Idiot Decisions

I will apologize to anyone who does not like sports.  Some of the examples and stories come from my experience of the sports’ world.  It is probably obvious I don’t spend as much time in the arts as I probably should or want to do.  I am lucky that my university has a very good Conservatory of Music and a magnificent Theater program.  I avail myself of that talent, but maybe I don’t know how to use or elicit things as well from that world.  I will admit that I don’t read a music page in the paper every morning like I do the sports page on a daily basis.

Thus again, today’s story comes from another professional athlete.  In this case the helper in my tale is the quarterback for the local professional football team.  He is in his fourth year with our local club, which is actually having a pretty good season.  This contrasts with disastrous seasons in recent memory.  

The only good thing about a terrible season is you get to pick first in the system that makes college students available to professional teams.  Using that perk allowed my team to pick this guy first of all.  He had a stellar college career and, of course, everyone was ecstatic when he was chosen and would don the local colors of the team.  However, teams are lousy for reasons beyond one player.  What that means is one player seldom makes much difference.  And so it was for our golden boy.  

In fact, the team did not win a game early in his career.  And he played like someone who had played rugby in college.  It was clear he knew what he was doing, but too often what he was doing was not clear why he did it.  He was a mistake machine, but this simply mimicked other players on the team.  One year this was matched by a rookie coach who clearly was in over his head.  Things went from bad to worse.  It was difficult to discern the difference between hope and illusion!

People wondered whether our young pigskin savior would ever make it?  Would he be one more on the list of folks who came, did poorly and vanished?  This one might be different.  He is getting better.  He has now a coach who knows what he is doing.  And the team has amassed a better group of players.  And surprise, the team is doing better.  Our golden boy is showing signs of the talent and pizzaz that charmed all in the beginning.  You can tell he is gaining experience and maturing.  Championships are not in our immediate future, but there is legitimate hope.

So what has happened?  After a recent win, our quarterback was interviewed.  Most of the comments were the typical football gobbledygook.  There was nothing memorable.  If Jesus used theological language this way, there would be no New Testament!  But then, something came out of his mouth that made sense.  And suddenly, I realized while he meant nothing spiritual by it, it was a spiritual gem.  I had to use it.

Our golden boy was asked why he thought he was playing better and was reducing his mistakes by such a huge margin.  He paused, was thoughtful and then answered.  “Whenever I am about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’  And if they would, then I don’t do that.”  That is simple, profound and applicable to so much more than football.  Don’t be stupid and don’t act stupidly!  If we all could pull off this way of living, what a great world we would have.  I think that is exactly what Jesus managed to do.  Jesus was never stupid!

Stupidity is being or acting ignorantly.  It can also mean uneducated.  Sometimes it means rude or crude.  The times I have been stupid have often been times I could not claim ignorance.  I knew I should not do something---and I did it anyway.  I realize for myself, this is a key reason why I want to be spiritual and live a spiritual life.  I see that as the most meaningful way to spend life. 

To be spiritual means to come to see, as one contemporary writer puts it.  So much of our living is spent in illusion.  It has to do with how we spend time---think social media or watching junk on tv and the like.  It has to do with how we do things---think smoking, getting no exercise, paying no attention to diet, etc.  It has to do with acting for the wrong reasons---think acting selfishly or imprudently.  

Maybe we ought to borrow a page from our quarterback’s playbook and be willing to ask ourselves, “Would an idiot do that?”  Our golden boy thinks (rightly, I believe) that in most instances, we will know the real answer to that question.  If what I am about to do is what an idiot would do, then don’t do it.  That is so simple, but profound.  If I go ahead and do it, then I am an idiot.  I don’t care if you IQ is 150!

If you want to see how I might apply this to Jesus or the spirituality, think about the temptations Jesus experienced in his time in the desert following his baptism.  He was tempted to be stupid.  He resisted.  And maybe that is the rub.  Not to do something stupid is usually a matter of will.  Perhaps we don’t have enough will to avoid being stupid.  That is a very different problem.

I now have a short-hand way of talking to myself.  Don’t make idiot decisions!