George and Martha Wilson were good neighbors. Retired, they kept their
home immaculate. George was active in civic affairs, and was a community
leader. Martha supported her husband in his miserly ways, and with their dog
Fremont, had a home that was a showplace among the neighborhood. They lived in
the perfect town of the late fifties, early sixties, reflecting the suburbs of
the time. The kind of neighbor you wish you had today. But right next door
lived the Mitchell’s, Henry and Alice. He an engineer for Trask Engineering,
she a housewife. All symbolic of the times that we can remember. And they had
a son, Dennis, who as long as the TV series ran, adapted from a long running
cartoon, would be Mr. Wilson’s chief nemesis. Dennis often called him “my best
friend,” and he called him “good old Mr. Wilson.” And although the two were
mostly at odds, Mr. Wilson was many times object of Dennis’ fun, he showed a
certain admiration and affection for the boy. Dennis the Menace and good old
Mr. Wilson would last as a TV series for 146 episodes, with Mr. Wilson passing
away after 101. But the legacy of D the M, and G O M. W continue today.
In one such episode, one of Dennis’ friends brags how his team is the
best. His father Mr. Brady and Mr. Wilson are often at odds, both father and
son brag they are the best. And when Dennis’s baseball team needs a coach,
George is forced into volunteering. Down 6-0 in the last inning, and facing
humiliation, George finds his sophisticated signals aren’t working, but realizes
how much each kid hates something. So going to bat, he tells them “imagine the
ball that thing you hate,” and they win 7-6 after hitting home runs. They took
out there anger on the ball, to which Brady declares it unfair coaching, and
illegal signs. But it is too late..the game is over, and Dennis and Mr. Wilson
have won the game. And the parents go wild-they won too! And a bond is
formed.
Over the years I have coached many of my son’s sports teams. But one year
not coaching I was asked to fill in for a coach who went on vacation. He was
like Brady as is son got to pitch, bat first, and the other kids came after.
The parents in the stands talked among ourselves, and his son had trouble
reaching home plate, but still he would pitch, his dad was the coach. Their
record was horrible, and the kid’s morale bad. They wanted to win, isn’t that
why we play? So entering the playoffs, I took over for the vacationing coach,
and like good old Mr. Wilson, I showed them how to win and have fun. Putting
players at positions they could play, like moving the shortstop who couldn’t
throw to first base to second, and soon the other moves proved to work also. We
stole bases, we bunted, we swung at pitches, learned when to not swing, and won
every game in the playoffs. We were the Bad News Bears of the league, even the
parents who had been humiliated all year were winning and cheering, and getting
involved. Then the coach returned from vacation, not even a thank you to me,
and the parents were telling me to still coach. I insisted it wasn’t my team,
although the new winning team was, and they got beat bad when his son pitched,
the shortstop couldn’t reach first base, and he secretly let others know I had
tried to ruin his team. He meant himself. All I did was what he didn’t, we had
fun and won. And at one particular time the whole team looked to me sitting in
the stands for help, when the vacationing coach made another self serving
decision for his son. It was hard to do, but lesson learned. Sadly this wanna
be yuppie was part of the league, and they supported him. Among the parents and
other players, he got no respect. But a lesson was learned early among these 10
year old boys...we still need men like good old Mr. Wilson today. For the
Dennis’s and his friends still like to play to win and have fun. Just leave it
to an adult to interfere and ruin it all.
I believe that we should all enjoy having fun. After all, what good is fun
if we don’t enjoy it? And Christians should have more fun than anyone. We have
Jesus! Yet so many I know are bogged down with life, with rules, regulations,
and religion keeping them from all God has to offer. Not the way God planned
it, but the way Jesus can change it in your life. The Pharisees were very
proud, and had no problem showing off how they were superior to the rest of us.
They lived under the law, and were rigorously bound by, the root word for
religion means bound, like tied up and held. No freedom in their lives, for if
the public wasn’t watching, their fellow Pharisees were. Ready to pounce and
remind them of their faults. Sounds like church to some, it is not the way God
wanted it, so he sent Jesus. God knew that love demands a decision, a choice to
accept him or not, and when the law couldn’t do it, he sent Jesus to be the
way. Very simple, and he shows us ways just like good old Mr. Wilson showed the
team, except he does it with love. He wants us to win, but shows us the victory
in him is the only true victory that matters. His ways may seem foreign to
those who are taught and live like the Mr. Brady’s of the world, but in each
defeat we see Jesus, and our character is strengthened. We see winning in a
different way, where it is not the only thing, but how you play the game. We
still play to win, but honorably, and it makes the taste of victory that much
more pleasant. Today God is raising up Mr. Wilson’s within his church. They
volunteer time and resources, teach kids about life and point them to Jesus.
Guiding them by the spirit, showing how grace wins out over legalism, and how
life can be lived to the fullest in Christ and still have fun. They are taught
to forgive, and be giving, to respect, to be compassionate, using Jesus as the
example. But only when led by the spirit, because if not we get more rules,
which means more rules to break, which means more trouble to get into. Good old
Mr. Wilson knew that, and for very expensive coin in his collection that Dennis
put in the Coke machine, for every prized flower trampled by sneakers, for each
window broken by a foul ball, Mr. Wilson forgave Dennis, sometimes begrudgingly,
but with a fondness for him. Jesus has a fondness for us, and wants us to live
life to the fullest. He knows that windows will interfere with our ball
playing, coins will get lost, and new clothes will get dirty. That’s life. But
he forgives, and like Peter, who failed so many times, we can carry on like he
did, never looking back, but looking ahead, forgiven and blessed by Jesus. In
life we won’t win every game, but yet we play to win. But when the season of
life is over, we have the victory in Jesus in heaven. It is the relationship
between God and man that Jesus bridged to bring us back, it was the relationship
between Dennis and Mr. Wilson, one of love and respect that we admire and
remember today.
Dennis never saw any wrongs in Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Wilson had to forgive
Dennis many times. Sound familiar? If not, you need to get to know Jesus, to
be forgiven, to learn to have fun and enjoy life. To become all you can be, and
maybe even become a Mr. Wilson to others. Jesus had twelve disciples who made
many others, the same goes on today. Someone, a Dennis is always watching. And
they may not hear all your words, but will remember your actions. And your
reactions. For a baseball team we won a few games and had fun, too bad it had
to end like it did. Life doesn’t...seek Jesus today and be at the victory
celebration. You will be amazed at all the Dennis the Menaces there, but we
will all be looking for Jesus, the Mr. Wilson who changed our lives. “Oh, great
Scott...!” But what a great God.
love with compassion,
Mike
‘'matthew25biker.blogspot.com