The past six months contained many opportunities where I could have acted but didn’t. It is almost as if I am part of a team that could be known as the “team of missed opportunities”!
The pressure is on. The team depends on every member taking the right step at the right time. Deadlines are collapsing faster than time itself. At every step voices get a little tighter, higher, and filled more and more with a sense of panic. What started out as a simple simulation game is now becoming a full blow competitive reflection of life itself. What should any or all of us do?
Is the answer to panic, work harder, deal with the issues as best one can in the moment, call time-out and have a conversation, or just sit back and let deadlines overwhelm everyone? What can one do when life itself, at least as measured by the game, is ending in a matter of moments and you know you are in trouble? What about new ideas; keep or lose them in the hectic rush?
Just so you know the outcome of the team’s performance in advance; we didn’t self destruct, but we did come in second. We made one mistake and it cost us not only first place but also the all-time highest scoring record. We made just one innocent mistake. The mistake did cost of $3 Billion in economic profit, but what is a billion or two!
Life is something with far more tangible outcomes than our game of yesterday; it is about living or dying, being part of something temporary or eternity, and making choices in the middle of an accelerating crisis. Time is something that nobody seems to have enough of in their back pocket. Confidence in the middle of the night while we count sheep is illusive. Deadlines loom, the pressure is on. What should we do?
“Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting, get the leaders together, round up everyone in the country. Get them into God's Sanctuary for serious prayer to God.” (Joel 1.14)
