cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
Sudden Death (Overtime)
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Talk to any avid hockey fan about what makes the playoffs so thrilling and you'll likely hear a variety of answers. Although the fan base is pretty evenly distributed around these parts between the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Detroit Red Wings (yours truly is a Leafs' fan!), most would agree that the tempo of the game seems to take a quantum leap once the regular season ends. One of the reasons for this, in my humble estimation, is that no game will end in a tie. Each contest will feature a winner and a loser. One goes to the dressing room elated; the other has the wind taken out of their sails. The reason for this scenario can be summed up in just 3 words: sudden death overtime.Years of watching Hockey Night in Canada with my dad while growing up gave instilled in me a fondness for Canada's great pastime. Nevertheless, the meaning of the term "sudden death overtime" somehow eluded me. It was not until a number of years later that the term finally held meaning for me. The teams continue playing extra periods of hockey until someone scores and breaks the tie. One team skates off with a win, the other with a loss. It's as simple as that. In a day and age where we've dumbed down the whole concept of winning and losing, content rather to declare everyone a winner, the sudden death scenario brings competition back to life.
Please don't send me any angry e-mails about fairness and keeping feelings from being hurt. No, in the game of hockey, as in life, there is a winner and there is a loser. Ties are what you wear around your neck! It's simply "win or go home." Mark my words, you can milk a lot out of victory, but you learn more from losing. I have a couple of first-place ribbons from track races run in the twelfth grade. They were bought and paid for by an entire season, the ninth grade, of losing. I'm not talking photo finishes, either. My losing was of the "dead last" variety. When the winners of my races were sipping champagne, I was in another area code trying to finish the race. Losing so much in grade nine made me more determined than ever to win. I would be ready next year!
Now for something completely different (but strikingly similar!). I got a call from one of our local funeral directors recently. As it turned out, a very nice man died quite suddenly. There was no early warning sign, no bedside vigil to get oneself ready, no final good-byes. This man experienced sudden death. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 that "it has been appointed unto man to face death, and after that, the judgement." Decisions to follow or reject Christ while one is living determine the outcome of sudden death: going to heaven a winner, or going to hell a loser. The choice is yours. The news of this person's death gave me the opportunity to think again about the things that matter most to me in life. I thank God for my family and friends, my vocation, my home and other valuables. But most of all, I thank God that I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That makes me a winner, regardless of when sudden death comes. How about you?
