The other day a colleague of mine, who is a fine scholar and teacher, was telling me a story. He was describing a high school football game that sent testosterone coursing through my middle-aged body as he relived a great moment in a brief career. His high school football team was mediocre when compared to large, rival schools. They were out-manned with only 21 players, outfitted with only tape and foam rubber, and usually out-coached. It was a rainy October evening in central Wisconsin. The field was bare and cold and wet. The score at halftime was 7 - 0 against a formidable cross town rival, who consistently inflicted pain and shame on the inferior team. A 7 - 0 deficit was almost like winning, and the moment of opportunity was not lost on Ryan.

Ryan was an offensive guard in every sense of the word. He also played linebacker -- in every sense of the word. Ryan had known pain and shame at home as well as on the field, and tonight he would have no more.

As his team lined up in the rain and mud for the second half kick off, Ryan went down the line of players with the intensity of a marine sergeant in battle and fierce determination of Jeremiah. "Not tonight!" he shouted, "Not tonight! We won't be beaten and humiliated. Not tonight, dammit, not tonight!" The lifeless, semi-defeated players saw fire in the eyes of their teammate, an undeniable fire of zeal, passion, and righteousness. "Not tonight! Not tonight! We won't be beaten and intimidated tonight."

It worked. The beaten were unbeatable in the second half. Guts, determination and raw effort produced 14 points and shut out Goliath. Victory was theirs. Lots of pain, no shame. "Not tonight, not tonight." Ryan's words were power and truth.

I wonder why there are so few Christian Ryans. Followers of Jesus seem so docile, tame, content with mediocrity.

Disciples who are comfortable with power and affluence. Disciples who are used to losing culture wars with not much pain. Disciples who easily accept child poverty, lack of access to health care, random violence, and mediocre worship. What if, what if Ryan were to come again, this time into our Sunday assembly and shout with intensity, "not tonight, brothers and sisters, not tonight!" People will not be hungry; people will get the medication they need; lonely people will be visited; violence is unacceptable. "Not tonight, dammit, not tonight." We will make straight the path for the kingdom; we'll move mountains; we'll celebrate justice. Jesus the Lord of the Universe will not be rejected, not tonight, not tonight.

High school football has the power to produce heroes and prophets. Ryan shouts, and we listen. Jesus shouts. Do we listen? "Not tonight, not tonight. We won't be beaten and intimidated. Not tonight."

"Not Tonight:" Tom Thibodeau. Used with permission.
Originally in Neighborhood News, a newspaper published by
A Place of Grace Catholic Worker House in La Crosse, Wisconsin.