Go Spartans!

There used to be a skit on Saturday Night Live which featured Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri as wanna be cheerleaders.  Their team was the Spartans.  Now, they didn't make the actual cheerleading team, so they formed one of their own. They decided to cheer for the school teams that the regular cheerleading squad didn't cheer for, like the chess team and the swim team.  And, they were always on a quest to come up with the perfect cheer. I don't always like the SNL skits, but the Spartan skits had me rolling on the floor.  At the time I worked for DU and some of us would wait for others to be on the phone, then go and do a Spartans cheerleader pose in their doorway to see if we could get them to laugh.  Still makes me giggle just thinking about it.  I saw this quote the other day and it sounded like something the "Spartans Cheerleaders"  would say.

"Surround yourself with cheerleaders, not fear leaders."

I know it is probably supposed to be a serious quote , but it struck me as funny (reference my August 23 post about my odd sense of humor).

You know what else I love about the SNL Spartans?  I love that they cheered on those teams who had no one else cheering for them (even if the teams couldn't hear them-- i.e. the swim team couldn't hear them underwater).  Now, is it just me or does anyone else think that maybe we could use a few more cheerleaders in the world.

It is interesting to watch T.V.  Countless programs spend hours critiquing what someone wears, what they say or have said in the past, how heavy or thin a person is, how they live, where they live, how they spend their money and on and on and on.  And do not get me started on the utter and sheer delight they take in reporting how far down someone falls when they fail or screw up.  Now, it's not just T.V., the media, the press who do this.  Believe me, we as viewers/readers/consumers have created the market for all this trash.  If we didn't buy it/watch it/read it, it wouldn't be as prevalent in our society.  And I'm totally pointing a finger at myself as well.

We carry this over into our daily lives as well.  We judge how other people spend their money, how they raise their children, their decisions on whether or not to have children, on how many children they have, what they drink, what they eat, where they live, what they drive, how they vacation, how often they go to church, how they give, what they give, their talent (or lack thereof), their kids talent (or lack thereof), how they dress, how they dress their children, how they do their jobs, how they earn their money, how much they have (you have too much, you have too little), how they vote, who they vote for, who their friends are, who they talk to/don't talk to, what they say, how they say it, what they do with their free time, on and on and on.  It does nothing but breed discontent, competition, jealousy, and feelings of superiority over others. Again, I'm pointing the finger at myself as well.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says "So speak encouraging words to one another.  Build up hope so you'll be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind."  the Message.

I found another quote that says this, "Life in Christ's Kingdom is not a competition.  It's a co-op."

So the challenge is this.  Be excited for others when they are blessed.  Celebrate with them. Encourage each other.  Realize that no one makes perfect decisions all the time (including yourself) and pray for them instead of judging them.  Realize that just because they made a different decision than you doesn't mean that their decision is wrong. Smile at people instead of frowning.  Look for at least one nice thing to say about others.  Practice the art of giving grace and mercy to others.  A couple more quotes to remember:

"One of the beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement.  When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed."

"Correction does much, but encouragement does more."

"A single sentence spoken at the right time could change someones life forever.  A little encouragement can go a long way."

So, I challenge you, and myself, to change our way of thinking.  To become an encourager and supporter of others.  Look for ways to share kind words with those you come into contact with.  Go out and be a Spartan!