The Final Score Didn’t Matter
A couple of weeks ago, I went with our son, our daughter-in-law, their son, and one of his friends to see The Harlem Globetrotters. From time to time during the “game” (performance actually), I watched the two young boys sitting right in front of me. The younger boy looked to be about six or seven years old and his older brother could not have been much older than that.
If I am correct about the age of the younger boy, I never got to see The Harlem Globetrotters when I was his age – not even on television. The reason for that is that my family did not have a television set then. My parents couldn’t afford one. Once my dad got a “deal” on a damaged television set, I did get to see from time to time what I had heard other people talking about – in glorious black and white (no color tv for many years).
Back then, I wondered what it would be like to get to see The Globetrotters in person. I was certain that the experience would be almost magical. I could only try to imagine what it might be like to see Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, and the others do things with a basketball that seemed almost impossible. Along with that, they were able to make comedy a large part of the experience. I would have given almost anything to get to see what those young boys in front of me saw when I was their age.
The experience I had the other evening was not the first time I have seen The Globetrotters since I have been an adult, but I think that it is the first time I remember watching them with somebody about seven decades younger than me sitting in front of me.
As I watched the action on the floor, I was thinking about how much funnier I thought that Meadowlark Lemon was than the current “funny man” (whose name I don’t even remember). I also thought about how Curly Neal could show this young woman (what’s that all about?) more than a thing or two about fancy dribbling.
As I watched the young boys in front of me, though, I saw the same expressions I can imagine that I would have had if I had been able to experience what they were experiencing. For the record, I doubt that I would have had exactly the same experience. I don’t think that my dad would have or could have bought a special Globetrotters basketball for me like this father did for each of his sons.
Now that I have had some time to reflect on that night and my initial thoughts about it, I have realized something else. I began to remember people who were older than me letting me know that, in their opinions, The Harlem Globetrotters I saw were not nearly as good or as entertaining as the team (cast) they remembered which included Goose Tatum, Marques Haynes, and some others.
I guess that there is nothing unusual about different generations seeing things differently. Seemingly, this is true in just about every walk of life. We can even read about this in the Bible.
For example, I’m thinking of the differences in the advice that Rehoboam received from two generations of advisors (1 Kings 12). You may also remember how different generations reacted when they saw the foundation for the second temple (Ezra 3).
At the same time, I’m also thinking about a beautiful prophecy written by Zechariah:
…Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem,
each one with staff in his hand because of great age.
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls
playing in its streets (Zech. 8:4-5).
This post is not about basketball. Neither is it about the interpretation of biblical prophecy. It is really just about how people with differences in backgrounds, perspectives, generations, races, etc. can and should live together in harmony. That is more easily accomplished when we realize that there is something more important than our differences.
That night in Murray, Kentucky was not about me trying to find differences between those two boys and me. Those boys may think that the best thing that happened that night had to do with what took place on the court and/or the basketballs they took home. I hope that, by the time they are my age (or way before that), they will realize what I realize.
The final score didn’t matter. I don’t even remember what it was and don’t really care that I don’t remember. As you probably are already aware, those games/performances are “rigged” anyway. (One clue to that should have been when the public address announcer referred to what we were getting ready to see as a show.)
What I do remember about that evening is that I got to spend some time and share some experiences with people who mean a great deal to me. To be honest, I have my doubts about those boys realizing that at their age.
In my opinion, maturity is not all about age. It is also about understanding the true value of the things in our lives.
I’m not sure if the statement is original with Dr. Gordon Livingston, but I think that he was onto something when he used the following as a part of the title of a book he wrote:
Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
