Wait a minute… that didn’t come out right.
Be you. Of course, be you. Only and exactly you.
But be you in a Tom Brady-like way, if you know what I mean.
OK… by the glazed expression on your face I can see you have no idea what I mean. So a little explanation seems to be in order…
Followers of the game of American football (both serious and casual) know that Tom Brady is the current quarterback of the New England Patriots.
And since winning a record fifth Super Bowl and a record fourth Most Valuable Player award, many are calling Tom Brady the Greatest Quarterback to Ever Play the Game.
Yes, he has his detractors, but I would have to say I agree completely with that assessment.
But here is the point and the reason for the somewhat provocative title of today’s post: at one time in his life, very few people believed Tom Brady was any good at all.
In college, Tom Brady played quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines. He was pretty good, but not dazzlingly great.
After graduation in the year 2000, Tom decided to throw his hat into the ring for the professional football draft and then waited patiently to be selected by one of the 30 NFL teams.
He waited… and waited… and waited… and waited some more. He waited through the entire first round, the second round, the third round, and then the fourth round. Over 100 college players had been chosen by one of those 30 teams. And still… no one had yet called the name “Tom Brady.”
With the 21st pick that year, the Kansas City Chiefs picked a wide receiver named Sylvester Morris. With the 17th pick, the Raiders chose a KICKER! When we got to the 85th pick of the draft, the Chiefs chose a free safety named Greg Wesley.
And still quarterback Tom Brady sat there at home… waiting for his phone to ring.
Finally… with the 199th pick, deep in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, the New England Patriots said, “We think we’d like to take a chance on that Tom Brady kid.”
The rest – as they say – is history.
Looking back I can’t help but wonder what that experience must have been like.
No doubt Tom Brady continued to believe in himself and in his abilities. He loved the game and wanted to keep playing it as long as possible! But now large rooms full of EXPERTS – people who are paid handsome salaries to evaluate the talents of young football players – had collectively said, “There are AT LEAST 198 players who are better than you, Mr. Brady, including the offensive tackle Stockar McDougle from Oklahoma.”
So when I began the post by saying, “Be Tom Brady,” what I was trying to say is: don’t ever give up on yourself. And more importantly, don’t let the so-called “expert opinions” of other people tell you what your value is.
Because God is the only one who knows your value. And God says your value is INFINITE.
Even if 198 people stand in a line and say, “I would prefer someone besides you,” never, ever let go of the knowledge that you are a unique, beloved child of God, gifted in miraculous and splendid ways.
In those moments when you find yourself being minimized or repeatedly dismissed, just open your Bible to Psalm 139 and hear the psalmist speaking to God and saying, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, that I know full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14, NRSV).
God called Jesus “the Beloved.” But remember: God calls YOU by the same name.
Henri Nouwen said, “We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself.” (Henri Nouwen, from Life of the Beloved).
And so today be the fullest, most joyous, most complete, wackiest version of YOU you can be.
But in honor of the MVP of Super Bowl LI, be Tom Brady, too.
Russellings of the Spirit 
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