Towards the end of last week, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage presented me with a rather fascinating proposition. My attitude in life has always been, when she speaks I will at least listen.

I want you to know I am not easily propositioned. I am very suspicious of anything that has the appearance of being good for me. I do not believe everything I hear or see. I guess I am just a skeptic.

A telemarketer recently called with the news that the government had randomly chosen my name to receive $8400. If this was the government calling me, it would not be to give me $8400 but to solicit $8400 in taxes.

Like my father used to say, “Son, there ain’t no free lunches.” He was right.

So when my wife propositioned me, I was rather skeptical.

“How would you like to go with us to the kid’s basketball game on Friday night?”

So, I thought to myself, where is the catch? Somewhere along the line in this proposition is a catch. Now, where was it?

As it turned out, there was no catch and I did not even have to drive to the game. To make the proposition even more appealing, my granddaughter was to play in this basketball game. So, with a great deal of enthusiasm I accepted this passionate proposition and prepared myself for a wonderful evening.

I have not been to a basketball game since the Harlem Globetrotters played in the Hersheyarena in HersheyPennsylvania. My favorite player was Meadowlark Lemon.

I was off to the little kid’s basketball game anticipating an enjoyable evening.

We finally got to the right place where my granddaughter and her teammates were playing basketball.

I am not complaining, but it has been a long time since I sat in bleachers. I had forgotten how narrow they really are when you set on them. I am not sure who invented bleachers like this, but I am positive they never sat on one during a game. I could only get half of my posterior on the bleacher at any one time. The trick of the game for the evening was appropriately rotating my posterior.

Getting settled, I noticed some activity out on the floor. First off, one little girl was refusing to play. Come to find out she did not like the team, she was on, particularly the shirts they were wearing, and wanted to play on the other team because she liked their shirt better.

After 20 minutes of negotiating the little girl won and was put on the other team.

I turned to my wife and ask, “When will the game began?” I thought it a rather innocent question.

She looked at me, laughed and said, “Silly boy, it started 20 minutes ago.”

“Who is winning and what is the score?”

I was informed that in these games, they do not keep score and nobody wins. I thought I would not resume anymore questioning on this subject. I just went back to rotating my posterior and trying to watch the game.

I noticed one little girl (why do little girls do this?) was dancing all by herself ignoring the rest of her teammates. I do not know what basketball has to do with dancing, but she was enjoying herself and I was enjoying watching her enjoy herself.

I noticed all of the shirts on each team had the same number. The only difference between the two teams was one side wore blue on the other side wore white. It would not be appropriate, so it was explained to me, for the children to have different numbers.

Then the coach blew his whistle and announced they would have a bathroom break. All those who needed to go to the bathroom should go at this particular time.

Nobody went and in a moment or two, the game resumed with the whistle-blowing coach.

Within five minutes, three on one side and two on the other side came up missing. When the coach inquired as to where these kids were he was told that they had all gone to the bathroom. Furthermore, he was told that he planted the idea in their head and so it was not their fault.

As I watched the activity on the floor, I realized the Harlem Globetrotters had nothing on these miniature basketball players. One trademark activity in a Harlem Globetrotter game is in the middle of the game they would begin playing baseball with the basketball.

Something like that happened out on the floor as I was watching. It was not baseball, and I am sure it was not basketball, at least the kind I am familiar with. What it was, was anybody’s guess.

What it was, so I came to find out, was just plain old fun.

As I sat there rotating my posterior, I was thinking about how competitive our world has really become. People will do anything and everything just to win a game. Sometimes it is good just to quiet down, relax and enjoy the surroundings.

I wonder if that is what Davidhad in mind when he wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).

When we step out of the world of competition and quiet ourselves a bit, we begin to appreciate the reality, especially the reality in Jesus Christ.