If you watch ESPN, you would not have been able to miss the fact that Stuart Scott died. He was a long-time analyst for the sports network who ushered in a new way of reporting on the game. He captured a youthful way of describing highlights that widened ESPN’s reach. (Here is an interesting article regarding Stuart and the art of preaching.)
Stuart battled cancer, he didn't hide his illness, and was awarded the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the 2014 EPSY’s (you can watch the speech in it’s entirety here).
What I found beautiful in his speech was the way he described community. Here are his words:
When you get too tired to fight, then lay down and rest, and let somebody else fight for you… I can’t do this “Don’t give up” thing all by myself.
I just got out of the hospital this past Friday, seven-day stay. Man, I crashed. I had liver complications. I had kidney failure. I had 4 surgeries in a span of 7 days… I couldn’t fight. But doctors and nurses could. People that I love, my friends and family, they could fight. My girlfriend, who slept on a very uncomfortable hospital cot by my side every night, she could fight.
The people that I love did last week what they always do. They visited. They talked to me. They listened to me. They sat silent sometimes. They loved me.
This whole “Fight this journey” thing is not a solo venture. This is something that requires support. I called my big sister, Susan, a few days ago. Why? I needed to cry. It is that simple. And I know that I can call her.
The world we live in knows what real community is made of and they know when something less is offered. We have a beautiful mandate in scripture to rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, to live in harmony with one another and to carry one another’s burdens (Rom 12:15-16, Gal 6:2). Let us remember to offer ourselves fully and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.