February 15, 2018
Last month, the hockey world mourned the passing of a well-known sportswriter named Saul “Red” Fisher, who began his writing career a few weeks before I was born. He wrote for the Montreal Star, which went out of business while I was working at its competitor, the Montreal Gazette, in the late 1970s. Red joined the Gazette and continued to follow the Montreal Canadiens, as well as serve as the sports editor of the newspaper, for many years. This week, I finished reading his book entitled “Hockey, Heroes, and Me” and was glad that he included some kind words about Ryan Walter, whom he described as “a born-again Christian.” While we may not always realize it, people are watching us and when Christians live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, He is honoured as people see that there is something different about those who claim to have a personal relationship with God.
Yesterday, I read a post from one of my favourite bloggers: Ann-Margret Hovsepian, in which she included a link to a humourous video about the difference between men’s brains and women’s brains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BxckAMaTDc. Last night, Karen and I watched a movie called “Concussion” which is based on a true story, revealing the discovery by Dr. Bennet Omalu (portrayed brilliantly by Will Smith) of a neurodegenerative disease known as Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This got me thinking about a hockey player named Reggie Fleming, whose parents lived down the street from where my parents still live. To read more about CTE, please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy.
I looked forward to seeing Reggie in the summers, when he would return home after playing with the Chicago Blackhawks. At that time, there were only six teams in the National Hockey league, which meant that there were only about 150 players who made it to the top rung of the hockey ladder. Some of those players extended their playing days by using their pugilistic skills. Reggie was one of the players known as being “hard-nosed” and was the first hockey player to be diagnosed as having CTE. To read more about Reggie, please visit: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/reggie-flemings-story/article569019/.
The following story on the Internet ties in well with Valentine’s Day: http://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/hockey-inside-out/stu-cowan-friends-and-family-pay-tribute-as-red-fisher-is-laid-to-rest. Red Fisher loved his wife, Tillie, more than he loved the career that led to him being inducted into the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. Red died ten days after Tillie, his wife of 69 years, passed away. Their love story reminds me of the greatest love story, which is told in the Bible, God’s love letter to mankind. As the apostle John so eloquently wrote, God poured out His love on us by sending His only Son, the Lord Jesus, to save us from our sins.
Scripture for the weekend: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1 (NIV)
Steve