commentary
Rocky Mountain High Five
By Chris Carpenter
CBN.com Program Director
CBN.com - I rarely pick up the sports page these days. I have better things to do with my time. That is quite a statement considering that I lived and breathed sports as a youth, was a varsity athlete in high school and college, and made my living for a time as a television sports reporter. The fact of the matter is I have grown tired of reading about athletes being shot, bought, or riddled with some form of addiction. Here are just a few recent examples ripped from the sports pages:
- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick will likely go to prison for his role in an illegal dog fighting operation.
- NBA referee Tim Donaghy allegedly fixed the outcome of basketball games.
- All time home run champ Barry Bonds probably used performance enhancing drugs, a clear violation of the rules set forth by Major League Baseball.
- There are more Cincinnati Bengals players on the crime blotter than in the starting line-up.
I could go on and on but you get the picture. It seems the word “alleged” is a term used more commonly in sports than home run, touchdown, or slam dunk these days. Yet for all the negativity swirling around big time sports, my heart was warmed by a story involving the Colorado Rockies last week.
On Tuesday, Rockies players voted a full play-off share to the widow of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh, who was killed by a line drive this season while coaching first base for the Rockies minor league affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had only been with the Tulsa staff for three weeks when he was struck down.
The money will come in handy for Amanda Coolbaugh, who is expecting the couple’s third child within the next two weeks. When reached for comment by the Rocky Mountain News, Mrs. Coolbaugh said, “I’m completely shocked in a good way. I don’t even know the correct words to use. This would mean a lot to Mike, and it means a lot to our family.”
If the Rockies make it all the way to the World Series, Mrs. Coolbaugh’s play-off share could be worth more than $350,000. This money certainly cannot bring back her husband but it speaks volumes about a team doing the right thing.
Said Colorado manager Clint Hurdle, “It speaks to their awareness, speaks to their passion, speaks to every good thing about them.”
This type of gesture makes you think there is still hope for our sinking society.
When I hear stories like this I can’t help but think about my own sense of generosity. How have I gone out of my way to help someone in need? Do I think of others before myself? Or have I behaved in a manner lacking compassion? Did I turn my back on someone who truly needed my help?
From personal experience I can attest the aforementioned questions will have an incredibly sobering, gut wrenching effect on you if answered incorrectly. However, if you answer them the right way, your heart will overflow with warmth.
Allow me to illustrate.
On a recent Saturday, three friends and I piled into an SUV and headed three hours west to attend a major college football game. As these events generally go, the four of us had a great time in each other’s company, sharing laughter, a love for sports, and the common bond of Christian brotherhood.
On this particular day we stopped at a truck stop to refuel, use the bathroom, and stock up on junk food that we didn’t need.
Upon exiting the store, my friend Ronnie and I couldn’t help but notice a man entering who was wearing a neck halo, a medical device used to support a severely injured neck. We both remarked it was a bit strange to see someone wearing such a thing in public but continued on to the car. As we approached the vehicle we discovered that a pregnant looking young woman was waiting for us.
“Excuse me, excuse me,” she called out to us. “I desperately need your help. I don’t know if you saw the man wearing the halo but he is my husband. We are trying to get home to North Carolina from Rhode Island. We don’t have any money. I’m pregnant and as you can see, he is not well. Can you give us some money for gas?”
My initial reaction was to ignore her, get in the car, and hope she would just walk away. But a small voice inside me said, ‘give’. Without questioning my judgment, I reached in my pocket and gave her all the money that it contained. Ronnie followed my lead giving her the money he had in his hand.
I felt good about what I had done. Ronnie didn’t. He muttered the rest of the trip about how we were ‘scammed’, ‘taken to the cleaners’, and had fallen prey to a ‘rest stop robbery’. But somewhere deep in my heart I knew I did the right thing – if not for this couple, for me. I believe that scam or no scam God was showing me that I needed to be more benevolent. And you know what? Despite my friend’s persistent jousting, I knew I was serving God.
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Whenever I read this verse I think of lighthouses. Having grown up less than mile from a lighthouse on the Maine coast, I realize, perhaps better than the average person that a lighthouse stands tall and the visibility of its beam illuminates for miles to guide boats to safety and warn them of impending danger.*
Likewise, God is light. Life as we know it could not exist without light. Light serves as a symbol of spiritual illumination.
You may be asking yourself, how does this relate to me? It has everything to do with you. As believers in Jesus Christ, walking in the light of God and sharing our lives with others, we can illuminate even the darkest places. The Colorado Rockies are helping Amanda Coolbaugh illuminate a very dark time in her life. I would like to think I shined a little bit of light into a desperate situation at a truck stop.
As Christians, we should make every effort to perform good works for God’s glory. A life committed to God will give forth a steady flame of service, kindness, generosity, and goodness. As our light shines before others, God will be given the glory.*
It’s the right thing to do. Is your light shining?
* Portions contained within this article from
the Transformer Study Bible.
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