PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

December 29, 2021

LEAVING THINGS BETTER THAN YOU FOUND THEM

Thursday, December 27, 2018, Duke University beat Temple University 56 to 27 in the Walk-on’s Independence Bowl at Shreveport, LA.  Duke was playing in their sixth bowl game since David Cutcliffe became the head coach on December 14, 2007.  Before his arrival Duke had not been in a bowl game for thirteen years.

The announcers for the game shared something of Coach David’s philosophy and history.  He completed turned around Duke’s football fortunes.  He had coached six quarterbacks who went on to play in the NFL: Heath Shuler, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Erik Ainge, Thaddeus Lewis and Sean Renfree. Since his time at Duke, Cutcliffe has been approached by other schools to become its coach.

.               One of the announcers mentioned that a key to understanding the coach was something his mother told him.  When he and his siblings would come in from playing she would ask if they left things better than they found it.  Over his coaching career David has applied his mother’s advice.  Everyone would agree that the Duke football program now is much better than the one David found when he arrived in 2007.

The opening chapters of the Book of Genesis make it clear that God has created men and women to take care of the creation which the Lord has made.  As Paul points out in his letter to the Romans when people do not do a good job of caring for this world it groans under the weight of the consequences of human sin.  Implicit in the Lord’s commission to Adam and Eve is that they will leave the garden in better shape than they found it.

There are many levels at which all of us can leave things better than we found them.  When I was a Boy Scout one of the last things we would do when leaving a camping site was to patrol the grounds to make sure we had done everything to pick up our trash and to ensure the place was better than we found it.  All of us can put David Cutcliffe’s advice into practice by making sure we are a good Scout by patrolling the places we find ourselves on a daily basis when we leave them.

We can all strive to make the community in which we live a better place.  This can be done by striving to always be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.  A simple way to do this is to not litter and to take the time to pick up other person’s litter when we notice it.  We can also involve ourselves in community projects and organizations that help to build social capital.  Following the Golden Rule always improves the quality of life.

There are many ways that one can measure a person’s life.  Perhaps one of the best things that could be said about a person at the time of his or her death is that they left the world a better place then what they found.  Some do this in dramatic and very public ways.  Others do it in tranquil and quiet ways.  Very often the measure is taken by how the person affected and influenced the lives of others.

As you are thinking about your New Year’s resolution you might consider striving to make your world a better place.  You could begin with your immediate relationships and location.