The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah is coming up–the beginning of a 10-day period in which we repent for our sins of the last year, and do our best to redeem ourselves before God judges us.
Seems like a lot of our sports heroes could use a time of reflection and repentance right now. You can’t turn on the news these days without finding out another star athlete was revealed to be… well, less than role model material.
Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis was one of the more recent stars to fall from grace.
An MVP candidate last year, this season he’s hit an embarrassingly-low .186 for the American League East champs… then came a positive drug test for amphetamines, from taking the prescription drug Adderall without the permission of a doctor.
About the best you could say was, “at least it wasn’t steroids,” but athletes often use the attention-enhancing drug to gain an edge on the field of play.
While Chris apologized for the lapse in judgment, many were quick to lump him in with the growing list of this year’s sports scandals.
As ESPN’s Jayson Stark pointed out, “If you’re under the impression Adderall is a substance Davis tried to get away with taking once, then just got caught, you’re wrong… he tested positive previously, knew he tested positive, knew he was going to be tested at least eight more times in the next year and… Kept taking it anyway.”
Then came Monday afternoon. Orioles fan Mike Soukup was driving home on Interstate 295 when he came upon an accident. He shared what happened next with sports reporter Roch Kubatko:
“I saw the brake lights as I was heading around a slight right-hand bend under the train tracks … and a massive cloud of dust. I was about five to six cars back. I did not see what happened, but instantly saw the truck laying on its driver’s side…
“I pulled past the wreck and over to the right-hand pull-off, and I saw that there were still two men in the truck and that one of them was trapped halfway out the window. He was pinned underneath… bleeding pretty badly and gasoline was dripping out of the truck.
“The first man waved me over, and he, and I, and a woman started trying to lift the truck off of the pinned man. It was too heavy for the three of us–it was an old, large model pick-up and was VERY heavy. However, within a half-a-minute, another five to six folks had jumped out and started helping.
“We were able to pick the truck back up onto its wheels–unpinning the man.
“When I turned to look at the first man, I instantly noticed a VERY strong resemblance to Chris Davis. He didn’t have any Orioles gear on… except his tennis shoes were black and orange. We glanced at each other with a ‘good job’ look and I said, ‘Chris?’ He said, ‘Yeah?'”
It was the slugger, all right. Chris had been on his way to the airport to pick up friends when the truck in front of him had a tire blow out, and the vehicle flipped. Chris was the first to pull over and help the men trapped inside, waving others over to join him.
If he hadn’t been suspended, he’d likely be getting ready for the evening’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead, he was in the right place at the right time to perform a rescue.
No one is perfect. All of us have done something we’re ashamed of in our lives. But if there’s anything Chris’s story reveals, it’s that God provides us opportunities to become heroes once again.
How did God grant you a second chance? In what unexpected way were you given an opportunity to prove yourself worthy of forgiveness? Share your story with us.
