I Practice Like I Play

Red Grange, arguably one of the greatest football players of all time, when asked his secret of success, without hesitation, said, “I PRACTICE LIKE I PLAY”.

WOW! That’s an incredible thought. It is truly is one of the great truths if the Quest for Excellence is a measuring device for ‘success’. Few do their best unless they are playing the crowd. An audience is required for most to be ‘great’. But the mark of true greatness and excellence is how we ‘play’ the game of life when we are alone or when the spotlights have gone off and the crowds have slipped away.

Ponder the undeniably greatest player of all time in the game of life, the Savior, and his true greatness was captured in the fact that one could not tell when he was ‘playing’ or when he was ‘practicing’ - because he did both with equal zeal and self-mastery. He practiced in private what he preached in public. His life was congruent. He experienced total and constant Peace where his beliefs and behavior were always in line with each other. He practiced like he played.

Abraham’s name became spiritually and eternally significant - and by whom our temporal performance will be measured against - when his march to Moriah proved not just symbolic but a very sincere time for self discovery of who he ‘really’ was. He thought he was alone, with his only son, on that lonely mountain top but he discovered his audience was immense and his eternal rewards – and ours - would be judged to a large degree by his private ‘practice’ session. He showed us how to ‘practice’ winning, knowing the ‘big game’ was still ahead.

Missions become the Moriah’s for most Latter Day Saint young men. To become true missionaries – men who can match the message – they must climb many mountains and perform miracles as they climb. Usually they are alone or with only one other unseasoned and unproven compatriot. Few will see the miracles or be touched by their actions. The Church News or the Ensign will not ensure immortality with pictures and ‘words’. But how they climb – or don’t climb – will have eternal and far reaching consequences especially during those private moments when no one is watching and no one will know whether they are practicing or playing. The truly great missionaries don’t care nor can anyone tell the difference. They plod on with “unwearyingness” (Heleman 10:4) – like Nephi – and their practice sessions play the same as when they are the stars at the pulpit, in the font or being the AP.

We ask, “How can we tell if we practice like we play?” It is quite easy. Consider how we act when we are at church, with investigators, with our mission parents, in zone conference –anyplace where others will ‘see our good works’ and evaluate or judge us against the standards already set by the masters of the past. Potentially Great missionaries respond very well under this type of scrutiny and observation. But, truly Great missionaries carry this Christ Like behavior back to the ‘mountain’ with them. Their language, dress, thoughts, behavior or actions reflect in private what they portrayed in their public performance. They practice how
they play.

The Temple gives us another opportunity to ponder this Red Grange Principle. It is so easy and natural to stand and ‘say’ the right words and even covenant to obey – the bigger the covenant the more spiritually we are touched. But, within a few minutes the temple experience is over and we ‘go home’ having just committed to PLAY by Celestial principles while we PRACTICE in a Telestial environment. It is easy to Practice being Abraham in the safety of the Celestial Room but to Play like Abraham when our neighbor needs a new roof or the Bishop needs a volunteer for the cannery or the church needs some English teachers in Mongolia or some Humanitarians in Honduras – that is a whole new game and how we Play in that game will truly determine our eternal destiny.

The ‘real’ game we are ‘practicing’ to be able to ‘play’ is called ETERNAL LIFE and we only get one ‘practice’ session to prepare for the time our name will be called. If the mattress or our reading material or our Comfort Zones or our thoughts or deeds reflect mediocrity or spiritual immaturity our opportunity to Play or to be ‘called up’ will not happen. Instead, we will be Play in another level of game that will not require as many Plays to be learned but also plays on a field without goal posts, grandstands, audiences or end zones. That game also has a final score. But, if we Practice hard enough to get to Play in the Game of ETERNAL LIFE, each play scores a touchdown and each basket is a three pointer and the game never ends. That’s a game worth Practicing for…