The Second Half!!

The Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than in the beginning. Job 42:12

Last year was a rough time for football fans! The stadiums were empty except for cardboard cut outs of fans, there were no marching bands, and people were relegated to at home football celebrations! It was like silence spread across the land of the football faithful.

This year when the red and black (substitute other colors here) run onto the field between the hedges, (substitute other places here) there will again be the roar of the crowd, the striking up of the band, and the traffic nightmare of fans racing to cheer their team on once more.

In the world of sports announcers, there has never been a more beloved voice of the Bulldogs than Larry Munson. During the years of Munson, even if we attended the game in person, we carried a radio in order to hear him call the game. Many times, his commentary was more exciting than the game itself!!

There are many calls of his which are legendary, but in honor of the upcoming Clemson game on Saturday, it’s fitting to remember his call of the 1984 game. The game was tied 23-23 with Georgia on the Clemson 44 yard line and 11 seconds left. When Georgia’s offense stalled, Kevin Butler came in to attempt a field goal. Larry’s call went like this: “This kick is a hundred thousand miles!” Then, as the kick cleared the goalpost, “Oh my God! Eleven seconds! I can’t believe what he did!” Munson always believed the second half was the most important, and he loved to give credit to the players and coaches. In his words, “Now there’s no sense in going away because you know it’s not going to end like this”.

This game and many others were won or lost in the second half. Basically, coaches have two speeches they can give in the locker room at halftime – one if their team is winning and the other if they are losing. If they are winning, coaches talk about forgetting the first half and pretending the score is 0-0 when they come out for the second half. Coaches are quick to remind their players that the game isn’t over until the last buzzer has sounded, the last play has been run, or the last tackle has been made. If the team is losing, the coaches have to analyze the game and decide why? Is it mental mistakes or are we just being outplayed?

I tell this story to show that no matter where we are in this game of life, we can win this in the second half! Many people feel that they have somehow outlived their usefulness later in life; however, if we are still here, the game of life isn’t over for us! We have a lot of life left to live and a lot left to do!

Richard Rohr says that the first half of our lives is focused on our ambitions, plans, competitiveness, and looking after ourselves and our families. The second half seems to be a lot about undoing what was accomplished in the first half in order to help us get a deeper understanding of what’s really important.

It’s almost like the first half of our lives we are building a vessel to hold all the things on which we need to focus in the second half. The first half of life doesn’t have to determine the outcome of the game.

Everyone can look back over their lives and see mistakes, disappointments, and failures. Life can be cruel and sometimes deal us a harsh blow here or there. The good news is that there is a second half for all of us. The final whistle hasn’t blown, and it’s never too late for God to pick us up and carry us straight to the plan He has for us. God always looks at our future not our past.

Just like a coach in the locker room at halftime, God encourages us with words like, “You can win, I am with you, I believe in you, and don’t give up!” According to Head Coach Kevin Wright, the key words in the second half are intensity, focus, finish, resiliency, and playing as a team. Those words can apply to our everyday lives as well.

Whether our first half has been dominated by the good, the bad, or the ugly, God wants us to learn from it, not live in it. The second half is the best time to use the rest and assessment which the first half has presented us!

Let’s live our second half so when the final buzzer sounds, we will have no regrets. copied