It Won't Hurt You

It is officially summer. The badminton net is up at our house and we're supposed to have a week of sunshine. I even bought popsicles  in case this is the only week of sunshine all summer.

I love badminton. Elijah and I had a rip roaring time playing tonight and it brought back lovely memories of competing in college. 

Badminton is the only sport I played in college. Charlene and I competed in the intramural league, which was more serious than any sporting event I participated in since basketball in the seventh grade. 

Basketball kind of scarred me. I didn't mean to cry when I got fouled out. I thought the goal was to get the ball away. I'm sorry flesh got in the way. Basketball is a ridiculous sport with all that running back and forth anyway.

Badminton is full of grace and speed. It is actually a fast and intense game when played properly. At one point, Charlene jumped out of the way of the shuttlecock (the official name, not my adolescent humor) and I chided her. 

My words, "It's just a birdie; it won't hurt you."

I should know better than promise something won't hurt. Sure enough next one whipped her in the eye and we were out. I don't remember if it turned black, but for the sake of a good story let's say it did.

I loved Charlene too. She is one of the sweetest people I've ever known. We went to an environmental protest together and my favorite will always be when she started chanting, "Clear cutting not clear conscience."

Still makes me laugh.

I've learned my lesson. I try not to promise pain free experiences to my kids or the church. It's hard not to use, "It won't hurt you" as encouragement to get someone to try something new. 

I don't know if you've ever tried to get someone to volunteer for an experience that will be uncomfortable, inconvenient and possibly even painful. It sells a lot better if you promise it's easy and fun. But there's a chance the person might blacken your eye after it.

So I try not to lie. I try to admit when I ask something of the folks around me that it will be challenging and possibly painful. My favorite response is from one of the women I asked to mentor a teenager, "I'm really scared, but I will try."

I'm not a huge fan of the sea star (the official name for starfish) story where the person walks the beach throwing the sea stars in and when they are teased that it doesn't make any difference, they reply, "it matters to that one." Now that we live somewhere with a twenty foot tide change, we know that it is often best to keep your hands off the wildlife and let the tides do the work. 

I don't know why I thought of that other than Sophie took a picture at beach day today of a sea anemone eating a sea star. That's kind of disturbing because sea stars don't appear edible especially by a glob of what looks like red slime. 

But alas. Just another indicator that "it won't hurt you" is not a good mantra for life. I push "it scares me, but I'll try" as a more faithful approach to life and ministry.