"Living in Victory," Chapter 16

Copyright 2006, Terry F. Phillips Sr.

Chapter 16
I was sitting in my room, staring at the walls, moping over my friend’s death when Scott came and stood in the doorway.
“What are you doing? What’s going on?” he asked.
Scott was my friend from the seminary across town. He should have been the preaching minister at the Victory Christian Church, not me.
I briefly explained the situation to him, stumbling over my words, finding myself getting emotional in the process.
He listened intently but offered no suggestions.
“I mean, I’m sure I’ll do fine, but this …”
I heard my voice trail off, not wanting to finish the inevitable sentence: “I’m sure I’ll do fine, but this is not something I want to do.”
“I’m sure you will, too,” was all Scott offered.
“Any advice?”
“Yeah, let’s see if we can get a court.”
Scott and I played tennis as often as we could. That particular afternoon was sunny and warm. It carried all the promise of Spring.
I grabbed my racquet and we were off.
I was stiff and moved all wrong when we began playing. Scott was up on me by two points when I finally realized I was over-compensating, trying too hard. I lightened up and things went better.
Scott and I were fairly evenly matched and we ended up winning a game apiece when we called it quits.
We got back into his maroon Chevy and headed back toward my room. Scott was a newlywed and lived in an apartment across town from the seminary he attended.
“You really did better after you loosened up,” he said.
I looked at him and saw the smile on his face. He wiped some long hair away from his eyes as we pulled up to a red light.
“Is this something I should remember, O wise one?” I cracked.
“I just think we become our own worst enemies when we think life is all about us, even for a teeny bit,” he said. “Listen to me, grasshopper.”
Then we both laughed.
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” I said, grudgingly.
“Think of it like this,” he said, becoming more serious. “According to the Bible, who is the most important person in the world?”
“Gerald Ford?”
“Besides him,” Scott said.
“OK, OK. Let me think. How about God Almighty.”
“Good, grasshopper,” Scott said. “And, who else?”
“The Lord Jesus?”
“Right. Now, if you take your mind off God and Jesus, even for a little bit, what happens?”
“I quit praying.”
“Very good. And if you center attention on yourself …”
I thought for a quick moment.
“I take Jesus off the throne of my life.”
“Excellent, Grasshopper. That’s one thing worry does to you. It takes God off the throne of your life.”
We pulled up in front of the house where I lived and I got out.
“Ah, soo,” I said in a poor Chinese accent. “Honable grasshopper, much appreciate wise one’s words. Ah, soo, ah, soo.” And I backed away from the car, bowing as I did so.
Scott laughed at my and drove off.
But my antics cost me – I left my tennis racquet in his back seat.
The next day, I stopped by the seminary bookstore, found a Minister’s manual with suggest readings for funeral services and began planning my strategy.