Page 36 - Salesianum - Distinguished Gentleman - Summer 2020

FEATURE
Pop told me, “Once you’ve seen greatness or heard it, you know you just got a glimpse of what God really thinks we’re capable of doing.” And truth be told, we’re capable of doing a lot.
“The world needs a good story these days,” he would say. “Something that will remind people of what is really important in life.” He thought people needed something to remind them that the underdog still had a shot. The way he saw it, God Himself was an underdog in our highly distractible, instant gratification-filled, click- based culture. My dad felt just about everyone was counting Him down and out, but it was high time the world knew “He is making a big comeback.”
That’s how Seven: In the Lane of Hope came to be. Its message is such a simple one, based on another of my father’s family-famous quotes: “Put God first and do your best in whatever it
is you’re doing.” Or, as St. Francis de Sales so succinctly stated, “Be who you are, and be that well.” I’ll never forget that quote either, thanks to all those days I would walk past it back in high school on my way to track or cross-country practice.
It applies through any amount of darkness we may find ourselves in, whether right now, in the future or from our past. It’s an encouragement to run our own race and always remember to listen to our heavenly Coach, who’s there beside
us every step of the way with the same message my earthly coach — my father — would inspire us with during the most important moments of the biggest competitive events we’d face: “You’re right where you need to be.”
As with anything else in life, it is all about perspective, although that can admittedly be very hard to keep. That’s why it’s so important to have someone guiding us who can see the entire field instead of just the single second we’re going through. Because hearing that you’re right where you need to be is sometimes just enough of a boost to see you through to the finish line.
‘Hit Light and Float’
It’s a fact that we runners can feel the most invigorated at the beginning of a race, when we’re fresh and filled with hope. Toward the end though? That’s when we’ve grown physically and psychologically tired. Knowing that full well, one of my father’s go-to lines was, “Hit light and float!” It was our cue to let go of the pain and revel in our capabilities — what God had created us to do and what we had ultimately accepted for ourselves by training the way we had.
My father was, is and no doubt will be full
34 DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN | Summer 2020