Legacy – more than winning

Legacy is the gift we pass on to others. Joe Paterno, head football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years (at Penn State for 61 years), gave fans, alums, players and the game a gift of power and success. He was recently named winningest coach EVER  in college football’s prestigious Division I. In November 2011, one of Penn State’s long-time assistant coaches was arrested and charged with child sexual abuse for an incident a decade ago. Coach Paterno was subsequently fired.

Joe Paterno died last Sunday, January 22, 2012, of lung cancer at the age of 85.  The Washington Post ran an article that reported a last interview with Paterno, as he attempted to explain his lack of action in reporting the sexual abuse when he discovered it. “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid I might do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was”, he said. (Oregonian Editorial, Jan 23, 2012)

Have you ever wondered how weird our faith seems to this world? When sharing his vision for the kingdom of God, Jesus told parables about losing stuff, not winning the championship. The loss isn’t the end, but just the beginning. There is a search, with some sense of urgency, then a big party is thrown when it’s found (Luke 15 – sheep, coin, pearl).

Richard Rohr, in his wonderful book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life says this, “Life, as the biblical tradition makes clear, is both loss and renewal, death and resurrection, chaos and healing at the same time; life seems to be a collision of opposites… Truth is not always about pragmatic problem solving and making things “work,” but about reconciling contradictions.”

Rohr reminds us, seemingly countless times in this book, that it’s not IF we lose/fall/fail/falter but WHEN we do. It’s part of our DNA as human beings.  And it is the key that unlocks the kingdom of God.

No disrespect to Coach Paterno, but maybe the best legacy we can pass along is the ability to hold in tension the  contradictions of life;  grow from our suffering, heal from our brokenness, rise from our disasters.  And maybe that will empower us to risk doing the things we need to do.

Peace – Bill