The 16th Man

It was a hard game. We were up against a tough team from South Wales. I took the ball into contact and we set up a rolling maul. Noticing we were close to the touchline, I looked down through the mass of legs to locate the whitewash. To my amazement, I saw a pair of brown, highly polished, reinforced toe-cap combat boots, on the end of legs wearing jeans!

Eventually, the maul was dragged into touch and as we broke away to form the lineout, I could see the boots belonged to one of our lads, sidelined by injury. He had got so fired up with our drive up field, that he couldn't help himself and piled into the maul to add his weight to our forward momentum.

Looking back it was very funny, especially as the referee was totally unaware of where our extra power had come from.

I'm sure we've all experienced situations in life sometimes, when a bit of momentum would be really helpful, an added bit of strength from somewhere or someone. But the reality is, often we have to face things or tough them out alone.

Sometimes, players will say the encouragement of a big crowd can be like having an extra man. I heard a seasonsed international player recently talknig about how they had a special call when an injection of momentum was required or spirits where flagging. On the call, everyone had to sprint everwhere for the next 5 mins. Whilst I'm not advocating running around workshops, offices, school rooms or shopping malls - if it works for you...go for it. However, there is another dimension worth considering when you feel the need for an injection of momentum or need some impetus to keep you going. Remember, God is for you. God is on your side.

The bible has some interesting advice: "draw near to God and he will draw near to you" - if we are prepared to accept the possibility that God is for us, then just as my injured team mate couldn't help but get involved in our forward drive, God wants to encourage you and get involved in helping you make headway.

Who knows how he will show up; maybe through a pair of highly polished, brown boots or through a helping hand, perhaps through a word of encouragement, or a "keep going", from someone already on the journey. Perhaps through a reminder of the strength and resolve you have within you. I don't know. But I do know, if we are ready, so is he.

What happens when you run into the posts?

When I first started playing competitive rugby, our boots wouldn't have been out of place in a coal mine. The shirts we wore had such long collars that when you turned them up they virtually covered the back of your head. We didn't have body armour and the posts didnt have padding around the bottom of the uprights - which was a slight problem.

Running back in defence, marshalling the boys to get onto the try line and spread across to cover an attack, I ran, bang into one of the uprights! It would have been ok, but for the lack of padding. I was knocked out cold, but despite my prone position, play continued around me.

As I eventually started to come around, through the foggy thought processes and thumping head, I heard a phrase that was at once uplifting and has stayed with me to this day..."get up Manchester, if it had been anywhere else, it might have hurt!!"

As I dragged myself to my feet to rejoin the match, the suggestion that I was "thick headed" was realised, as I played the rest of the match with concussion, speaking total gibberish, but scoring a try somewhere in the mix.

Now I'm not entirely convinced that the sarcastic comment from the touchline was meant to be encouraging, but it certainly fired me up to keep going. Words can have interesting effects.

What we say, however flippant or serious carries it's own weight and momentum. Once things are said, it's difficult if not impossible to take them back. The bible has an interesting insight to what we say, describing the tounge like a spark that sets off a forest fire!

On the other hand, words can be like building blocks. There is a man called Barnabus mentioned in the bible in a time when lots of people were being pushed around, sent into exile or made refugees. His name translated means son of encouragement or perhaps better put "the encourager". From the records, this man always had something constructive to say. There was always an uplifting comment. His nature was like his name.

It's good to feel good. Encouragement is a powerful builder and though it doesn't cost us anything to say something uplifting, it is an increasingly rare commodity. We might not be facing the same threats as the people in Barnabus' day, but why not deliberately chose to say something encouraging to someone today and watch their confidence and their stature grow. Try it, it works - but make sure you avoid running into posts!!