au

'One catch'

With the Cricket Ashes series upon us in the 'old dart' between Australia and England, it is difficult not to reflect on memorable cricket related lessons. One such cricket incident details retired Australian opening batsman John Dyson, the current West Indies Cricket Team coach.

John Dyson has often remarked that his whole career has been consistently summarised by one 'out of this world' catch in the outfield.

Wickipedia refers to it as the 'catch of the century' at the SCG in the Australia v West Indies Test Match on 5 January 1982, when Dyson caught Sylvester Clarke out, by taking the catch in the outfield, over his head, at a 45 degree angle to the ground, while running backwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dyson

Joanne Brokaw who writes entertainment and current events for publications across the US, writing about 'Michael Jackson' shortly after his death, asked this question:

"How is it that entire lives return again and again to one or two moments in history? One bad decision, one great success, and a person's entire life is reduced to one brief snapshot in time.

"Do we have a choice in how we're remembered, in the footprint that we leave behind? And if we do, are we conscious of those choices as we live our daily lives."

http://www.examiner.com/Rochester

Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson, a Baptist minister says that this is the nature of life, and moreover the Bible itself is full of such type-casting. For example:

  • Eve taking the fruit of the Tree of Life.
  • Cain murdering his brother Abel.
  • Enoch walking with God.
  • Noah building the Ark.
  • Moses dividing the Red Sea.
  • Gideon and his 300 men.
  • David killing Goliath.
  • Nehemiah rebuilding the Wall.
  • John the Baptist baptising Jesus.
  • Andrew bringing people to Jesus.
  • Peter's denial of Jesus
  • Saul (who became Paul) on the road to Damascus.

    • "Joanne Brokaw asked some questions that are pertinent to all our lives," MV Tronson muses.

    There are two additional areas to address, M V Tronson noted. First, we probably do not have a choice as to what deeds or serendipitous events we will be remembered for.

    What is important, he said, is that our lives present an honourable following of the Lord and sometimes, making a singular 'prophetic' choice over some situation will completely overarch everything else we have engaged. It might relate to family, a friendship, a business decision, a moral choice, whatever ….

    "Second, the Bible stories and Jesus' parables, point us to ways that we can consciously reflect, as to consequences or otherwise, and how they affect for our daily lives here and now and what impact they might have for posterity," M V Tronson explained.