you’ve got the toe.
I think that there is a lot to be said and great advantage in the thought that somehow God “kicks” us through the uprights of life. I certainly find myself needing “kicked”. On my own I am too frequently shanking the kick. And, there are so many diversions in the “game plan” of life that any assurance that we are making any points is difficult to discover.
I am also finding that one of the great challenges of our times is that the goal posts of life that so many of us for so long understood as foundational to life seem to be changing. Or, in some cases, being torn down.
The goal posts of social stability, for instance are on the move. Truth telling as a basis for our commonwealth is more than rattled. We are not acknowledging the scoring of any reliable point makers. We live amidst charges of “fake news” and too often amidst evidence of claims made that are untrue yet accepted as fact.
The common good is hotly debated. The efficacy of vaccines and the science behind them, have been called into such question by folks committed to alternative news sources, commentators, and endless conspiracy promotion. There is no common acceptance of sources of information. The goal posts of truth are moving and have become a matter of “perspective”.
Our national game plan of democracy is under constant review by competing officials. It is reported that an attack on the capitol is thought to be “legitimate protest” by millions. And, game plans of democracy in other lands, particularly the tragedy of the Russian invasion of the struggling democracy of Ukraine, are under tangible assault. The goal posts are being moved.
How will we ever come to any agreement on how to “play the game” of life let alone how to score? It is just beyond comprehending.
How is it, for painful instance, that as we begin three years of a pandemic and its attendant suffering and death, we are hearing reports about the probable use of chemical and biological weapons as Russia responds to being “slowed” by unanticipated Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s military invasion? How do rational leaders OR THEIR MANY ENABLERS even contemplate such behavior and actions? Clearly, we are living in a dystopian world. What if Putin goes Nuclear? Whatever shall we do in response in the midst of such horrific possible realities?
Part of all the struggle for me in all of this is certainly being absolutely unable to do anything about the goal post removals or mobility ANYWHERE!!!! So, what is left for me to do? Perhaps you are asking a similar question.
Maybe Justin Tucker has an important reminder. Praying that Jesus dropkick me through the righteous uprights is a spiritually centering idea. But, then again, admittedly there are a great many alternative prayers to an alternative god reality being promoted all around us.
But this admitted, I have to believe that there are goal posts that do not change and have not changed. One of those goal posts is this. In any and all things the righteous uprights are that we love God with all our hearts, minds, and strength…and our neighbor as ourselves. That’s it! No more. No less. It is really hard. It is at least a 66 yard attempt so many times – particularly when the neighbor (or neighbors) is a complete jerk.
This is the revealed goal post truth of ancient teachings in Leviticus (19:18) celebrated by Hebrew – and even in Islam teaching on hospitality – and certainly the centerpiece of the way revealed by Jesus. (Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:27).
So, to be sure, in the midst of all the chaos that the world always experiences, it is essential that no matter how hard it is, at the core of meaningful living is the resolve to be playing on this foundational, spiritual gridiron. When the world makes less and less sense, such a foundational belief makes sense out of us. When I am more than confused and feeling unable to control my world, it makes sense out of me.
There is more.
Even when we can’t muster the spirit to play this game of life – PARTICULARLY THEN – like Justin Tucker we can pray/sing and otherwise cry out, Dropkick Me Jesus through the righteous goal posts of life. I’ve got the will, Lord. I know you have the toe.