I have lots of favorite movies. One of them is “Akeelah and the Bee” probably because one of my all time favorite lines comes from this movie. It’s a memorable line not only because I didn’t see it coming, but also because it changes everything, including the outcome of the story. The words took me totally by surprise and instantaneously changed my opinion of the character who said them – probably because the words were so “out of character” for the person who said them. But in order to appreciate the line, you first need to know something of the backstory that precedes the character speaking those words.

So I’ll give you the short version of this movie’s plot. In this movie, Akeelah, a girl from a poor public school in L.A., wins her local spelling bee and eventually she makes it all the way to the National Spelling Bee. One of her competitors is Dylan, a boy who has been to the National Bee before and is expected to win this time. Dylan is very competitive, and in the movie, we see the pressure Dylan’s father puts on him to win at all costs. We assume Dylan shares his father’s vision of success and how to achieve it.

That’s why what happens when Akeelah intentionally misses her word toward the end of the spelling bee, when only she and Dylan are left in the competition, is such a surprise. Dylan knows Akeelah missed her word on purpose, essentially giving him the win. I expected Dylan to take the win and never look back. As Akeelah returns to her seat next to Dylan, she tells him, “it’s yours now.” BUT – Dylan replies, “You missed that word on purpose. Either you do your best, or I don’t want it!” Wow! I did not see that coming.

Dylan then proceeds to purposely miss his word too, so they are both still in the competition. From there they go on to become co-champions of the spelling bee, because neither one misspells another word. What surprised me was that Dylan didn’t want the win if he didn’t earn it outright. Boy did I misjudge Dylan! I thought he wanted to win at all costs and didn’t care how he got there. But as it turns out, Dylan didn’t want the win “given” to him by his competitor doing less than her best.

Apparently Dylan isn’t the only one who feels this way about competition and winning. I am reminded of another favorite movie of mine, “Brian’s Song.” This movie tells the true story of two Chicago Bears football players, Brian Piccolo and Gayle Sayers. They are teammates but are competing for the same position on the team. Sayers is playing with great success until he gets injured in a game. This gives Brian the opportunity to play and sets up the scene I remember from the movie. Brian encourages Sayers in his recovery. He brings a weight machine to Sayers house and Brian also works out with him. Brian pushes Sayers to keep going during their workouts together, saying, “I’m going to beat you, Sayers, but you have to be at your best.”

Piccolo didn’t want to get playing time in the games by default, because his competition for his position was injured. He wanted to earn his playing time outright, by true ability and hard work – by beating out the best of the best, not some weaker, injured opponent. Piccolo didn’t see any honor in beating someone while they were down or at their lowest point. So he helped his competition, Sayers, to grow strong and be at his best. Otherwise, a win had no value, no true meaning for Piccolo.

This brings me to a third recollection that is inescapable at this point. It is the true story of what happened at a women’s softball game between Central Washington and Western Oregon in April 2008. A batter for Western Oregon hit a home run with two runners on base. But as Tucholsky, the batter, was running, she missed first base, went to double back and her right knee gave out, leaving her unable to run the bases and score the home run which she had just hit. (the first in her four year collegiate softball career) The only option was to allow a teammate to take her place on first base and count her hit as a single. BUT – two players from the opposing team (Holtsman and Wallace) offered to carry Tucholsky around the bases, allowing her to touch each base and home plate with her foot, thereby allowing the run to count. The rules prevented the batter’s own teammates, trainers or coaches from doing this. Only players from the opposing team are allowed to do this, which they did, making it possible for the batter’s homerun to count.

This story has always been memorable to me because it goes against everything one would expect in an athletic contest. Why would you help your opponent in their moment of need, knowing that it will only add to their score and increase the likelihood of your defeat? Yet that is precisely what the two young women from the opposing team did for the batter of their rival team. They knew she had hit the home run, they watched her do it. They saw clearly that she was injured and unable to run the bases on her own, and they knew the rules. Her own teammates could not come to her assistance. If they did, it would be an out.

The decision was the opposing players’ alone to make. Putting aside any self-interest, two players from the opposing team, Holtsman and Wallace, came to their competitor’s assistance and made sure she got the credit for the home run she had just hit, even though she was clearly unable to run the bases on her own strength. Those two young women, with their act of kindness, of courage, of compassion, of empathy, of fairness – with their desire to see the right thing done, turned an otherwise forgettable college softball game into an unforgettable memory, leaving a legacy that will continue to inspire others for years to come. They may have lost the game, but they gained the opportunity to gift the world with their real and lasting picture of a true win for everyone.

Maybe winning at all costs isn’t the best mantra to live by after all? Maybe sometimes the cost of winning is just too high – especially when that cost is the loss of human lives, lives caught in the crossfire of the competition to win, no matter the consequences to others. We all witnessed this as a nation, not too many days ago now. When did wishing harm to and doing harm to our competitors become acceptable? When did wanting our opponents dead become an alternative to the process of competition – be it in academics, sports, business or politics?

I think we all want to live in a world where we feel safe enough to attend an event, whether an athletic competition, a worship service or a political gathering where we can hear for ourselves what a candidate has to say. If the world is not safe for one, it is not safe for any of us. If I am wishing harm to others who I perceive as believing or thinking differently than I do, I am essentially wishing harm to myself as well. If I want the freedom to support a particular candidate without fear of repercussions, then I must ardently desire that same freedom for those supporting an opposing candidate to be able to assemble in safety and peace without fear.

John F. Kennedy said, “A rising tide raises all boats.” We all share in the legacy of freedom left to us by our founding fathers through the Constitution. It is something we would do well to cherish and to protect. We are either all free, or we will all be slaves to fear and divisiveness, which will be our downfall. Those that want to see our country fail will never have to fire a shot. We will do their dirty work for them.

But I refuse to see others, even opponents and competitors as enemies. Competition is supposed to make us stronger or better. Athletics and business are examples of this. We strive to be the best version of ourselves or to make the best product or to provide the best service. However, we could take a lesson from Dylan or the other examples and not want to win because our competition is injured, but because we have achieved a level of excellence in our particular arena.

Politics, like athletics, is a competition. But it should be about who has the best ideas for our country – not about vilifying one’s opponent. I don’t want to hear how bad the other guy is, I want to hear how good you are at your job. Let it be a competition of competence and excellence vying for the public trust, rather than two enemies attempting to annihilate one another. Nobody wins in these situations and we don’t get good leaders this way.

With all the divisiveness that surrounds us, we can be persuaded to see enemies in people that are simply our fellow Americans. And we can feel surrounded by evil as well, when events happen like the one last weekend. What to do? I will take these words of Paul in Romans to heart and let them be my guide.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)

That’s it. If I am fighting against evil, I can only overcome it by doing good. Paul gives some other instructions about how I can fight the good fight of faith. He says –

“Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. . . . Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.” (Romans 12:9-16)

No matter what happens in this world, I am called to fight the good fight of faith. These instructions in Romans make clear how I am to go about that. I am to “overcome evil with good.” That’s all I can do – continue to fight the good fight each day, which means loving God and loving others. If I do this, one day I will be able to say along with the apostle Paul –

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

fighting the good fight, keeping the faith,

sincerely, Grace Day