Number one rules OK?
If you thought croquet was a gentle game to be played while whiling away a summers afternoon before taking afternoon tea on the lawn then think again.
The easiest way to win at croquet is to make life hard for others. That is a croquet fact. The goal, of course, is to get your coloured ball through all of the hoops before anyone else.
If someone is getting ahead of you then tactically you might stop being so focussed on finishing first and start trying to hit their ball off course, hoping that your opponent will then take longer to finish that you. If two balls land close together you are allowed to put your foot on your ball and hit the ball with your mallet. The result is that yours should stay put and the other one go flying off. Nice!
© www.depositphotos.com/Patrick J Hanrahan
Sometimes in life it may seem like that too. You know the kind of thing I mean; someone riding rough shod over you at work, taking the credit and moving forward with what should have been your ideas. Or the person who slips into the only space left in the car park, as happened to me today, by going the wrong way down the lane leaving you to queue for even longer.
©www.depositphotos.com/Maria Dryfhout
The philosophy for many today is “look out for number one” This applies as much to to croquet as it does to life. In the game of life God has a better plan. He flips the philosophy on its head and suggests that we look out for others. he also has this to say;
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offence. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. Colossians 3:12-16 – The Message
Why not join with me in trying out some of those ideas in the coming week? Do let me know what happens.
