Courting Resilience
I’m most interested in hearing stories about people who will never reach the top.
As Wimbledon progressed, a couple of friends asked me if I’d seen particular matches. I hadn’t, mostly because it was later in the tournament and I tend to tune out by then.
I should back up and say I’m an avid tennis fan. But I don’t have many favorite players at the top of the game anymore. So I find myself rooting for underdogs or comeback players in the early rounds.
How far would former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova go? I don’t think anybody expects the 33-year-old to make a deep run at majors anymore. She was attacked in her apartment in 2016 during a home invasion and the man sliced her left hand open (she plays left-handed). She lost the feeling in two of her fingers on that hand. Yet she’s still competing (and she even won Miami earlier this year).
How far would former champion Andy Murray go? He’s had two hip surgeries and the 36-year-old may be in his final year of competition. He lost an epic second-round, five-set battle to the fifth seed and says he’s not sure if he’ll play again next year.
Then there was Christopher Eubanks. The 27-year-old had an eye on the television booth, perhaps thinking he’d be retired soon (he’d never finished a year ranked higher than 123rd). Then he started to turn things around and pushed into the top 50, finally winning a tournament in Spain right before Wimbledon. Watching his Wimbledon run was worth it. He knocked out the twelve and five seeds before losing in the quarterfinals.
Everybody has a story to tell, and at this stage of my life, I’m most interested in hearing stories about people who will never reach the top (or never reach it again). I want to hear about the way people find motivation to keep fighting when life is difficult. And I’m not just talking about tennis.
John Piper preached a sermon about the theology of suffering in which he reveals the names of many Christians he’s known over the years who have died from cancer. In the sermon, he speaks about genuine gospel hope in light of our bodies wasting away (2 Corinthians 4:16) when he says, “There is coming a day when every crutch will be carved up, and every wheelchair melted down into medallions of redemption.”
I want to be inspired by stories like this one of a college freshman who read Flannery O’Connor’s “The Violent Bear It Away” and found a fresh vision of God’s grace, even during moments of tragedy or cruelty.
I want to hear about how Bob Dylan’s song “Gotta Serve Somebody” caused a friend of mine to think about who he was serving and how the Lord used it to offer him clarity.
Wimbledon has crowned its new champions for 2023 (Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side and Markéta Vondroušová on the women’s side), but a year from now, only avid tennis fans will remember their victories. But we never forget the stories of people who touch our lives or change our perspectives.
July Spotlight
Our first loves, first experiences, and first favorites are sacred grounds.
They shape us in ways our second loves, second experiences, and second favorites do not, and cannot. We go into firsts with our eyes shut, without any reservation, because we don’t know any better, and our firsts become the measuring stick for every love, experience, and favorite afterward—when our eyes are fully open and we are more cautious.
If you enjoyed Common Grounds: Contemplations, Confessions, and (Unexpected) Connections from the Coffee Shop, then you’ll love this second dose of introspection that will take you back to a simpler time in your life.
Also, during July, all of my e-books are 25 percent off at Smashwords (click the banner below for the list):
I’ve got one more sale to tell you about. From July 20 through August 1, you can get 40 percent off the following essay books Common Grounds, Sacred Grounds and Higher Grounds exclusively at Kobo (in Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand).
Use Promo Code: 40JULY at checkout.
Here are some tidbits you might find interesting this week:
“Live deep instead of fast.” - Henry Canby
A few years ago, I shared an article I wrote titled Dad’s Six Rules. That’s why this article with the same theme caught my attention.
A few tips if you want to make new friends at church.
Here’s a fairly new website that allows you to browse for books by topic [Hat tip to Joy Neal Kidney for sharing this on her website].
When Lee isn’t writing essays, devotional books, or Christian fiction, he is a freelance editor, as well as a freelance journalist who has written hundreds of articles for various newspapers and magazines. He’s also a fan of NASCAR, baseball, tennis, books, movies and coffee shops.
I love this, Lee, partly bc I too am an avid tennis fan (and I loved Chris English’s story since he’s from my original hometown of Atlanta), but especially bc I believe that faith displayed in stories of suffering are fascinating.