Lux Lucet

Having just celebrated Thanksgiving Day, thankfulness has been on my mind lately.

I know I’ve said on my podcast that I’m not always the best when it comes to seeing the bright side of things. More to the point, I’m a natural pessimist. I tend to expect the worst. This mindset has one advantage: I don’t get overly hyped up about something, only to later get disappointed when it doesn’t come to pass.

Just to illustrate my point, last night I was watching a football game between my alma mater the University of Cincinnati and Texas Christian University. UC went down early in the game. But in the second half, they started to mount a comeback. UC closed to within 7 points with a touchdown and had the opportunity to cut the lead to 6 with an “automatic” extra point.

Alas, it was not to be.

UC’s kicking game has had problems the past few years. This time, the kicker pushed the ball to the right of the goalpost. No good.

But wait! There was a flag on the play. TCU, as it turned out, had jumped offside! UC would get another shot at the extra point. There’s no possible way they could miss two extra points in a row. Right?

Wrong.

The second kick was worse than the first. This time, instead of the extra point going wide right, the kicker gave it a nasty hook to the left. It was almost as if he was aiming for the sideline, not the goalpost. I was reminded of Luther’s comment about mankind being like a drunkard who, having fallen off the horse on one side, gets back on only to fall off the horse on the other side.

Oh well.

Never in a lifetime of watching football have I ever seen a team miss consecutive extra point attempts. I suppose it’s happened before. But it doesn’t happen very often.

The missed extra points spelled the end of the road for UC’s comeback attempt. They went on to lose 20-13. And not only that, but it was also the season finale and UC’s fifth consecutive loss. What a rotten way to close out the year.

Now you know at least one reason I’m a pessimist: I’ve been trained by years of watching Cincinnati sports teams’ futility.

I mentioned earlier that pessimism has one advantage: it keeps you from disappointment. On the other hand, expecting the worst can cultivate a jaded view of life that can keep you from seeing the blessings that the Lord sends your way. I know. I’ve been guilty of missing many of those blessings in my own life or of taking them for granted.

In a men’s Bible study I attend, we always close with prayer by going around the table, each man having the opportunity to pray. One of the regular attendees will always close his prayer with “thank you for loving us.” I’ve always appreciated that. It’s good prayer language, reminding us that God didn’t have to send his Son to die in our place to atone for our sins.   

The Lord didn’t have to love us. He could have left us to die in our ignorance and face judgment clothed in our own “righteousness” rather than that of his Son, Jesus Christ. How would any of us fare under those circumstances? I can safely say that it wouldn’t go well.

The psalmist wrote, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” Now that’s something to be thankful for.

Even for a natural pessimist…or a Cincinnati sports fan.