My Personal TOUCHDOWN!

When I was in 9th grade in the old Antioch Junior High School (long gone now) we had gym class every day. We suited up in our grey shorts and tee shirts (gym uniform – everybody wore the same thing) and went out on the playing fields to do whatever our gym instructors wanted us to do.

This particular day, it was flag football. Team captains were chosen, and they chose their team members. I was usually chosen just about dead last and sometimes I was assigned by the gym teacher to a team (humiliation) because at 5’8” and 140 pounds, everybody thought I was useless.

The game went on for nearly the whole gym period, except for the ten minutes needed to shower and get dressed. Toward the end of gym period, a bell would sound to call us to the locker room.

With only a few minutes left, we huddled up and I got my usual assignment – CORNELIUS, GO LONG! (all the useless kids got the same assignment every play) I did as instructed, and when I looked over my shoulder, the ball was coming to me! Nobody was within 10 or 15 yards of me! I was wide open! If I could catch the ball, I could score my only touchdown of the year!

I watched the ball come very nicely over my left shoulder and it settled into my grasp like a baby in its mother’s arms. I had visions of glory and congratulations being heaped on me. At that instant, the bell ending the period sounded! I kept running as hard as I could and crossed the goal line ignored by everyone but me. No score. But I have always, in my own heart of hearts, considered that catch and run a TOUCHDOWN!

I suppose that in the eternities, my personal touchdown will not matter much. I guess we never can know when the final bell will sound for any of us. The real purpose of our lives is to be prepared (as much as we can, with our imperfections and pride) when it does sound. Meditation 17 by John Donne says the following in part:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
…

Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

In medieval England,, it was common to sound the church bells when someone in the village died. Donne was just recovering from a near-fatal illness when he penned those words, so perhaps he can be forgiven for being a little depressed. Certainly, the bell tolls for all of us sooner or later, but worrying about “when” is counterproductive and even debilitating. It seems to me that it’s far better to be concerned about how we live our lives than how we die. George Santayana said:

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

Enjoying the interval can consist of recognizing the worth of the small things in our lives. George Bernanos, French novelist and essayist, Points out the worth of small things:

Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like the meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but together perfume the air."

I think that each of us has some personal, perhaps even private, little thing or things that we cherish as a bright little jewel in our lives that we can take out and enjoy from time to time, and then put it back in the little place in our hearts where we store such treasures for safe keeping. In fact, I have never shared the story of my personal touchdown with anyone except recently, when I told my wife and wrote it into my personal history. And now you know it too.

I finally shared it with each of you because each of us is “a part of the main.” None of us can avoid touching others for good or bad in some ways. Each of us must be concerned about the impressions we leave; the influence we have on others. I share this story to illustrate that while my personal touchdown is important to me, it may or may not be so to others, but I share it with the hope of touching someone for good.

The touchdown itself means little. The fact that I was in the right place (go long, Cornelius) at the right time may mean much more. I was obedient. I followed instructions (many times). I did as I was asked. My reward was a long-cherished moment. If we are willing to follow the instructions given us as the “Great Plan of the Eternal God” (Alma 34:9), often our efforts will seem small and not immediately obvious to others, but we see them, and the Lord sees them.

Sometimes, it seems that prayers are not immediately answered, but patience is a necessary component of our sojourn. I don’t remember ever asking the Lord for help in gym class, but my personal touchdown is a type of the “waiting on the Lord” that we must sometimes do. Things happen on His time – not ours. The Lord would test us and try us. Sometimes we feel some futility as we seek help from the Lord for various earthly concerns in our lives and there is no ready response. John H. Groberg, in his book, The Fire of Faith says:

Sometimes we might think … that no one ever notices, or that our efforts are not important; but the fact is that in everything we do we are but practicing for our symphony. God has composed it and will masterfully conduct it, but we must play it.

Our symphony is spoken of in a little different way by J. Spencer Kinard, in his book, A Moment’s Pause,” in an essay titled, The Light of Christ:”

The good work of God is a sweet work. It is the work for which we were born. It is a work designed to help us be better than the world, a work that makes the world better because of us and the good we do. We know this; in the marrow of our bones, we feel this; and we are drawn to it by all that we love and by all of those who love us.

I “went long” many, many times before I caught that ball. But endurance is the real key to success in this life. The Lord expects us to endure – even requires it – 1 Nephi 22:31:

Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day. And thus it is. Amen.

It is my personal belief that it is the little, wonderful, even magical things that can help us along the long path of endurance. Indeed, they can even make the path enjoyable. A baby’s gurgling laughter, the wildflowers in the meadow, graduation from High school, missionary service, a gentle touch, a firm handshake, a small compliment, forgiveness, the sweet touch of the Holy Ghost, all these and many other such can make life worthwhile. James F. McBride is an American writer and musician. Below is his feeling about living his life:

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming..."Wow! What a ride!"

It seems to me that the Lord would wish for us to be used up in the gospel and full of appreciation for the wonders of mortality that can be enjoyed and endured in no other milieu than this life. May we all enjoy the interval and the beautiful little things along the way is my prayer for each of us. An unknown philosopher offered this last bit of advice:

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.