Crisis & Tragedy
One of ours is coming back.
They stepped away — from practice, from the game, from the program for a time — because they needed to. Because what they were carrying required more than they could carry inside the competitive season. They got the help they needed. And now they are here.
How this team receives them in the next few days matters more than you might think.
Read this passage slowly.
“But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
Luke 15:32 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
We had to celebrate and be glad. The father’s instruction to the older brother is blunt: the return is cause for celebration, not resentment. The one who was away is back. That is the primary fact, and it deserves the response that primary facts deserve.
The teammate who returns from mental health treatment or an extended leave is navigating something specific. They stepped out of the competitive rhythm while the team continued. The program changed in their absence. Their role may have changed. And they are carrying the vulnerability of having needed help publicly enough that the team knows about it.
What they do not need is awkwardness. The teammates who don’t know what to say and so say nothing. The questions about what happened that are really questions about whether it makes the teammate less reliable. The conditional welcome that waits to see how they perform before deciding to accept them back fully.
What they need is the welcome that says: you were here before. You are here now. The absence doesn’t change your membership in this room. We are glad you got the help you needed. Now let’s get back to work together.
Be the team that celebrates the return. That is the whole instruction.
The teammate who returns doesn’t need conditional welcome that waits to see how they perform. They need: you were here before, you are here now, we are glad you got the help you needed.
What does a genuine welcome back look like from each of you specifically? Not in general — what are you actually going to do or say in the next 48 hours?
Specific and time-bounded. The commitment to action in 48 hours is the point.
Celebrate the return. Be the team that says: we are glad you are back.
Before delivering this devotional, coordinate with the returning athlete and their support team to ensure the level of team acknowledgment is welcome and appropriate for their recovery.