Crisis & Tragedy
One of ours is sick.
Not the kind of sick that keeps you out of practice for a week. The kind that changes everything. That makes the season feel very small and the person feel very important in a way that the competition never fully does.
I don’t have answers about what happens next. What I have is a room full of people who care about the same person, and I want us to figure out together what we do with that.
Read this passage slowly.
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord protects and preserves them — they are counted among the blessed in the land — he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
Psalm 41:1–2 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
He who has regard for the weak. The instruction is about orientation — the person who sees the one who is struggling and turns toward them rather than away. The blessing is for the one who regards, who pays attention, who lets the weakness of another person matter to them.
The team’s job when one of its members is seriously ill is not to fix it. It’s to regard. To keep the person in view. To refuse the natural drift toward pretending it isn’t happening because the difficulty of it is uncomfortable.
Practical regard looks like specific, consistent small things. The text that says you’re thinking about them. The visit that doesn’t try to be more than a visit. The update shared within the team so people know what is happening and can pray or care specifically. The refusal to let the sick teammate disappear from the team’s awareness because they’re not in the room.
The team that regards its most vulnerable member well is the team that knows how to take care of each other. That knowledge transfers to everything. Be the team that knows how to regard the weak.
The team’s job when a member is seriously ill is not to fix it. It’s to regard. To keep the person in view. To refuse the drift toward pretending it isn’t happening.
What specifically can this team do — practically, consistently — to let our teammate know they are still in this room with us while they’re going through this?
Practical and specific. The list of things should be actionable and assigned, not just aspired to.
Regard them. Keep them in view. Do the specific things that say they’re still one of ours.
Before this gathering, coordinate with the athlete’s family or support network about what level of team involvement is welcome and appropriate.