I was shocked to hear about Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser’s death on Thursday. He was such a straight shooter. He never thought too highly of himself and he never made excuses. If his team did poorly, he admitted it and took responsibility. When his team did well, he congratulated them and gave them the credit.
He truly cared about his players. He wanted them to play well, but more importantly, he wanted them to develop as individuals. He viewed his job as teaching. Basketball was the skill he taught.
I appreciate what he did to turn the Joel Coliseum into a rocking place to play, with noise and spirit. He really got the students into the action. Go Deacs!
For Skip to die at age 56 is a real gut-check for me. He was only 11 years older than I am. I have been listening all my life to the truisms about life being too short. Yeah, yeah. But I think I’m beginning to get it, to understand it. Even if we are in good health and stay active, we are not guaranteed another day.
All we have is today, and we may not have all of that.
Our days are in God’s hands, of course. He gives us our time and our talents. We are merely stewards of these resources. What matters is whether we invest them wisely. We don’t necessarily need to do more. We may need to do less, slow down and enjoy the moments. We may need to cut out a certain activity, just because our time is more valuable than that. We may need to begin doing something that’s important. As we seek the Lord, he will show us.
Skip Prosser (1950-2007) now has both dates filled in, in the parentheses after his name. We, the living, have only the first date filled in. Unless the Lord returns soon, we will all eventually have the second date filled in. Then we will be history.
That is really humbling to me. It makes me want to use these days and years to enjoy Jesus and share him with abandon.
