Thursday; June 16

One of the greatest professional football teams in history was the 1972 Miami Dolphins. The team went undefeated and culminated their season by winning the Super Bowl – the only time that has been done in the NFL. The team was led by the legendary coach, Don Shula, and was comprised of some incredibly talented players and several unforgettable characters. Most of these relationships remained intact throughout the years, but shortly after the joy of the Super Bowl Coach Shula and Jake Scott got into an argument that would last decades. After Scott was traded to the Washington Redskins, the two rarely spoke – and if they did, their conversations were short and anything but sweet. For decades, the two men stayed distanced from each other. The team would gather, periodically, to celebrate their success, but Scott was always missing. If asked about his absence, he was typically pretty curt and to the point. Yet, something happened in 2010 at a gathering that both men attended. When Scott spotted Shula across the room, he walked over and said, “I’ve missed you so much.”. The two men hugged and years of hate faded away. Imagine that – a few simple words ended three decades of anger! I was touched by this story, but it did leave me wondering just how much better these men’s lives would have been if they could have ended the feud years earlier.

As I reflected on this story, I thought about the proverb, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to bones.” (Proverbs 16:24). Is there someone from whom we have alienated ourselves? Have we delayed trying to make amends because we don’t know what to say? Maybe all we need to do is humbly say, “I have missed you so much.”; then let human nature take its course.

Think About It! 

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