Black and White - Sunday, November 13, 2011

Yesterday the Big Red and the Lion Blue met in the center of the field.  Rivalry and competition set aside, they paused in respect for each other and to pray.   Black and white, it was the right thing to do.

 

For more than 10 minutes - the stadium and its 107,000 attendees, all of the college football community, millions watching and listening via tv, radio or internet, and the conflicts and confusions of the scandal were cast in a clarifying light...   black and white, this was the right thing to do. 

These young men and their coaches, teachers, mentors, and football family were casting for the rest of us in black and white a defining message.  Oh my word, through all  the grayness of the past week’s revelations came a clear assurance and perspective....  black and white, it was the right thing to do. 

In Bo Pelini’s post game press conference he spoke as I have never heard him before.  Often I hear a  Bo Pelini that is so uncomfortable in his media role.  He can sound unsure, distracted, and ineffective in his communicating of what he really has on his mind.  But not so yesterday.  Bo Pelini spoke with great clarity... black and white.  He nailed the essence of college football and life’s greater values.

Bo spoke eloquently about right and wrong, society’s obligations, and his personal focus on our youth and children.  He addressed that together we need to commit to making sure the Penn State scandal’s nature of crimes and the pain and suffering inflicted upon youth are not allowed ever again to happen or to be deemed acceptable on any level.....  black and white.

Many times in life, we don’t get to operate with the clarity of black and white.

Many situations are dulled, confused, mired.  We find ourselves living in hazy shades of gray.

And so it has been in the Penn State scandal - all week - as detail by detail and step by step the news has been revealed.  The Penn State Board of Trustees, Pennsylvania’s Governor, Penn State staff and student body have been wrapped in the grayness of confusion, shock, and emotions.  As a nation we have been left listening and watching with our mouths hanging wide open in shock, disgust, and dismay.

Thank you Big Red and Lion Blue for parting the fog and delivering in black and white a reminder that together we can go forward to work with diligence for a better world, a world where we do not allow actions or intentions that diminish the coming generations.  We cannot eradicate all the wrongs in our society in one 10 minute prayer; but we can pledge to stand together and speak clearly and with conviction....  right is right and wrong is wrong.  Some things are as simple as black and white.