Playing Footy in Life
Just recently, the local Yeppoon AFL team, the Swans, made history. With their Grand Final win, they achieved the longest winning streak of any Australian rules team in history. It was five years in the making. That’s a lot of games, 89 in all. Even more training sessions, times away from family, times with family watching, support from family, friends and community, playing in all sorts of weather, training when one didn’t feel like it. It took a lot of different people in diverse roles. As they played their football, in games and in training, they weren’t really working for that record, they were enjoying their game, even when they didn’t feel like it. And how often they must have felt like missing training.
This is like parenting. There are so many little things that build our families, and quite often, they can seem unimportant in the big scheme of things, especially when we are out of sorts. But they aren’t. Good strong lifelong bonds are made of the small daily services. And in the making of a family, it is never one person. All sorts of people in all sorts of ways can and do contribute the ‘success’ of our family life.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus calls on us to take up our cross daily. Our daily crosses are rarely big and dramatic, and are frequently boring. But they are the way that leads to life. In family life, we can sometimes feel that it is a long time between ‘wins’ and when we do get one, we need to savour it long. And then get up the next day, pick up the cross and start again.
Loving Father, there are times when I find parenting tough. Send me your wise Spirit to guide my heart and mind, that I might truly have the strength to build up my family in love. I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me.
Sr Kym Harris osb