A priest happened to be going down the same road,
and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:31, NIV

Note: Over the last few days, the following conversation has been happening in my head – we’ll call the three characters Me, Myself and I. CLG

“You know,” Me noted, “everyone loves it when we somehow work a Clemson Tiger sporting event into our weekly devotional. We ought to go that direction, and we should talk about Sunday’s basketball game against Virginia.”

You’re right, that would be a good topic,” Myself spoke up.  “Can you remember watching a game like that?  What a heartbreaker.  I still can’t believe the Tigers found a way to lose that one!”
“Hey guys, have you been following this story about these parties on MLK day?” I, who had been keeping to himself in the corner, added.  “How could we NOT address this topic in the weekly devotional?”

“True, but last week’s devotional talked about MLK,” Myself said.  “Wouldn’t you agree that one devotional a year on the topic of our historical struggle with racism is enough? I mean, let’s not overdo this agape love and imago dei stuff.”

“And besides,” Me jumped in, “folks around here don’t want us to focus on the negative things.  The more we do that, the more people across the country will begin to think that our campus is like Duke’s - with their now infamous lacrosse team!”

“Yea, we should definitely write about the game,” Myself suggested.  “We can write about how the Tigers didn’t finish well, and how we as Christians must ‘finish well’ too.  You know…that ‘run the race with perseverance stuff’ from Hebrews and elsewhere.  I think that would really speak to folks, especially if we work Sunday’s game into it somehow as well. Besides, it’s a much safer way to go.”
Feeling like Me and Myself were teaming up on him, I sat quiet and pondered what he should say.  He knew that most of the readers of the devotional would not want to hear about MLK again or about anything that spoke negatively of Clemson.  But deep down, he knew that the issue of racism was a big problem at CU, in the Upstate and throughout the Deep South that he loved so much.  I kept asking himself, “What should I do…what should I do?”

“OK,” I finally spoke after a long period of silence.  “Let’s go with the Basketball angle.  I will do the Hebrews research.  Me, you take care of getting all the facts straight on the basketball game – score, key players, etc.  Myself, can you Google the words ‘perseverance’ and ‘finish’ to see if we can find a couple of good quotes to use.  And call Tim Bourret over at McFadden, I’ll bet you he’ll know of a good Frank Howard quote that would work as well.  You know, folks always love those Howard stories and quotes.”

With that, the three scurried off to their assigned tasks.  A few hours later, the devotional had been written and sent to over 4,000 folks across the country, many of them being diehard Clemson fans.  Within a few hours Me, Myself and I had received several notes of appreciation, words like “Thanks, that really spoke to me” and “I was there…and I still can’t believe that we lost!”  Everyone went about their day, oblivious to the struggle earlier that morning between Me, Myself and I.

Prayer:
Lord, forgive us for being like ostriches.
Lord, help us to see people like you see them – as people of infinite worth and dignity.
Lord, give us the courage to tend to the broken and wounded of our world.
Lord, empower us to confront evil, injustice and hatred wherever it exists, beginning in our own hearts and our own backyards.
Lord, transform our minds into the mind of your Son, Jesus Christ.

With grief,
Lane

Rev. Lane Glaze
Director, Clemson Wesley Foundation
Campus Minister, Clemson UMC
PO Box 1703, Clemson SC 29633
864-207-9135 (m) or 864-654-5547 (o)

Feel free to forward this email to a friend. The Clemson Wesley Weekly Devotional is a ministry of Rev. Lane Glaze and the Clemson Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist Church's ministry to students on the campus of Clemson University.  The purpose of this email is to look at issues relevant to the life of Clemson students through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like your name added to this list, email Lane at glaze@clemson.edu