It Matters
How can Christians being sacrificed to lions, politicians running for office, and pickleball games possibly be connected?
I recently played in a pickleball tournament. The participants were senior women from a neighboring community, all (supposedly) of a similar skill ranking, in this case, 2.25-2.99. That number means nothing to you if you haven’t jumped on the PB bandwagon, but the numbers go up in varying degrees to level 6+ where exceptionally skilled players dwell.
The outcome of each best of five games (there were four courts in play) were all the same score – 3 to 0 favoring the visiting team. The same results held true the first time we played this group a few weeks ago. The realization that the winners had misrepresented their skill level (polite way to say, they lied) was obvious.
It’s only a game, right? It’s pickleball for goodness’ sake. Well, it matters.
Integrity matters on the court and integrity matters in life.
The other day, I spoke with a good friend on the phone. We were originally business associates in Los Angeles until we both moved on, me to the Northwest, her to Virginia. We usually talk about movies, or our dogs, or what we’re cooking for dinner, but I had been watching the Democratic Convention with interest and I was curious about her opinion. (Full disclosure: I always watch the conventions, have since I was a little girl, I suppose because my father got me started.)
Her response? “What does it matter who wins? They’re all the same.”
We had visited her home in Virginia back when Trump was running for President in 2016, and I was surprised her husband wore a Trump hat. I asked him, “As a black man, how can you support him?” As I recall, he said something to the effect of liking his “business sense.”
Jump ahead four years to our phone call. I said, “I’ve always liked Harris” and her response again was “What does it matter? They’re all the same.” End of discussion.
It’s blatantly obvious to anyone paying attention that, particularly in this presidential election, they’re not the same, not in my mind and heart.
Years ago, my family attended the neighborhood Presbyterian church and we had some lively discussions around the Sunday dinner table. I remember as a youngster asking my parents, “When the Romans were throwing the Christians to the lions, why didn’t the Christians lie and save themselves? Just say they weren’t Christians?”
My dad was pretty cool and probably said something like, “If you don’t have integrity, if you aren’t honest with yourself, you have nothing.” Of course, I’m paraphrasing, but that sense of integrity stayed with me.
I know that this particular My 3 Cents has made giant leaps with my train of thought. How can I seriously compare pickleball to presidential elections or to Christians being fed to lions? Well, I can because it all matters.
How sad for my friend to think that all politicians are the same, so, what does it matter? How pathetic that people think it’s OK to lie about athletic abilities just so they can say they won? How sad that we don’t take the time to learn from one another and talk to one another. Shouldn’t we, no matter what the cost, stand up for our beliefs?
‘Cause you know what? Integrity matters. It always matters.