Words to ponder

One of my birthday gifts was a book by former football head coach Tony Dungy called “Quiet Strength.”  I am really enjoying reading through this book – and I would like to recommend it to you. 

As a football fan, I am enjoying Coach Dungy recount the highs and the lows of his football career.  For instance, Bronco fans will remember, with sadness, the year that the Steelers defeated the Broncos 34-17 in the AFC Championship game.  They eventually defeated the Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl 40.  It’s interesting to note that the team the Steelers had to beat to get to that championship game against Denver was the Colts.  The Colts were 14-2 that year, but they lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds to the Steelers 21-18. 

The interesting historical context of that year (a fact that I didn’t know until I read "Quiet Strength") was this was the year that Tony Dungy’s son, Jaime, died a tragic death.  I remember watching that Steelers-Colts game.  I was rooting for the Steelers because I thought the Broncos had the better chance of beating them.  Knowing more about the trial that Coach Dungy was going through that year, I am very sad that his football team had to lose in the playoffs, and that they had to lose in such a heartbreaking way.

Having spent a lot of time talking about football in this particular blog installment already, I must admit that “Quiet Strength” is not all about football.  Tony Dungy, if you didn’t know, is a strong Christian.  Just from a cursory reading, one can tell how important his Christian faith is to him.  It was a happy day when his Colts won Super Bowl 41, but Tony Dungy – in my opinion – is a success even if his team had never won a Super Bowl.

I’ve written all that I have to this point so that I can relay this one sentence from his book (this blog turned out longer than I thought it would).  In chapter 11, a chapter entitled “Defining Success” he asks the reader a penetrating question: “Are other people’s lives better because we lived?”  This question really made me evaluate my own life afresh.  Can I claim that other people’s lives are better simply because I lived?  I hope the answer is yes.  I’m certainly striving to live a life that impacts others in a positive, God-honoring way.  How about you?  Can you claim that other people’s lives are better simply because you lived?

Kevin