You may not know this but for a number of years, we had a very famous person on our campus. Charlie Ward was our WCS high school football coach and this entry, from October 24, 2011, is about him.
Last Thursday in my Gospels classes, we were discussing the return of Jesus to his hometown of Nazareth and his Sabbath visit to the synagogue. The Savior was handed a scroll and he found this passage from Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
I made the point that this prophecy he read while standing defined the ministry of Jesus. I then gave my students a name or two of people who work at our school and asked them to define that person in one word. In my sixth period class, I asked Micah Green to define Coach Ward in one word. His answer: "Humble." Five minutes later, Kenneth Okwuonu, who shares my room as a Bible teacher and works with Coach Ward in football, walked into my classroom looking for some papers. I asked Kenneth the same question that I had asked Micah about Coach Ward. Without hesitation and without hearing the sophomore's answer, Kenneth replied, "Humble." Two for two is a pretty good percentage and to me, enough of a meaningful sample to make it significantly accurate.
If you don't know much about Westbury Christian School, you might not know that our only famous employee is Coach Ward. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that in my senior year of high school basketball in Nebraska, I was named one of the Players of the Week for the state by the Omaha World Herald for a seven day period in December.) You see, Coach Ward is Charlie Ward who is renowned not only for a ten year career in the National Basketball Association but also for winning the 1993 Heisman Trophy as quarterback of the Florida State Seminoles. Even casual sports fans know his name. And yet, one of the best things I can say about Charlie Ward is that our kids know he never makes a big deal of himself. I'm afraid it might be different if it were me. When I graduated from college, I had every intention of pursuing my doctorate simply so I could add the title 'Dr.' in front of my name. I asked one of my classes today to name the Bible character who was called the most humble man on the face of the earth. It took about fifteen tries and some clues before we came up with the correct answer of Moses. (Numbers 12) Moses had a pretty good job resume'- saw a burning bush, turned the Nile into blood, overthrew the most powerful man in the world, parted the Red Sea, and led the children of Israel for forty years and the scriptures praise his humility. WOW! Moses and Coach Ward; pretty good company...and Moses never even won the Heisman!
Applicable quote of the day:
"If I only had a little humility, I would be perfect."
Ted Turner
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
1 comment:
That's good stuff Coach. From 1986 to 1990 you taught me many things! One concept that I have held close to my heart was to be unselfish. To me, this is a reminder that the game, my life, my walk, IS NOT ABOUT ME!! I NEVER DESERVE THE GLORY....IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM!! Thank you for being a true example of unselfishness! I still admire you to this day! God bless you Coach!
Marcee Malone-Gordon
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