#Dawgs Florida players throat-slash in the EZ, OKL players taunt opposing fans. UGA players pray w/ Vandy post-game. pic.twitter.com/4yt4qZpRg4
— GATA Dawgs (@BassinDawg) September 13, 2015
Back in August, a little organization called Freedom from Religion, sent letters to UGA, Auburn, and South Carolina, demanding that they remove chaplains from their football teams. In the past, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Clemson got them too.
It was the same old separation of church and state argument that atheists love to present at any given opportunity. Auburn apparently responded rather quickly and among other things said something along the lines of: the U.S. Congress has a chaplain; we’re keeping ours. Way to go Auburn! (That’s likely the only time you will see those words written here.)
After the UGA vs. Vanderbilt game, there’s a picture on Twitter (pictured above), of the players actually kneeling together in prayer. It’s pretty powerful. Sure, they are rivals; but football is only a game. Faith is forever. I’m proud to be an alum of a school that encourages their players to show their faith.
Parents have lamented for years about the poor role models that sports figures present. Maybe if the pro players attended colleges that encouraged faith along with winning, professional athletes might behave differently.
Last Saturday, UGA played Southern University out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Late in the third quarter, one of their players, Devon Gales was injured. It didn’t look good when he went down. He wasn’t moving at all. I said a silent prayer for him as they carried him off the field on a stretcher, the kind that keeps you from moving.
I continued to pray for him and when I searched the internet, I discovered I wasn’t alone. Facebook had several shares from different sources asking for prayers.
I learned that Georgia’s head coach Mark Richt, a man very open about his faith in Jesus, had visited Gales at the hospital and was quoted as saying, “We’re trying to cover him up with as much love as we can and let him know that we care and that we’re here to help.”
But, that should come as no surprise. Richt is a Christian. Love is at the core of Christianity. A spokesman from Southern University said that Gales’ family and the entire Southern University family was extremely thankful for all of the prayers and support. Also, not shocking, is that the football chaplains have been very involved.
Yeah, the ones that the Freedom from Religion group wanted to remove. I wonder how Devon Gales and his family feel about those chaplains. I wonder of any member of that group would care to comment.
UGA players also took to Twitter with their prayers and well wishes for Devon. Seems God is alive and well in college football.
Football is a rough game where it’s very easy to get seriously injured. The wise coaches know that they need God. The wise players know that they need God.
Everyday life can be awfully rough too. Although, not as physically dangerous as football, it’s easy to get injured just the same. We need God. Our leaders need God. Because in the end, He’s really the only one who can save us.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂