My Star Wars Confession

So call me strange, out of touch, sheltered or whatever you want, but up until about three weeks ago, I had never seen a single episode of Star Wars!  The primary reason I never watched a single episode of Star Wars was that I had no clue what it was about and from my perspective,  it looked weird and made absolutely not sense.  So when my fourteen year old son recently watched all of the episodes with his cousin, he borrowed his cousins DVD's and asked if I wanted to watch with him.  I did what every great father does and told him, "absolutely-NOT!"   After several days of his persistent pleading, I finally gave in and told him I would watch ONE of the movies.

Honestly, I only agreed just to let him know that I loved him enough to sit down with him to watch something I had no interest in at all. ( I figured it couldn't be worse than watching Titanic with my wife!)  He tried to explain the idea of how the episode was everything that happened at the end of all of the episodes, or something to that effect.  I was more confused at that point and almost told him to forget it!

To make a long story short, I started watching with him and lo and behold, it actually made a little bit of sense.  Of course after watching, I had to find out what happened in the next movie and of course the next as well!  Over the course of a few weeks, we ended up watching maybe five movies.  Sure enough, my complete and utter confusion had been transformed into a mild case of confusion!

Once we finished all of the episodes and Darth Vader met his demise, a thought hit me that became the main point of this blog.  As I mentioned before, the reason I never watched was because I didn't understand the point of Star Wars.  It made me think about how we have a tendency to avoid people or things that we do not understand.  We don't hang out with people of other races because we don't understand them.  We shout down those who vote differently instead of trying to understand why it is that they think and vote differently.  We refuse to worship with others because how they worship looks or seems foreign to us.  We don't try new foods because it looks weird compared to what we are used to.  On and on the vicious cycle of ignorance goes.  How many experiences have we missed out on because it is easier to avoid something than it is to embrace it and draw a conclusion following the experience?  How much more enriched would our life be if we took a little time to view things or individuals from another perspective?

The first episode of Star Wars came out in 1977.  I was six years old.  Almost 40 years later I finally have a better understanding of something I never had any desire to understand.  I let my guard down and tried something new and I find myself in a position where I am kind of anxious for the 2017 release of Episode VIII.  Make no mistake, I'm still a little confused, and I won't be waiting outside the theater in a Darth Vader suit for days before the premier, but I look forward to sitting down with my son again and watching the next episode-once it comes out at Redbox of course!

I hope you enjoyed reading!  Here another post I wrote in the past if you want a little bit more! Where is Your Happiest Place On Earth?

Life Lessons From a Football Practice

This past weekend we attended a scrimmage for the Fresno State Football team.  Following the practice,  the fans were allowed onto the field to meet the players and coaches.  My son wanted to wait and meet the quarterback of the team, Chason Virgil.  The field quickly cleared out, but Chason was still running sprints with another player from the team.  After about  thirty minutes,  it finally looked like they were finished any my son would get his picture.

Chason slowly made his way across the field, but he wasn't walking.  He and his teammate were on the ground rolling towards us from the far north end zone.  It took about ten more minutes, but eventually they made it across the field and finished about ten yards past the south end zone.  For those who aren't familiar with football, the field is 100 yards long, so they rolled approximately 115 yards!  It was barely audible, but as they came closer you could hear one say, "I throw interceptions" and the other, "I turn the ball over" each time they rolled over. It became very apparent they were paying the price for their mistakes during the practice.

By the time they finished there was only about five people left in the stadium as everyone else had escaped the brutal heat of a typical Fresno summer.  I told Chason that I felt bad asking after what he had just endured, but my son wanted to take a picture with him.  He responded politely, "no problem!"  After giving him a few minutes to gulp a sports drink and rest, we got our pictures and headed on our way.

 There were several things I took away from this experience.

1.  It makes no difference if we are the quarterback of the team or an employee in the office, even the best of us make mistakes-and our mistakes always have consequences.

2.  Too often we only see athletes and musicians at their best, but we don't see the hours of preparation that is required.  Most Bulldog fans will see Chason tossing touchdown passes or scrambling for long runs under the bright lights on Saturday nights, but hardly anyone witnessed what we saw that day.  The games will look easy because of all the hard work done behind the scenes.

3.  Sometimes we will face pain and punishment all alone. Sometimes others are suffering and we leave them alone.   The rest of the team had already left for the cold showers while their teammates were rolling across the field in the heat.  We should be there for the ups and the downs.

4.  We don't always look like what we have been through.   After enduring all the extra work he had to put in, Chason put a big smile on his face and took a great picture with my kids.  The picture shows a young man who appears to have no worries and certainly doesn't indicate the extreme discomfort he was undoubtedly feeling.

I hope Chason Virgil has an incredible career at Fresno State and beyond.  Regardless of what the future holds for him, I know he has at least three life long fans-me and my sons.  I know they will never forget seeing him roll across the ground and then gladly take a picture with them.  Someone did a good job raising him and I can only pray that my kids are as considerate and gracious as this young man showed himself to be.

Thanks for reading!