College Union

Football is a big thing on our campus. We lose a football game, and one would think North Korea had tested their bomb in our county. We have a friend whose son is a red shirt freshman on the football team. Don’t worry if you don’t fully understand these terms, they matter to those in the middle of it but not far beyond. He offered my son and me tickets to the game that are given to family members or friends. We accepted, because we knew it would be fun to sit among family of the team. A few hours before the Saturday game I got another message from a current student inviting us to sit in her family’s box seat. Now you probably know that in the big stadiums they have private boxes that are like sitting in the press box. Very nice places I will say with food, air conditioning, comfortable seats and so much more. I turned down the box seats to go with the previous invitation but…

For the next few hours I ask myself, why was it tempting to go for the box seat? It even got more in my head when the seats we did receive were right next to the student section. Students stand the whole game and that is really no fun. But even more thought comes as I notice the students next to me are from a fraternity that had a member nearly die from a car surfing accident the weekend before. I did a program for their pledges a few weeks before and wonder about how little impact I had made. And my brain will really not stop when I see one of our active students hugging on another in a very intimate way. Oh those box seats, they sure would have been good.

And to get me really going, the sun is beating down on us. A little sunburn and sweat, that my friend is a blessing! The game gets boring, and our friend’s son does not get to play! Remember that air conditioning! But then every thing turns. My son is having a great time. Our friend, the father of the player, is laughing. The cheerleaders have several funny mishaps that get everyone laughing and no one hurt. The drink vendor makes a case for diet coke being better for you than water. Several marching band members we know go by, and we enjoy talking about knowing them when they could not keep time much less march. Why are things turning?

We all know that it is critical to notice. We all know that we are hedonistic in our core. We all know that life goes by really fast. I really relearned some important things that Saturday. Life that day was not about the game for me. I almost developed an attitude that blocked me from noticing what mattered. A father near me so wished his son could get on the field and play. My son did not care about what we may have missed. He enjoyed what he had. And I remembered to pray for a student that was still in guarded condition at the hospital. And I prayed for a fraternity that seemed to be hurting.

Football is still really exciting. We won the game that day, but I won even more.

Grace and Peace,

David Goolsby
David is the Director of the Auburn Wesley Foundation

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